Date: 2003-08-12
From: ten mile mt. shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

DAY 12 ? MILE 744 TUES.7:00             leaving the ten mile mt.shelter. used my little pyramid mosquito net that goes over my sleeping bag and it worked pretty good. was hot last nite. i always question the decisions i make cause it seems i don't get it right very often. the bag liner is working. lot of mice in the shelter last nite. just crossed into n.y. met slack and aa from fla. and emily from vt. met keith. from de. viking from blacksburg va. looks like viking. mutant from xavier. got word there is a hot dog stand up at the next road. have cold soda's makes my mouth water. when you are hiking along and you start hearing traffic noise makes you think you are close to a highway but seems at times to take forever for the trail to take you to the road. but the noise gets louder. met pushing up daisies from minneapolis. she had heard about me from anita. and flatlander. from fla. had a nice visit with those two women. good kids. world would a better place if every one were like those two. daisies had hiked 900 miles then off the trail. then started all over again. she had a broken ankle. healed up and started over again at springer. met a gal with camera with movie . butta from ohio. going thru meadow just a path across field at pawling n.y. met starburst . first nite out had 3 starburst for dinner so they named her starburst. from s. car. nice jkid. met nobo . oh oh here is the hot dog stand. is here every day. lot of cars stopping by. not too happy to be here. not very friendly. met tumbling grace she stumbles a lot but with grace. her son randy is with her. from atlanta. woods dragon. from salem, ma. gave herself the name. likes the woods. met gray matter. tumbling grace are from near springer. said they would give me a ride from springer to atlanta. blisters bad. in shelter. popp-o is here. granddaughter gave him the name. lives in the shenandoah valley. va. was a tough day. yesterday was a real downer. was demoralizing for me . was so stupid. anyway i just didn't have the legs today or the motivation to get more miles in. was humid and hot today. kind of buggy at this shelter. was a snake lying on top of the firepit. gone now. was at telephone pioneer shelter and only two of us in there.      AUG.13 DAY 13 MILE 760.            16 miles today. staying at rph shelter tonight got there about 4:30 is a concrete block bldg. open on one end. has patio with picnic tables. nice also a water pump with a sign that says to treat the water. today on the trail met moose from wash d.c. name from chevy chase movie. wally world. met a couple young fellas who were admitted liberals. had a nice talk with them. i guess i tend to be liberal myself so enjoyed what they had to say. good americans!! met just plain paul. met a maintainer. strange guy. but is doing a lot of work. a new yorker. wanted to talk emotions. met jay jay and laffy taffy from va. cause she laughs a lot. met deacon blues trying to catch popp-o. stopped i na little mt. deli had a turkey sandwich, soda,and pint of icecream.. met five hikers. met a lot of nobos. but time is running out on them. snow is coming to the maine wilderness. standing on top of mt. at a clearing looking out over a meadow with some cows and you can hear them mooing. quite a pastoral scene. whoever the maintainers are for the last section of this trail is . they have done an excellent job. even painted the rocks that stick up so you don't trip over them. it helps me cause i trip over everything. am so damn tired. don't know what it wrong. chronic fatigue syndrome? maybe need some time off.? might be like my old running buddy ken reimers from elkader ia. says. once in a while you need to get out your birth cert. and look at it. ha. guess i will take out my drivers license and look at it. lets see says six foot tall, brn hair, blu eyes, 185 lbs. born 02-12-1940. hell that means i am 63. that is old. maybe thats why i get tired? imagine that. met espy. cause he gives everyone the score. from st.louis. met chick flick from pittsburgh. five of us here in shelter tonite. chick flick, cy girl, little bear, flying bear. jersey came in. he hiked 26 miles today.                   AUG. 14 DAY 14 MILE 779 THURS. 6;45 A.M      made 20 miles yesterday. every one was up this morn. usually the young ones are sleeping in so have to be quiet in the mornings. tried to call mary but not good service. dressed blisters. not good. pain in my back and left leg. can't sleep. can't get in any good position. falling apart.last nite was worst. cant hardly straighten up. getting mentally ready to get off the trail. melancholy. i am really a strange bird. mind screwing my self. probably won't finish trail. so all of you are following me i hope i haven't let you down. should have hooked up with someone. to share the good times and the bad times. need to go so to no. and hook up with nobos. it is a culture that doesn't happen going sobo. the trails in n.y. are great. well groomed. met puff daddy. met bluebird from lex. ky. met littlest hobo. from md. met a couple from scotland, are lost and don't have water with them. came across, i forgot. named cause she forgets things. like left her stove running etc. met some girs who will be out for 3 weeks. good way to do it. arrived at the ballfield at greymoor. bro. leo came down to invite us up for dinner at the friary. indiana ben from ind. big bird from va. and fallback dan from va. beach, are going up for dinner at the friary. bells are ringing. bro leo and dog buddy showing us thru st. francis chapel. altar from italy. we had a great meal. all we could eat. met synapse from tn. kneepad from md. wears kneepads. librarian cause he reads all the time from va. at the friary they have an alcohol treatment ctr. that holds 120 people. nice place. treated blisters. very bad and feet swelling up. will have to leave trail soon.            AUT. 15. DAY 15 FRI. 7 A.M.                     got my pack on ready to go. lots of people here this morn. but they did not get here in time for the dinner. tented last nite. skeeters are really bad. also got away from the snoring. sounded like a foghorn all nite. met sobo matt from philad. and dog named jerry. had ms. is being cured by raw food diet. meditation, and prayer. dressed blisters this morn. not getting any better. am not enjoying this even tho i love a challenge. if i could hike with ind. ben i could enjoy this trail more. he has a lot of fun. been thinking of why i am out here. is it really to leave a legacy for grandchildren? probably not cause i don't think they really care. i have neglected my grandchildren. with all my training for triathlon etc. so feel guilty about that. need to change that. i have made the decision to get off the trail. just a matter of when. nice to have that option. here i am lost again. am on a yellow blaze. backtracking trying to find back the white blaze. looking for my tracks. found my tracks and am back on the trail. have to watch carefully. just crossed the hudson river. saw my first bear. in the bear mt. park. amazing did not see a bear til now. was walking down the highway looking for a motel to stay for the nite. and gene myers a trail angel stopped to see if i needed anything. is taking me to a bus station. great guy. was an attorney for irs. is a section hiker. at central valley. got a bus to n.y.c. no power. bus sta. closed. mass confusion. people wanting to get on a bus. cops had area roped off. almost a riot.they let me thru finally and pushed and shoved my way to a bus. driver. he took my dr. lic.and let me get on and said i had to buy a ticket at cleveland. was 3 hrs late into chi. got home. glad to be here. feet are swelled up twice as big as they should be.