Date: 2018-05-04
From: Pen Mar Park

To: Tumbling Run Shelter
Miles today: 8.5

Thanks to Spike Rhino for recognizing the bloodroot flower! Also my dear friend Sandy from Longboat Key, Florida who confirms the identification. Sitting around the hotel bar last night nursing a bourbon on the rocks was most pleasant but also sad. Shiner¢s resupply at the Super Walmart consisted of buying a large suitcase. She arranged for a shuttle to Baltimore-Washington International Airport at 3AM. Between the drama of the trail and tugs from home, especially from a 4-year old angel of a girl that she and her husband are raising, Shiner reached her decision. We all had a joyful time yesterday and that¢s a great way for her to end her hike. Shiner will finish the trail as a section hiker, definitely not the lesser babka (a Seinfeld reference).  Cue the spooky organ. These are the days of our life ... Possibly Shiner will join us on part of the trail in the south. That would be a treat!I am in the habit of saying the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer. It¢s a habit easily broken and I frequently skim lessons I don¢t like, like the current Old Testament readings from Leviticus. Saying the offices makes me feel in touch with a ritual that goes back nearly 2,000 years in the Christian tradition and far longer in Judaism. It makes me feel part of something far larger than myself. Don¢t worry, I¢m not going to go all squishy evangelical on you. My faith and understanding of the divine is like the blind person and the elephant. Perhaps I grasp a single hair on the elephant¢s tail. At any rate, yesterday¢s Gospel reading from Matthew hit me hard after Shiner¢s bombshell. It¢s the lovely reading about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, ending with the gentle exhortation: So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today¢s trouble is enough for today,Whatever your faith or lack thereof, this is my path to a successful hike. I know there will be ups and downs, smooth trail and rock gardens. I know rain is forecast for later today extending into Sunday. Whatever! I¢ll rejoice in the cooler weather and in the knowledge that the springs will be recharged. I won¢t melt but I may shelter instead of tenting. Whatever. It¢s all good. After committing gluttony at the hotel¢s breakfast buffet, I phoned Francis for a shuttle back to Pen Mar Park. Rocky Raccoon, Willow and I were hiking by 9. I was feeling very lead belly and struggling with a full load of food and water. It was hot and humid. After a brief downhill, we started the big uphill of the day. Breakfast almost didn¢t make it to the top, and I struggled to keep up with Rocky Raccoon. Aside from nibbling on nuts, dried fruit and these marvelously chewy dried sausages, I¢ve eaten nothing but a four-serving bag of potato chips left as Trail magic about a mile from our destination Tumbling Run Shelter. The sausages are noteworthy. They look like mummified Vienna sausages, or with my Flannery O¢Connor hat on, petrified Egyptian penises worthy of worship by Enoch. I will have Ramen and a pouch of chicken for dinner. Fortunately after the up and unzipping the bottom legs from my pants and switching to a sweatband instead of my hat, things improved. The rest of the trail today was kind and gentle, with frequent road crossings and babbling brooks. There were a few brief rain showers, just enough for us to put our pack covers on twice, and just enough to make the woods steamy. Tumbling Run Shelter is a double Shelter with a covered picnic pavilion and a real privy that actually has toilet paper and is periodically pumped out. I can hardly wait until morning! Rocky and Willow are tenting tonight, but I¢ve decided to sleep one of the shelters. Joining me is Steady from Oklahoma, another Flip-flopper who is carrying a bear canister. It¢s an immediate bond. Also in our side are The Three Sisters, Carol, Paulie, and Dee. Our side looks like a department store after a sale, with clothes and goodies scattered everywhere. Also here are The Professor, Day Maker, sand several others I haven¢t met. The Shelter caretaker came by to replenish the toilet paper and is a prince of a fellow. He has been volunteering with Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for 25 years! We could not thank him enough!