Date: 2010-06-29
From: Eastern Pinnacles

To: Vista after West Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 24.2

Woke up with a sore and chaffed butt again. Humidity preventing things from drying out. Ate Nutella and Jiff on bread! Lots of calories last night and this morning. Feet feel blistered and tired. Rest Stop packed and gone quickly almost like he¢d vanished.Stopped for water and some mosquito blood donations at Wildcat Shelter. The trail turned completely breathtaking today after Fitzgerald Falls! Huge birch trees with almost no underbrush. The only thing growing were huge sycamores and birches and grass. Even though I¢m walking like I¢ve got a watermelon between my knees I still feel amazed and in awe of NY AT!Got a little turned around as far as knowing where on the map I was located. I thought I was farther than I really was. The heat and humidity is draining my brain cells and soaking my shorts and shirt. Wrung out my shirt and was grossed out by the green liquid that dripped out. I¢m wearing just my thermal long pants to see if that will help dry me out. So far, it¢s doing nothing! Feels like my thighs might catch on fire! Goldbond useless against the constant moisture.The trail dropped straight down to NY17. Thank God I¢m not going South! When I saw NY17¢s road sign I realized that I had only walked 10 miles by lunch! Sat down on the road with my crotch spread wide in the hot sun in the hopes of drying my legs. Orbit came along and I got the info on where the convenience store was located that Rest Stop planned to re-supply. I wasn¢t sure if I¢d make it to their campsite today. I gave Orbit bad directions back to the AT. Sorry Orbit!I realized something from NY17 to Fingerboard shelter, the trail just turned physical again! Good-bye mental games from walking flat with nothing to see! Huge rock stairways everywhere now! Long flat rocky topped ridge-lines! Lemon squeezer was fun! Had to use my fingers and toes to climb. Got so tired that I started to stagger like a boxer about to fall down. I like that feeling of going to the end of my rope. The feeling you get when you just don¢t have anything else to give. It feels like I¢m breaking in two. Started singing ¢The Hammer¢ by Bob Marley. The lyric, ¢Strike the hammer, while iron is hot!¢ started to feel like it applied to me. I feel malleable. Pliable out here. I¢m not sure if it¢s me or some higher power but I feel different. More determined. It feels like my jaw is changing from glass to steel. I¢ve got more patience and I can see my way through the suffering. I just like that helplessness you feel right before you hit the direct out of exhaustion. It¢s like I can see a light at the end of a tunnel at those moments. I guess it¢s just a lack of brain oxygen, but I still feel closer to some sort of truth.Stopped to see what the water supply was like at Fingerboard, but it¢s 0.5 miles away and not guaranteed to even be flowing today. I choke down a BC with no water and try to make it a little farther. The clouds came rolling in and the humidity dropped! My pants dried out and I was almost a happy camper again! NO WATER! I was looking at my guidebook at Arden Valley Rd, when J.B. (Doyle/mailed my CD home!) pulls up in his Taurus with Rest Stop, Shorts, and DC! J.B. offered to give me a ride to get water! Amazing! So incredible that when you need it the most out here, someone will come along and reach out to give you a hand! I was in the dumps about the chaffing, and the difficulty of the terrain with the humidity!I think that¢s why I get such a kick out of pushing myself so hard, just to see what happens, how it plays out in my favor if I just hope for something good to happen! That¢s something I¢ve noticed that¢s new about me! I actually hope that someone is at the next Rd crossing with food or water. I think that¢s another reason why I like to push myself to an uncomfortable dilemma, to see how it gets fixed. I¢ll intentionally mess up just to have fun repairing all the chaos it brings.I like feeling wobbly because that means I¢m still pliable. When I feel out of balance and the world is spinning to fast, it¢s like I can feel these hands around me that keep things together. I¢m addicted to that feeling! It¢s like a potter balancing the clay.Caught Rest Stop at William Bren Shelter and waited for Orbit. 2.3 to water, 3.1 to shelter, and 0.7 to the vista campsite. Nice spot tonight! Watched the sunset as Rest Stop and I told hitchhiking stories, family stories, and talked about our travels. It¢s windy tonight. The breeze has already toppled my poorly pitched tent once. Rest Stop picked on Orbit about how she was going to freeze in her hammock tonight. Felt better than the first part of the day since the wind has been blowing. First night eating and talking in peace without mosquitoes!