Brrrrr-eaking the cold weather gear out (with new ER twist)

We're getting some colder temperatures out here these days. I've been getting down to freezing at night, though not long enough to freeze my water bottles. Luckily the rain we got recently has filled up the springs and streams, so there is actually water in my bottles ready to freeze. I've very excited about the wool long underwear that is sitting about a mile away from here at the Rendezvous Motel, where I'm staying tonight. The hourly rate is very reasonable here in Pearisburg VA.

The leaves are starting to be past their prime, and are mostly brown now rather than the great color show that was going on as recently as last week. If I had to make a complaint (of which, I really do have very few), it would be that the deep leave cover on the ground makes following the trail hard. When the trail is visible, if covered, the leaves make travel hard due to not being able to see the pointy rocks, holes, or tripping roots. Even when [not finished due to time limit in the library]

Now with Medical TV Flavor:

So... a bunch has happened in the last week. It all basically boils down to: after I wrote that text above, I went to get more food (5 plates of all you can eat chinese!), and later that night suffered incredible stomach cramps, vomiting and fever. I thought this could have been a stomach virus or food poisoning, so I waited it out for 4 days. Two of those I was being baby-sat by a very helpful hiker buddy. After 4 days I was finally convinced that medical help was needed, and was sent to the ER where fluids were alternately (well... sometimes simultaneously) pumped into and out of me.

They found that a gall stone had probably passed through my pancreas, an infection was raging in my still stone filled gall bladder, and that my gall bladder wussed out and ruptured. So, they gutted me, taking out the gall bladder, and hosed all the bile and infected material out of my torso. Well... do you still call it being gutted if they use 3 tiny holes instead of a large ragged gash?

The good news is that

• I didn't die (oh yeah! they said I could have in those first 24 hours of agony),
• though the stone wasn't the biggest, nor was the gall bladder wall the thickest, the doctor did proclaim that my rupture was the messiest he's seen in over 1000 gall bladder surgeries
• I'll need just a couple more weeks of recovery time.
• the swelling around the incision area has migrated south on my torso, doing what all those spam e-mails claim, but without herbs (though only temporarily, painfully, and unusably)

I'm resting up at our Kentucky sanatorium (AKA, the folk's home). I will decide a bit later on if I'm going to continue to finish the trail this year, or if I'm going to move on to my next adventure. Either way, if you see folks on the trail who know me, pass on the news: "he's not dead yet. you may still have to see him again."

Ah... and just to protect the all-you-can-eat chinese place (because it was good eats)... it wasn't their food that did me in. The fats/oils just triggered what was already going to happen. I could have just as easily been stricken after drinking a bottle of EVOO or eating a stick of butter as in my normal food-dreams.

Are you VA-jellin'? or Virginia Wolfe meets Dr. Sholes. or VA, VA, VA, boom.

Man, can I move slow when I don't want to. I've "Virginia creeper"-ed along, managing to break 50 mile weeks for the last two weeks or so. I've recently visited with, or stayed with friends and/or family of friends a few times, taken a side road trip, been stricken with the common cold, and developed a possibly pus-filled pocket in one of my perambulation providers (got a cyst or some other fun-filled bump in my knee).

Thanks guys who put me up for the night! It was greatly appreciated. Home cooked food and hot baths (yes, more than one!) are so much better when you get them after a long wait (so far about 4 1/2 months on the trail).

I took a 200 mile detour back to Gettysburg with a couple other hikers to go to a long distance hiker gathering. It's strange to go so fast, especially backward to places I didn't think I'd see again until much later. Off in the distance from Gettysburg, you can see the mountains we walked across headed south on the trail. Luckily, we didn't have to walk back.

Somewhere along the line I picked up a cold and just didn't have the wind to keep walking all day. I popped off to a hotel just outside of the Shenandoahs for a few days to recover.

I have a bubble in my left knee! Who knows what's in there, but we may find out soon. I'll try to take pictures, cause I hear it could get colorful, and fountain-like. Looking forward to jabbing it with something sharp. Just waiting for a large enough audience.

Last night, my tent pole broke in two places. Yes I was sober, and paying attention this time. Mountain Hardware is sending a replacement at my next trail stop. I've never had such good service... It took about 2 minutes to get everything taken care of; very painless. Very happy.

I'm having a blast with the banjo... getting OK at a couple of songs, and close to being able to sing one... right now, I can only say the song rather than sing it.

I saw 4 more bears... total = 7. And all of them ran away, proving hiker smell beats bear aggression.

I'm in another Waynesboro (this time in VA), at the 1325 mile marker on the trail. So only another 848 miles to go.

there is still so much to tell that I can't get out in these 20 minute computer time slots. May be staying in town another night... so possibly another edition tomorrow.

Ciao, and miss all you guys. Just not enough to come back yet :) Oh... and a teaser... I may have figured out what to do when I'm done walking (besides sitting down for a long time). Until next time, I'm mostly still walking, and always still having a blast!

