Date: 2010-07-05
From: Shaker Campsite

To: US20
Miles today: 11.5

Set my alarm clock for 3:45am because I'm paranoid that they're going to leave me and I'll be stranded without a way into Albany. Don't ask me why, but I just felt vulnerable camping without the people who will be taking me into town tomorrow.No food for breakfast.Caught Rest Stop packing up. He hadn't made it 2 miles from Shaker campsite! For some reason I thought he'd be camped by US20 after hiking those 40 miles. I felt weak for not being able to keep up with them yesterday. Still insecure about my endurance as compared to them even after I've stayed at their pace for 9 days now.Felt amazingly resilient today despite the 28.5 miles yesterday. Knee still popping a little. Muscle pain in left shin. Shin splints developing? Typical right before a couple of days off and hard mileages. Feet almost fully recovered from the shock of walking these 25+ mile days for 9 days in a row.Waited around for Rest Stop to get going so he wouldn't have to pass me. Although I feel acclimated to their pace, mine has slowed considerably. I just can't explode uphill like I could 2 weeks ago. Spirits are still high. Rest Stop told me that I was going to burn out, but that's no where near true for me yet. I could keep going into Vermont and I know it. I've burned the candle at both ends and in the center, and I'm no where near ready to quit this thing. I'm still just as excited to put on my backpack, as I am to take it off!!!It was flat for a surprisingly long time early on today. The hazy mountains in the distance made them appear insurmountable. Haha, 1790ft unclimbable mountain my foot! Well, I'm tired, sue me. The sunlight shimmered through the swamp grass like I was standing at the gates of heaven. It's going to be HOT today! I'm wearing my thermal pants today for some reason. I sensed the humidity level was going to be higher. My shorts are soaking wet and in my backpack. Within a few minutes of walking through the swamp grass brushing against me, my legs and boots are drenched. Clocked away the miles. The distance always seems shorter in the mornings. All the more reason to start early! Perception? Fresh legs?Caught Rest Stop and Orbit when they took a break by Goose Pond Rd. Counting down the miles pretty hard to Upper Goose Cabin. So tired and ready for a break! I think you feel more exhausted when you know you're going to be resting in just a little while. Seeing the finish line isn't necessarily motivational.Rest Stop calls the "AMC" the "Appalachian Money Club". I deduced that from my stay at the Mohican Center. They're definitely wealthy. The patrons of the club that is. Someone mentioned that a lot of the really nice lakes and ponds up north are captured by the AMC. I hope not, I'd like to camp by a nice lake for free when I return to the trail.Hiked behind Orbit after our little break by the road. We got to Upper Goose Pond and were distracted by a rope swing! I told her that I'd get the rope if she'd swing into the pond! I needed to rinse off my legs anyways. I'm pretty nervous about how bad I smell and meeting her relatives.The pond was very shallow and rocky. Not sharp pointy rocks but flat slippery boulders under the surface of the water. I have tender feet and the rocks hurt me. I don't have flip-flops anymore since I ditched them in Kent to save weight for the last hoo-rah. I gingerly stagger across the rocky bottom to grab the rope. I tried walking the rope back, but I couldn't reach high enough as the line became taunt. I couldn't hand the rope to her because she was so high up on the tree it was suspended from. I grab a branch and try delivering the end of the rope to her that way. After almost falling over backwards into the water I give up. I couldn't reach her hand. So we tried throwing the rope up. After the third attempt she caught it. It was then that we both realized how terribly dangerous it would be to swing from that height into such shallow water. It would require a strong grip and quick reflexes to keep from falling flat on your back and slamming into the rocky pond floor. Rest Stop said once that, "Hikers are like Tyrannosaurus's, they have huge legs, huge mouths, huge appetites, and little tiny arms!"I tell Orbit there's no shame in not doing it. I wanted to rinse off regardless of the swing. Honestly, I really didn't want her to do it. I told her it wasn't worth risking Katahdin over, so she stepped down.Passed a section hiker with a huge backpack. He's bitching as I blow past him about us having 20lb packs. Passed a group of who I though were AMC tourists out on a "guided hike". By the time I'd made US20, Rest Stop and Orbit were sitting on the roadside waiting.This is it I thought. A lump in my throat forming already. Looking off into the woods were white blazes that I wasn't sure if I'd ever see again. I'm determined to return, but there's just no certainty in that.We tried hitching into Lee for lunch because we thought it'd be 2hrs before Orbits mother came to rescue us. Turned out she was there early and as she passed by she taunted us and called us "BUMS!" Haha, she caught her daughter hitchhiking!Orbit left a cooler of pop by the trail north of US20. We drove to a roadside curb and met several of her family members from Connecticut. They're all so proud of her! Orbit's mom has been worried sick over her daughter being on the AT. She doesn't realize just how good of a person that Rest Stop is. Wow, I wish I could have met him earlier and learned what I know now.Alice Menzel is Orbit's mother. Alice drove us to a food court at a retail outlet store. Lots of Beverly Hills looking store fronts and classy looking people. When I walked into the mass of people by the restaurants...I felt immediately as if something was about to step on me. I found it hard to relax. It was hard to breath being around so many non-hikers. Compounded by the fact that I look and smell like a mentally ill street walker. The Chinese food will make it better. I'll bury my fears in MSG's!I still feel snobby though. When I considered how no one in this place will ever have accomplished such a phenomenally difficult goal as me, I felt better.I fell asleep in the car as we made our way to the Menzel's house in Albany, NY. When I wake it's to the sound of Alice screaming that a cop had busted her! She'd been driving 85mph. Within a couple of minutes of being home she takes me to Stewarts (where she's a manager) and buys me my own half gallon of whole milk! I protested, but she insisted. She's such a nice lady! So proud of her daughters accomplishment! They have gnomes in their front yard. She told stories about how the gnomes come and go. Move in and move out. They move around the yard and find their way into other people's yards. They had a gnome in a swing, dangling from a tree branch, that looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself! She has a chain-link fence gate, with no chain-link fence around it. Just out in the open. She said, "Oh look, someone left the gate open!" as we arrived into their driveway. They decorate the gate during the holiday seasons.Mr. Menzel works for a bakery. He's a mechanical engineer/electrician that repairs the machinery. They live close to the airport and the train station. Orbit plays piano. Rest Stop claimed that he could play piano also. He knows the "Jaws" theme song. Orbit's pretty good on the keys. She wrote her own songs at the age of 5 years old. Her brother took a Harley Davidson mechanic course in Florida. It's a 6 month long class. That sounds exciting! He's working in landscaping now.They make Orbit's favorite meal for dinner. Baked macarroni! Vegan and one with meat! Ummmm. Pretty good although it was blisteringly hot inside their house. I'm laughing inside at all the hikers stuck out in the heat tonight! Suckers!Talked to Lish about coming home. Her parents can stay with her after the surgery. That's all I needed to hear to be convinced to come home right now. I'm tired. I'm WAYY ahead of where I need to be to finish on September 17th. She'd like to have me around for some reason.I go back in the house and get a flight at 10:10am on the 6th. So nervous! I hope everything will work out. I'm having dreams of riding my motorcycle back north.Orbit is going out with her friends to see "Eclipse". Me and Rest Stop laugh at her and tell her to have lots of fun! She invites us. Hahaha! No way!I watch Pirates of the Caribbean and Band of Brothers. Rest Stop points out that the old guys on the AT end up looking like holocaust victims by Katahdin. I've seen that already! Cowboy actually looked like one of the prisoners on TV!