Date: 2003-07-10
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: CT 55 parking lot
Miles today: 10.5

Not a bad nights sleep last night, but much more joint pain in my knees than usual. Bugs weren¢t bad, I put some Deet on, it was a nice cool breezy night, good sleeping weather. I first woke up at around 5AM, Dirty Harry was getting packed up. What a nice sunrise, and it got even better. What a great way to greet the new day. But for now, back to sleep, I¢ll get up at a more reasonable hour. Hey, did I mention that I¢m journaling with a cat sitting on my pad and playing with my pen? The ink must smell good. Anyway, we got up and ate a meager breakfast (breakfast bars don¢t cut it anymore, I¢m always hungry in an hour or so¢¦ Must be all that hiking¢¦ Duh), then packed up and hit the trail. We each had 2 liters of water to cover 10 miles, and there were streams along the way, in case we needed more (I always need more¢¦ Dehydration is my usual state to hike in). It was a cool, breezy day, my favorite for hiking. We figured it would be an easy day, no big climbs, just one steady 500 footer, then lots of bumps along the way. We only had to do 10+ miles by 1:30 PM, so no real rush (we did 3 miles in the first hour). Good thing there was no real rush, because we took a break at the ¢Appalachian Trail¢ train station (NY commuter line into NYC), then got up, walked 100 feet and saw a hot dog truck near the trail (time for 2nd breakfast.. a hotdog, chips, soda). After our gourmet meal, we climbed the 500 footer and put ourselves in cruise control for the rest of the hike (A steady 2.5 ¢3 MPH with 2 more breaks). We took one break at a shelter a mile and a half from our end point (CT 55), then breezed the last mile and a half in 35 minutes (we arrived in perfect time, our ride (Brian) had just arrived). I love thinking back to our first week on the trail, when we strained to do 7-10 miles in a full day. Now 10 miles is a throw away day¢¦ Best done before lunch¢¦ lol¢¦. What a change in muscle & attitude¢¦ So scared at the beginning, and so much more sure of ourselves now.We are staying with friends of Subman (Brian & Gretchen), he is one of the hikers we started out from Springer with March 1st (he is now WAY ahead of us). We have now only been at the house for a few hours, but we have been made to feel right at home (we showered, did laundry, snacked, napped). This is such a beautiful place to relax¢¦ There are birds everywhere in their yard, coming to the feeders to eat. We sat and watched tons of Goldfinches, Wrens, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Hummingbirds, and many whose names I forget. It was so cool to watch them all feed. Later, Gretchen came home, and made us feel even more at home (if this is possible). We talked, she made us a home cooked meal, (awesome!), then we talked some more, had dessert, and talked some more (You don¢t get much interesting conversation on the trail, talking about food, trail & bodily functions only goes so far). Finally at about 11PM, we went to bed (and I fell asleep on my journal, while I was writing). I finished up my journaling at 7AM, when I got up (some habits are hard to break¢¦ I¢m still tired). NOTE:We just hit CT!!! Over 1400 miles hiked less than 750 left to go. We are now 10 staters (Georgia, N. Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, W. Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York & now Connecticut. Have to finish CT & then hike through the remaining 4 states. Wow, time is flying by. Knees are very sore, lots of ups & downs lately. Still down 40 pounds, and hair & beard are getting longer & fuzzier. Taking lots of Advil, and eating every chance I get.