Half and half

So, I've officially made it half way. Whether you count miles, or traditional "middle" markers. I'm tired. My feet hurt nearly as much as they smell. I'm still loving it.

Latest adventures:

Was introduced to the wild world of Sheetz, the gas station of the future. They have every flavor of soda on tap (via a machine named "the fizzanator"), and about 20 flavors of cappuccino (via a machine I've dubbed "the cappuccinator"). Also, you can't order anything directly from a person, except cigarettes. Everything else goes through a machine... and don't even think about asking how to use the machine. No substitutions, no exception! Fun, but at least a large coffee cost 52 cents (same price as a small, for some reason...me thinks the machine was hosed up, or the human at the register was hosed up).

On leaving Wyanesboro, I stopped for a drink. It was my birthday for crying out loud! Turned out to be a great idea. Got free food and drink. Ran the pool table for a while. Had the whole bar singing "Happy Birthday". Finally, had to walk two miles of road back to the trail at 2 in the morning, and planted my sleeping bag just off the trail because the combination of rocks, dark, and booze wasmore conducive to shin and knee brusing than long distance walking. I did have offers for rides back to the trail head... but beer sounded better than leaving on someone else's schedule. So, welcome to the list folks from the last tavern in Wyanesboro; prepare for eye strain!

Had a great meal just off the trail... about $100 a head. Was worth it just to crash the wedding that was going on in the same place at the same time :) Nothing like mixing knee high smelly socks with tuxedos, and wicking t-shirts with cumberbunds, dusty black fleece vests with white flowing gowns. As we left, we borrowed some excess half and half containers from the reception area for coffee back in camp. If the newly wed couple's union is half as good as the bond between the first half and the second half of half and half, then they should last at least 10 days in the sun.

And that does it for now... folks are eyeing me in this hostel outside of Harpers Ferry... Ciao, until later ;)

quick AT photo dump, and Happy b-day from the trail

Latest Appalachian trail photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/tompscanlan/AT3

I haven't had time to edit or attach lables to these, but they run from Vermont down to PA.

Don't forget the others: http://picasaweb.google.com/tompscanlan

It is my b-day today... so howdy! Staying at a friend's family's place. Had a gargantuan breakfast buffet, and a little banjo playing. Hung out with some cool kitty cats, and uploaded pictures.

I'm still working on getting a phone back, so if I'm not calling folks back... get used to it :)

Still hiking in a clump of south bounders, which is really changing how the whole trail experience works for me (primarily things like egging folks into drinking a gallon of milk). Luckily I still get fun times like spending two days reading next to a duck pond in Boiling Springs, PA.

Ok... time up. Running. May try 4 state challange (the 56 miles from PA, through MA, WV, and into VA in 24 hours)... but probably I'll just do 20's :) I'm a lazy, non-rushing bum these days. Oh.. maybe a movie before I leave town!

PA rocks!

It has been a few hundred miles since the last mail, and I have a handy computer, so here goes:

I pulled my first 28 or 29 mile day yesterday to get into Duncannon PA. I'm nearly out. I'm looking at about a week and a half to get to the edge of Virginia, for those of you in VA who are looking to meet up. If I get my phone back soon, I'll be giving you guys a call as I get closer.

I would have been here quicker, alas, I keep having such a great time meeting people and seeing things, that I maintain my erratic pace. Since my NYC stop, I've passed through NY, NJ, and most of PA. It got super rocky; these rocks kick balls (of the feet). At some point I'll get to a place that I can upload photos... one of the coolest is of a rattle snake devouring a chipmunk. I missed several snapshots of bears, and a few other killer snakes.

I also failed to take pictures of co-ed naked, drunken, fire circle running and falling. I really wish I had taken some photos of the nice scrapes, bangs, and bruises I picked up tripping over the PA rocks. With a little blurring out of sensitive bits, I could have even shared them with you guys. In the course of that night, I lost my glasses too. On which I will blame all the falling down, rather than blaming the wild turkey, darkness, rocks, and nakedness.

This innocent debauchery happened just out side of Palmerton, PA where I and a few others ended up taking a few zero days. As if in trade for the lost glasses, some unknown person put finger picks for a banjo into my banjo case. Very strange that someone would happen to have finger picks, realize that I didn't have them, and stick them secretly into my case. I imagine a deranged garden gnome is to blame.

I've bumped into two more random re-meets of random folks that I never thought I'd see again. One was of a northbound hiker, who I've now seen in two states walking her dog, after she finished her hike. Another was a woman from the Palmerton diner, who I bumped into a few days later, and ~ 60 miles later as she was day hiking. This makes the count of coincidental re-meets around 7 or 9. It's a small trail.

Lost my phone in a car. Met someone at a nice view and I talked my smelly, hungry, hiker body into a dinner run with her. Had good cheap food, and thought that was going to be it... now there's a whole crew working on retrieval of the phone.

Saw 3 bears on the trail. All ran away pretty quickly.

