Date: 2008-07-07
From: Bennington, VT

To: Still Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

As you can tell from the last few entries, we've been struggling to get to Manchester Center, VT. I actually think we will be getting there very soon, but the trail does what it seems to do, and that is throw curveballs. To start at the beginning though, we made our way out of Brooklyn last week and got back on the trail in Pawling, NY. In all honesty, I was ready to throw in my pack when we left my brother's house in New York. I promised myself that I would give it the old college try though and agreed to hike out and spend one more night in the tent. I woke up the next morning and was still feeling pretty defeated so Bunz and I started brainstorming some ideas so that I could get off the trail for a couple days in Kent, CT and then meet back up with him a little further north before I made any "rash" decisions to go back to Georgia. As we were hiking into Kent that morning we came across a guy guiding a small group of ladies on a day hike. He was a real trail character. He immediately struck up a conversation, introduced himself as Elvis Trailsly, told us about the section of trail that he maintains in New York (he's the guy who put flamingos up on the trailside) and kept us pretty entertained overall. Right before he walked away, he looked directly at me and said, "You're gonna make it. I can tell." I hadn't said anything about wanting to quit! It was like he just knew I needed to hear that. By the time we rolled into Kent a couple of hours later, I was completely recommitted to Maine. I'm actually glad that I got that low, because I can't tell you how good it felt to be able to pick myself back up and still be out here. We went gangbusters through the rest of Connecticut and Massachusetts and eventually met back up with friends right before Vermont. So why, you ask, are you still not in Manchester Center? Well, we hiked into Bennington on Friday (July 3) and met up with our buddy Hearts. We managed to convince him to stay in town an extra day (he'd already been here for four days with his girlfriend) and enjoy the 4th with everyone. We celebrated our independence in true American style with hot dogs, beer and fireworks and hiked out the next day. Hearts was not feeling so hot by the time we left town and after 10 miles in on Sunday, he was completely wiped out. Yesterday morning he woke up feeling even worse, so a group of us (Bunz & I and Tupperware) went back down into Bennington with him and got a hitch straight to the hospital. He was admitted pretty quickly, but ended up waiting about 10 hours for a diagnosis. His condition kept getting worse and they ended up giving him a spinal tap to test for menengitis last night around midnight. Unfortunately, the test came back positive. He was given a room and a bed around seven this morning and will probably have to stick around at the hospital for most of the day, if not longer. It's a real sad day in trail town for our hiking crew and we're all hoping that Hearts is able to pull a quick recovery and get back out there. He's worked so hard to get to this point and I can't tell you how hard it was for him to hike back down to Bennington. He is one tough man. So send some positive thoughts towards Bennington, VT because this guy needs them.I realize that this entry is a bit hum-drum, but I assure you that spirits are high and we are still having a great time. We are less than 600 miles from Katahdin at this point and it seems like it's just getting more and more beautiful everyday. We feel so lucky to still be out here and are trying to soak up every moment. And the good news for you folks at home is that you still have time to send us a card or letter to cheer us on our way! Don't be shy! We can always use some encouragement!