Date: 2008-04-30
From: Stealth Site before James Fry Shelter .2 mi

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 12.4

Man does it cool off fast in the mountains. I say this because at 6:30 p.m.last nite, I was already bundled up in all of my clothes and decided to crawlinto my hammock with my warm bag. I had a little more trouble staying warm,but when I woke it was 38 FREEZING COLD degrees this morning! Man...when is itgoing to warm up again? WHINE WHINE WHINE.Today, by its very nature though, is a good day, a town day, Boiling Springs, PAhere I come, and even better, Karen will be there to meet me and I'll be makinga short visit home.So I forced myself out of the warmth of my hammock @ 7:00 a.m. All I have tosay (and yes, I DO realize I've said this recently) is that it's so freakinhard to undress outside in 38 degrees and put cold hiking clothes on. Brrrr..... Just before I put my pants on, I saw a little spider on them, so Ibrushed it off, hoping there weren't more spiders in them.I was stepping off just when the camp of young ladies was waking up, so that atleast gave me a sense of productivity. Today's hike was fairly easy, as all ofthe hiking has been since I started from Front Royal, VA. I can say thisbecause I remember all too well how hard GA/NC/TN was and I know I have somemajor ass-kicking ahead of me.First it was up and over Trent's Hill, which was nice to warm me up. I knew Ihad about 6 short climbs for the day, so I'm always glad when each passingclimb is fairly easy. One cool thing was on one (of the many) roadwalks, Icrossed a side road called Appalachian Trail Rd. I think it would be cool tolive on that road, but it would get old having to write that address out.There were several streams to cross, some more raging than others. I got tothis bridge that I wasn't sure I should trust. One side of its anchoring(wood) was rotted and the whole bridge was angling down towards the water onone side. I just decided to walk across directly above the one log that wasstill secure. Got across no problem.Then on another stream crossing, there was only this skinny log laying across,and your feet are just an inch from the running water. I just hate getting myfeet wet uneccessarily, so I'm always careful on these things. I got across noproblem again, but it was sort of fun.At one point, I felt this really bad sting down by my right ankle. It wasenough for me to stop, pull my pantleg out of my gaitor and look. No bug, butI think it was a spider bite of some sort. I then proceeded to slap and smashmy pant leg all the way up, so if the little thing was still in my pants (ewwww gross!!) I'd hopefully kill it. I'll have to keep an eye on it for surebecause there was an obvious mark.On the second climb of the day, once reaching near the top, there was newterrain. HUGE boulders, and the trail went right through/around/over them. Itwas really fun (but obviously slows you down a bit). At one point, I had tothrow my poles up and climb up this gigantic boulder. Funny thing is, youcould see a nice flat dirt path that sort of went around a lot of this, butsomeone got creative I think. I didn't mind, it was nice to mix it up a bit. One part felt like going through a boulder maze and someone had painted ME andGA with arrows pointing the correct directions to go. Pretty funny.This only lasted over the second-fourth climbs though, after that, it was backto friendly easy trail.I knew that after climb #2, I'd hit my 1100 mile mark! I thought it was onlyappropriate to write it in the mud, since I'd been wet and cold for so manydays. I stood there and looked at the trail behind me and thought about all ofthe other hikers I was physically connected to at that moment by this incrediblepath. Then, I looked ahead and felt a sense of wonderment for all of the sightsI've yet to see and all of the "situations" I'll get myself into or out of. I,of course, toasted to making it to Harper's Ferry, wearing a wet suit in ariver for tubing, completing the Roller Coaster, the many fantastic hostelexperiences (Bear's Den, the Town's Inn, The Free State Hiker Hostel), makingit down off the mountain and into safety from the first severe thunderstorm ofthe season for me, crossing into WV, MD, and now PA, and of course to myfriends Ann, Bill, and Opie the cat, who all took such great care of me and fedme so well. Finally, I toasted to my incredible fortune, that I could be backout here again. I ate a 100 Grand (yummy new candy bar I discovered), andmoved along.Just before reaching Alex Kennedy Shelter, I ran into these awesome 5 women andtheir 2 dogs. My airheaded self didn't write their names down, but they alllive in the same town near Lancaster, PA and all like hiking, so 4 of them havedecided to hike all of PA on the AT in sections. They had fantastic energy andI just know I chatted their ears off. One of the ladies gave me M&M's!!! Itold them these would be my celebratory snack once I made it to BoilingSprings, PA. When they saw me and asked where I was headed the first womanyells back, "Hey look...it's our first thru-hiker!". I did explain that Idon't "technically" fit that title anymore, but their opinion (like