Date: 2003-07-16
From: US 9

To: Wedding
Miles today: 0.0

It is raining, and I am not walking in it. That is a fact worth celebrating.Instead, I am speeding down an Interstate Highway at an obscene rate of speed, 80 miles per, in a rented car (thanks, Cosmo, for the use of that AARP discount! LOL)It's a trip. I haven't driven in five months. It's a lot of stimulation for a woods-dwelling gal. But here I am, on the road to Wisconsin for my brother's wedding. They say it's just like riding a bike.As Wendy, my very first thru-hiker guru wrote to me: "What were you THINKING, girl?"I wonder about Itchy, camped high on the Glastonbury Mt. firetower, and hope the nearly-full moon washed over his skytop billet before the clouds swept in. I hope he finds another hiking buddy with which to do the rocks of NH and Maine.Hell, I hope I find another buddy, someone to report my carcass to authorities. While I enjoy hiking alone and setting my own agenda, I admit that the Whites and southern Maine intimidate me a bit.From the first, I have heard about this rugged terrain, how the weather deteriorates rapidly, how rough the climbs and descents are, how slick the rocks get in bad weather, the remoteness of Southern Maine. We've been told that when we get to NH, we've done 90 percent of the distance but only 10 percent of the work. I don't quite believe that - that 90 percent of the AT WAS work, and hard psychological work at that. But it indicates the respect accorded to the last portion of the journey. It would be nice to have another hiking partner so we could give each other courage and support.Well, the deck has been thrown up in the air again, and the hiking cards will fall where they will. I'll either find a comfortable hiking companion, or I won't. I know my buddies Chief and Notes, Sonic and 'Guana, Wench and Hotdog, Fly and Smoothie and Puff-Puff and Snappy are somewhere behind me. Perhaps I'll be lucky enough to run into some of them. It's going to be hard finding someone who walks at my pace though. I know that by being a fiddler, photographer and general lollygagger, a driven personality would be grinding their teeth at my stop-and-go pace. A picture here, a trip to nearby waterfall or deli there. I know I'm out here for the experience, not merely to cover the miles, and I want to suck the marrow out of everything. So I would prefer solo walking to an irritable partner.But what pleasure there is in having another human close by, to say "hey look at that!"Itchy, while impatient, was not really irritable. He played the crank to the crowd, but his heart wasn't in it. He was a good driving wheel to my Trail engine. And I think he enjoyed my sense of fun. So, it was a good mix, especially the new, relaxed, post-Kent Itchy. I wish him a safe journey, a clear summit day and, afterward, a fine new house with Lupe.Passing a mall, I buy a proper bra, some hose and some cheap heels for the wedding. My friend Diane Jones has shipped a dress of mine to my brother's farm already.I was talking to a friend from home recently. "I think the secret is to be able to find beauty anywhere," he'd said. And here it is, the same sun, the same sunset that sets over the Appalachian mountains. It's dropping like an orange-rose ball here over the Ohio farmland, the hot, slanted glow setting the gulls on fire as they wheel inland from the Great Lakes.It's quite okay being in a car, off the Trail. And that's somewhat of a relief.