Date: 2014-07-24
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Silver Hill
Miles today: 22.8

So my goal of the week is to make it to mile 1488.9 in time for Frankenstein's trail magic party. I got the memo on the 22nd when I was at the Graymoor Monastery which meant 90 miles in about 4 days. I was the only one at Graymoor willing to do the miles and I doubt anyone behind me on that day would even consider it. There's not a whole lot of thru hikers right in front of me that I know of at this time either. Most are days ahead and probably won't hang around waiting for the magic party. There's got to be a handful of hikers that will hit it perfectly though.Way before this was put into motion I had already planned to stop in Kent, CT for new shoes. My La Sportiva Wildcat trail runners lost its treading by the end of Pennsylvania and I don't see any ideal place besides Kent to look for new shoes. I'm sure my current beat up pair of trail runners could make it almost another 200 miles but this is a good opportunity. I passed up on getting a new pair of trail runners when I visited my brother because I didn't think the ones I saw there were trail worthy. It was funny how that day turned out because my brother did more shopping than I.Anyways making a stop in Kent today was going to cost me some time which means I can't do as many miles as I would like to get closer to the magic. I did catch up to Frankenstein late in the morning though. Today he's getting off the trail to hang with friends and family so he wasn't doing much hiking. Last night he had camped with a bunch of trail maintainers who got contracted for some jobs in the area. I had passed them while they were making stone steps so I got to be the first hiker to use it. Frankenstein told me about their less than fortunate experience camping in the rain last night. The storm didn't take long to have them yelling "I'm in a puddle!" Last night my tent held up just fine as usual but it was thrilling to be so close to where the thunder was booming down around me. I managed to sleep like a baby and didn't wake up until 6:30am. Knowing I'm on a bit of a time crunch I went hard all day. The thru hiker Red Robin is about the 10th person to connect my trail name to the triple crown race horse because of my pace (the horse is not related to why I went with Affirm though and I rarely go fast). I was lucky to be offered a ride to town from the trail head though. I didn't even have a chance to stick out my thumb before a soda delivery driver pulled over. He gave me an ice cold grape soda and dropped me off right at the Sundog Shoe store. About 8 miles before that road crossing was where I ran into Frankenstein and his friend though. I passed them at the 10 mile river shelter without knowing it but I had to stop because I didn't eat enough calories in the morning. In order to keep powering through the miles, I needed fuel in the tank so I scrounged up a summer sausage and cheese from my near empty food bag to have a hiker trash picnic off the side of the road. Frankenstein's friend Bryan offered to give me a ride when I was stuffing my face but I didn't want to miss any trail miles so I passed on the opportunity. Sometimes I can't help but to prefer doing things the hard way and I was fully ready to do some night hiking if I had to tonight.