Date: 2004-06-20
From: The Hemlocks Lean-to

To: East Mountain Retreat Center
Miles today: 16.4

Trail magic! Out of control trail magic. I love it! Spicey and I planned to go into Great Barrington for lunch and resupply. Not 2 minutes after we stuck out our thumbs a friend of Rainbow Brite¢s picked us up. He brought us to a buffet that started at 11:00 so we had about 12 an hour to wait. While we waited, we started talking to the other people waiting with us and all of them were really interested in our hiking¢¦I felt like a bit of a celebrity, all the questions and the looks of awe in their face. It feels good to be living a dream that so many people have but that so few will ever accomplish. These people usually aren't too interested in hearing about the bad, maybe it will disrupt this little dreamy vision they have in their head of man vs. the wilderness or of a pleasant little walk in the woods. Do they know that when I wake up in the morning I am so crippled that I can barely walk to the privy? Do they know that I am slowly starving myself because I can't eat enough calories each day? Do they know how lonely it is when it's raining and you're wet and your clothes are molding and you miss home? Do they know what it's like to cry each day because of the pain but keep walking because it's some kind of weird compulsion and the real world seems too scary after walking for so long. Do they know what it's like when Ibuprofen becomes Vitamin I to you? Probably not. They think dreamily of solitude but it's hard to be alone with your thoughts day after day after day for hours and hours and hours. Maybe I give hope to people and if I do then I'm thankful. It's hard to put on my happy face though for outsiders who never have and will never hike. The other thru-hikers know, the struggles, the joys, there's a peaceful silence between us. The forest has quieted out hearts The restaurant let us all in and Spicey asked how much it was. $17.50!!! A lot out of a thrifty hiker¢s budget range, even for a yummy buffet. We were discussing our options, when a guy came over and told us just to sit down and he would cover it for us. It was father¢s day, which we didn¢t realize beforehand but we sat down anyway in our grubby clothes, alongside all the dressed up little families out for their special day. We consumed large quantities of food¢¦omelettes made to order, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, sausages, bacon, etc. Delicious. I ate so much that when I stood up I felt sick and knew it would be a lay down outside for a while event. So as I lay on the grass outside it brought back a lot of memories of Brair Rabbit and Haiku from the Pizza Hut buffet in Marion and I wondered if Brair Rabbit is still hanging in there. I left him in Pearisburg with a possible stress fractured ankle. I thought Haiku would catch me because he was only a day behind when I left the Doyle. I¢m sad not to see those guys again. Anyway, back to today, Spicey and I walked to the grocery store and then got a 10 second hitch to the Retreat Center. The nice guy drove us all the way there, even though it was out of his way and despite heavy risk. He said it would have been trouble if his girlfriend saw him in a car with 2 girls!We¢re at the Center with Rock Steady and a sectioner. Josh and Mockingbird should be in later. Laundry, shower and a couch to sit on, what could be better. It¢s all you really need for hiker happiness, well I guess a full stomach too, but that was taken care of for at least 2 days at the buffet. The hiking today was beautiful. Too nice to be true almost¢¦breezy, sunny, warm but no hot. I felt happy for almost the entire day and it was a joy to walk. It was a joy to be alive, to feel strong, to have good company. The miles were effortless. How long it¢s been since I¢ve felt this way! I have a strong suspicion that my happiness is inversely related to the number of mosquitoes. More mosquitoes, less happy. Less mosquitoes, more happy. I guess those university math classes paid off¢¦I can maybe look smart on trail journals!