Date: 2009-07-22
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's been quite a while since I attended to my journal, and it's now time to catch up. After my friend Edward picked Moonlight and I up at the ATC HQ in Harper's Ferry, he drove us in to my place in Arlington Virginia. We had pizza at a local restraunt and then went to my house for the first time in three months. Although it had been unoccuppied for three months, friends in the neighborhood came by on a regular basis and was still fairly fairly clean. Moonlight ended up staying at my place the first night, and then went to stay with his son the following day.The July 4th fireworks were fun to watch on the mall, and I joined up with Moonlight and his son to watch the concert on the Capitol steps and get a view of the fireworks. I then walked to the Pentagon, appx 4 miles, and was lucky enough to catch the last bus of the evening. Home by midnight.I had a lot of fun visiting the congressional committees I used to work for. In general, everyone was envious ahd said nice things about my weight loss and general appearance. Lots of questions about whether I'd run into the South Carolina Governor during my hike (Mark Sandord, when he was a congressman in the 1990s, was actually a member of the subcommittee that I ran, but I never really got to know him). Still, Congress was in session, so no one had the time to sit down and seriously talk. Alicia, a former colleage, arranged a get together at a local bar, and it was great to relax with a bunch of people that I'd worked with for so many hears.I also went to visit my former colleagues at the State Department. The visit coincided with the Friday afternoon good-bye party for another colleague who was in the midst of leaving government service. It was great fun to tell stories, show pictures, and catch up with general gossip. This visit reassurred me that I'd made the right decision in leaving government when I did. The folks stukk working there are overwhelmed with work regarding to the crazy North Korean dictator, Iranian thugs, and trying to organize meetings between the new Obama/Clinton folks and the Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis and others. Even if I were welcome, I just don't have the necessary dedication to go through another cycle with the new administration. The issues are too important to have people working these issues if they are not fully committed to the effort. More power to them, but better them than me.I took a train down to South Carolina to visit family and pick up my car. The train got there at 1:00 am and I'd insisted that my mom not come pick me up, so I ended up walking 3 miles from the train station to mom's house. We had a great familiy reunion, with about 20 cousins coming, asking a lot of questions, and looking at pictures. Hiking the AT is not anything anyone else (excepting Barney) in the family would consider, and I think a lot of my family, while impressed, is still scratching their heads.Back in D.C., I went to my local REI outfitter and did my best to get light equipment. If I'm going out again, I have no desire to walk with a 40 lb pack, and would hope to get it down to around 20 lbs. The 4 lb pack has been swapped out for a 20 oz Go Lite; the 3 lb Feathered Friends sleeping bag is exchanged for a 4 oz silk liner that gives 10 degrees of warmth, which should be plenty in August. I'm too claustrophobic for the 15 oz bivy sacks, so I'm stuck with my roomy 33 oz tarplet. Lighter sleeping pad, dumping the cold weather clothes, a streamlined med kit, 2 days of food rather than the 5 days that I'd been carrying, a bit less water, and I'm getting pretty close. My plan is to go out in the next few days, park my car at the ATC HQ, and do a number of slack-pack section hikes. Gordon and Theresa Cooley, friends from college, have volunteered to let me stay at their home the first day or two and provide chauffer services. Then I'll start doing continuous segments while using my car as a mothership, doing 50-75 segments. I've no idea how far I will go. I've reconciled myself to the fact that I'm not getting to Maine this year. Truth is, I've long known I lack the internal fire in the belly to hike the entire trail. But I've still got a month or more of walking time, and if I make it to the Husdon River or so would be great. We'll see.