I've been hiking with other people since I left NYC. It completely changes how this hike feels. I got so used to being secluded every night... and now I have real people I can talk to! Good and bad, both. Mostly good, and I'm not looking to being alone anytime soon, o my pace may be getting less erratic as I try to keep in the pack. On the other hand, maybe I'll break back out of the pack so I can continue my own strange trip.

Gosh... there is too much more, and I don't have the time. Wish I could get this stuff down in mail as it happens rather than a 10 minute gush every couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get in more soon... Still having a blast out here.

New York? New Liver!

I'll be on the move again today. I had the itch to leave on Friday night, but somehow Friday ran smack into Saturday with awesome suddenness. I missed hitting the post office by noon, so I lived up my marooned status until Monday. I never thought I'd say it, but thank god trail side tiki bars with all day drink specials went out of style; my liver needs to air out.

I've picked up some public domain audio books from librivox to help keep the noodle from drying out. I had some insight into ol' Ted Kasinski's mental break while trying to get some of the commercial audio book folks to work with the public library system and my MP3 player at the same time. He may have been crazy, but luckily he got sent up river before trying this stuff out. The horrors that he would have unleashed make me shudder.

Speaking of soul deep chills; I walked through a day of rain to get to the train station into NYC. Once I get to the train platform, everything was soaked, and the temperatures were in the mid 50's. Those conditions and a nice breeze whipping across the platform, and through the train during the hour or more ride made me wonder how embarrassing it would be to walk this far and die of hypothermia in the city. Luckily, the shivering and rocking was enough to keep my temps up, and the seats next to me empty.

It was great seeing all the NYC crew! It's difficult to leave, but I did start to realize that I'm not in the right frame of mind to live here right now. I'm not sure if that's a temporary thing or not. More thinking on that... as it helps me decide what I'm doing after this.

Whoops.... gotta run. Food, then train. Ah... NYC food. Wish I could marry a fried chicken sandwich... or coffee, or even the ribs :(

ciao

Connecticut Re-connection

I've been moving a bit faster than I was expecting. I had my first 23 mile day, which I felt for two days. I'll be in NYC probably Tuesday night, and may stay through the weekend. I'm looking for temporary lodging... (drat team untie)... so folks, give a call if you want to stink up your apartment a bit, and have a guy polish a 3' x 6' space on your floor. Also, if folks want to do any goofy tourist stuff, or teach me to sail, then give a call. Oh.... and the pouring beer and/or food into my food portal... call now!

As for all things mental, I'm doing pretty dang ol' good. Mass and Conn have been very good for me. The variety in terrain has been fun fun fun, and I got to hang out with some other hikers for a moral lift, and some lifting of spirits to my lips. I really like the woods out here. Walking out here reminds me a bit of Maine, with changing from river walks, to rocky scrambles, to mossy stream sittin' spots. I kind of wish I weren't hitting NY so soon. Alas, NYC calls and the miles pass.

Funniest hitch hike of the week: truck with locked bed cover driven by stoner guy (also he fishes and is a carpenter... JC is it you?), had to drag the banjo and pack into the front seat with me again. Tight hitch. Not as bad as the mini cooper hitch, but a close second. You haven't lived until you are swinging around 30 MPH curves at 60 MPH, with no seat belt, and no option of jumping from the moving vehicle. He was fun though! And smelled like pot! Second coming, indeed!

Best magic of the week: met three guys walking down this steeeeep hill that lead to a shelter .5 miles off the trail. I had night hiked in and didn't realize how steep it really was. These guys were older folks, and asked me to pass on word of their whereabouts to two others ahead of them. I met the two others and passed on word. Later in the day I got the three guys seriously lost when the trail was ambiguous, but got them straightened out again after a half mile detour. Then I hit a road where the other two were driving back to find the the hikers I misled. I mentioned that the pack of three were going to be just a bout 15 minutes behind me. So the two guys pull over the car and whip out beer! Two beers later, I stumbled off into the woods again. Getting paid in beer for losing your friends; priceless, unless beer has a monetary value, in which case it's two beers worth of money.

Worst smell of the week: close tie between my socks, and the water I had to filter a couple days back. One smelled like death, the other like a sulfur pit. Filtering that water through my socks may actually have mellowed the scent. Mmm, poland springs may be on to something.

Strangest recent connections:

1. Allied One, a company that insists I may have already won a ford explorer or 25,000$ keep leaving me partial voice mails.
   
2. Google, who are trying to interview me again while out here. What an odd time and place in life to try taking a technical phone call. "Patricia trie? Nah... but lots of maples!"
   
3. Bumped into a section hiker that I met in Maine. It's a small trail.

Well... I'll be turning on the phone tomorrow when I zero in on NYC. Hopefully there's a place to sleep, and a cold one waiting. Here's to figuring out the train system again, after spending 2.5 months where the most complicated part of the day is lifting your foot up and putting it back down again, or working a spork. Pot-smoking-hitch-driver save me!