Date: 2010-05-02
From: Red Roof Inn (Duncannon, PA)

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up early, about 6:30, and was stirring around. Dad got up quick like he always used to do, looking in need of a cup of coffee yet somehow also ready for the day. I love waking up with Dad. It reminds me of getting up at sunrise with him at the beach and taking long walks along the surf.Dad went and got some coffee while I packed up my things. We got in the car and drove to Cracker Barrel. I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, and 2 pancakes logged with maple syrup. We laughed and joked around.Next we drove to the grocery. I needed a resupply, and so Dad and I walked the aisles with a 4-day food plan written on a wrinkled notepad. It was a surprisingly tedious and consequently stressful affair. Each item's location in the store had nothing to do with the other items' locations. No easy A,B,C, arrangement; no map to follow; few employees to show the way. I left the grocery feeling wound up and taking a deep breath.It was 11:00 am. I was to hit the trail at 2:30, so Dad and I spend the next couple hours lounging at the bookstore. He patiently read a book while I updated my journal and drank coffee. Outside, the clouds looked ominous; heavy rains were fore casted for the afternoon. For an hour or two we hung out in the bookstore. I wish we could've chatted and played putt-putt or something.It was time to part ways, and I could feel in my stomach. We got 5 Guys for lunch and drove back to Duncannon. I hated it, sitting there about to leave, taping my feet and packing my pack with Dad right there. "Wanna get a beer?" I pleaded. No, he said. I had to get going. We hugged and I said "Damn it" and shook my head. It really sucked, and I kept shaking my head as I turned and walked off. Too bad I had to go my way and he had to go his. Too bad we couldn't of just gone together. I love my Dad, man. I've said it before and I'll say it again: he's my best friend.It was 4:00 PM and I waited for the downpour. Skies were gloomy and loaded with wetness. For 11 miles I walked with ease, listening to a Fleet Foxes album and a Corey Widmer sermon about wisdom. "The sages of Proverbs say that there are two paths before us: the path of Life and the path of Death," he said. He said our walk is a crooked march for Life that always draws like a magnet towards the path of Death. As we stumble between the two paths, we're confronted by situations that confuse us. These situations are entirely unique. They're unhelped by extensive self-help knowledge and generally-accepted tricks and unhelped by an understanding of black-and-white lines of morality. That is, these situations need WISDOM from above because Self-Help books and the 10 Commandments don't cut it. He mentioned that wisdom is a path to follow, not just some door to open. I took off my iPod and decided to listen to the birds (a little wiser, eh?). The rain held off on me all the way to the shelter. Only at the very end did it come down. At the shelter I met up with Reckless and Boomerang, including 2 flip-floppers and another thru-hiker named Muffin-Mittens. I broke out the banana bread from Mom and everyone dug in. The rain came down hard that night, and I filled up my water bottle with brown-tinted rainwater pouring from the gutters. Unhealthy? Most likely.