mine) was,"who cares, you're doing the whole thing." We talked for like 20 minutes andthen it was off to the last climb of the day.I knew that Center Point Knob was the last climb and after that, my topos lookedlike a flatline for a dead person. It looked like it would be a tough climb upCenter Point Knob, but it was really quite pleasant. See, I don't mindclimbing, I do mind climbing VERY steep mountains for say.....6 miles non-stop? (Like climbing out of the NOC). So I'm just trying to enjoy this terrain whileI can.I made it up to the top of Center Point Knob, took a pic, and could see parts ofcivilization ahead of me. It was about a mile down and then "Laaaaaa!!" thewoods ended and I was in these incredible flat farmfields.So I have to say, it's really nice to hike in open fields sometimes, because youcan see where you're going and it makes you feel like you're progressing morequickly. It was so beautiful. At one point I hiked past an entire huge fieldfull of Goldenrod (a yellow weed) but it was really gorgeous. I took a pic ofcourse. I could see roads ahead, but this all is out in the middle of nowherereally. I love the feeling and sense of vastness you get in these types offields, and then you can look back behind yourself and see the mountains youjust emerged from. The sun was out, I was only miles from town and real food(I miss vegetables so much out here), and some R&R.I guesstimated I'd be in Boilding Springs from 3:30-4:00, but as usual, towndays somehow make my legs work faster and I was at the rendevous point (thepost office) by 3:00 p.m.! I couldn't believe I made it that fast.The guidebook sort of makes this town sound like a deadbeat town, but it'sactually quite beautiful. The trail comes into town through a little park witha large lake, ducks all over, people fishing, park benches. It was nice. Therewas this hilarious lady (now please forgive me if this is too graphic, butseriously?) she had her little dog. He was laying on his back and I swear toyou, she was poking at his rear end with a stick! She was totally unaware ofme, I made sounds to let her know I was coming down the path, but I'm thinkingshe was just too focused on her "mining" or whatever she was doing. It made melaugh though. Of course once the little dog saw me...he was suddenly the man ofthe town and tried to set his boundaries with barking. That too...made melaugh. I think my cat Hank could have kicked this dog's behind.So I actually beat Karen to town, and I knew my mom had mailed my memory card tome in Boiling Springs, so I went in and it was indeed waiting for me. I talkedto this dude who rode up on a bicycle (a little strange, but I didn't care) andthen I called Karen to see her ETA. We've had THE worst luck using Mapquest inrecent months. It seems that website is always sending you the wrong way, andit gave her a right turn when it should have said left. She sort of figured itout when the road turned into a deadend! So I looked at my town map and wefigured it out...she was only 15 minutes away.I immediately apologized for my stench (day #5 w/out a shower), but she didn'tcare. She had booked us a room in the nearby town of Carlisle, PA, so weheaded there. I did eat my celebratory M&M's in front of the PO though (got apic of that too). We got checked in at the Ramada and within minutes, I wassoaking up the warm drops of a very hot shower with my favorite Eucalyptus bodywash from this on-line store called Thymes (discovered this stuff while livingin Hawaii). That stuff knocks the smell of any amount of hiker stench youcould build up. I told Karen to just bring a trash bag and I'd put my smellyhiker stuff in it till we got home.In the shower, I did notice that spider bite looked more like a blister now, andI'm a bit paranoid about spider bites due to my mom's horrible experience (andalmost near death) with a fiddleback last summer. Karen had brought her laptopso we looked up pics of spider bites on google. Oh man...these things are SOGROSS!!! I gathered that all I could do was just watch it and see if any otherreaction started. So, can't worry about what I can't change.I'm clean, dry, warm, in COTTON clothes and now starving. I was surprised withone of my favorite salads that Karen got up and prepared early this morning! She brought all the fixins so I ate....and ate....and ate...and ate....and mandid it feel good to have vegetables and my favorite Tostito's Lime Chips (ifyou try these chips...you'll be hooked for life folks). Then I was spoiledwith the tiny little servings of Ben n Jerry's Cherry Garcia..mmmm. Heaven wasan understatement.This trail...this journey, so much of this whole experience is about deferment. I have a few things to say about that topic, so on one of my days at home, I'llwrite about it.Karen is shuffling the cards, so I best stop blabbing. Tomorrow we're playingit by ear...might go to Gettysburg (I've never seen the place), might dosomething else in the area. Then it's off to take care of some life logisticsand to love on my boys.Still loving every minute (wouldn't mind warmer weather, but hey...beggers can'tbe choosers). Crossing my fingers that Katahdin is in my near future.~Certain