Date: 2007-05-22
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Bittersweet day.I decided that I'm leaving the trail. My knee is only getting worse, and I'll come to a train station tomorrow that can get me to NYC for $11.50. If I tried to push on, it would be a few days before another train or bus station.   And everyone I've talked to today said I need to give me knee a rest.That was the great part about today, all the people I met. More than any other day thus far. It makes leaving the trail even harder.I enjoyed a nice morning to myself, reading the FT, drinking coffee, doing laundry. (I only got like 3 answers in the FT crossword. Difficult!"But then around noon, people dropped in.Remember how Li pointed out the age dichotomy - that thru-hikers are either in their 20s, or are retired? To avoid offending anyone, or just incorrectly guessing, I'll describe people as being in one of those two groups.First, "Hobbit" and "Kentucky Blue" came in for lunch. Hobbit is somewhat accurately described by his trail name, with a wild white beard.I have since found out that he started the trail in January! and is a retired PE teacher from Sheboygan, Wisc. "The wurst city," he said.Kentucky Blue is in her 20s, and is originally from Florence, Ky., although she lives in Atlanta now.Then their friend Tao, also in her 20s I'd guess, dropped by. And a section hiker, an older guy, came in for water.It's a party!After they left, my new friends from Lawrenceburg, Ind. - all four of them - came by. I told them about my knee, and they said they had a doctor friend back at their camp site. What a group!They said I could meet with the doctor tomorrow, and gave me their cell phone numbers. And they gave me half a sandwich. What a group!Later, three section hikers stopped in. Julie, or "Spider-Girl," reminded me of my mom. She's from Tennessee, I believe, and staying here tonight."Sleeping Bear," whose real name I did not get, ate dinner then left. Had a British accent, and apparently grew up in British East Africa. Lives in Alabama now. That's globalization.And "Tennessee Walker," aka Bill, is staying the night. I first met him a few days ago at the Tuxedo Motel, where he, too, was taking a night off.He's from Knoxville. Super nice guy. Been section hiking for years.Interesting accent. At the risk of rambling way off subject and beyond anyone's area of interest, I have some comments about varieties of Southern accents.People stereotype Southerners as dropping the g's at the end of -ing words, such as "runnin'" or "talkin.'" But there are different Southern dialects.Some folks, like Tennessee, clearly articulate their g's - probably moreso than do most Americans.An example of this type of accent in popular culture is that of Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump." Clearly sounded his g's. No offense to Mr. Tennessee, but he had that dialect more than others. Maybe it's a deep-South/Gulf Coast thing, as I believe Tennessee grew up in Alabama, but moved to Knoxville for college and stayed there.(I often analyze humans as if they were any other animal at the zoo. Sue me.)Tennessee and I spoke a bit about the kindness of strangers on the trail. He said you see a lot more of it here than in the real world. I surely agree.Anyway, a great variety of friendly people today. It's a shame I have to leave their company.But I told many of them about my knee, and their responses were similar - "Get off the trail.""It's not like the trail is going anywhere," Julie said. She quite a 1,000-mile section last year after getting Lyme disease and a nasty spider bite. Ouch.So it goes.Tomorrow is 8 miles to NY 20, then 3 miles to Pawling, where there's a train station. Train to NYC, then a bus home, I guess.