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!

Critical Mass; Lovermont or leave it

I may have to cut this one short...

So, I've left Vermont for Massachusetts and all the Huggy folks there. I liked the people much, much, much more, than I liked the hike through Vermont. I hit a mental barrier that I used to laugh at when I read other people's accounts of hiking long distances. I thought they just didn't like nature as much as they thought, or were just quitters. As I've learned, after walking 600 miles, it is just hard to get up and spend another 8 hours walking. I'm still going. I'm just not sure anymore that I'll be walking all the way to Georgia. I keep having to remind myself that this trip isn't about walking from Maine to Georgia, it's about jumping at opportunities, learning, living a more full life, meeting great people, seeing great things, and shitting in the woods.

If walking Vermont killed my soul, it's people helped me forget that I don't really believe in souls. I popped into towns as much as possible to help relieve the boredom that I was feeling while walking. I met several folks along the way... and now they are on this list as well... Howdy newcomers! Hitch hiking has been loads of fun, but sadly almost no terrible stores have come about due to hitching. I was picked up by a couple of guys in a sporty yellow 2 door, that looked like they were up to no good, but even they turned out to be okay; they weren't the gang banging shoot-a-guy-in-the-face-for-his-shoes type of guys they appeared to be at first blush.

It took me much longer than expected to do the last couple hundred miles... I'm physically able to do 20+ mile days now, but I just have a hard time getting my head to do it. I find every excuse to sit down, or get distracted, or sleep in, run to a town, read a book, or pluck a banjo. I've seriously considered getting off the trail. Before Vermont, I never doubted that I'd finish, but now I just can't say one way or the other. I've been trying to figure out what I'm really doing out here, and if I ever figure that out, my plans may very well change.

Today I'm sitting at around 620 miles in Dalton, Mass, in the cool (AC!) library. Thanks to yet another trail legend I have a place to sleep as long as I need. I had planned on staying only one night, but now I'm on my second zero day here. I'm doing some thinking, I think... and some resting, some drinking, and some reading, and lots of eating. I've been having a grand old time, but I'll be moving on shortly, hopefully with a clearer picture of what the heck I'm up to.

I'm feeling pretty good in the head today, but we'll see how that is when I get walking again. I've picked up a new pair of shoes today, as the last pair are pretty close to dead. By the smell, they've been dead for quite some time... and rotting in the sun. I've also picked up a banjo (punny!), because I got it stuck in my head that I'd like to learn how to play the banjo. The sales clerk was cruel enough to keep trying to lead me to the much smaller and much lighter mandolins, but finally agreed to sell me a banjo when he realized I was seriously going to put cash in his hand that moment. That I agreed to not playing the banjo in the store also made the transaction go much smoother.

So... the banjo is yet another excuse to move slower. It's also one of the goals of my hike. This trip is partially to help me change how I live. Impulsive acts and enthusiasm for learning are on the list of things I want to keep alive.

I think I'll be getting to NYC in around 3 weeks. As I get closer, I'll be calling down the list for folks that want to pour beer into my burger hole. On the other hand, maybe I'll just show up, that way you can't cheap out on me by leaving town before buying me a beer.

He's got legs, and knows how to bruise them

These trail runners were made for running, and that's just what they'll do, one of these days these trail runners are going to break my creaking ankles clean off.

Once again, I've hit a computer... this time from a respectable home with a shower that doesn't fall over if you brush against the wall. Huge thanks to the Monsein family of Sugar Hill NH; of the mother daughter pair I may have mentioned to some of you. The mother portion of that gang has a stress fracture and has taken me in. Her daughter continues to hike and gobble up all the trail magic south of here.

I've just come down from the Franconia ridge, which I can see from the back porch here (these here Monsein cats have some neato diggs), after around 360 miles or so of the trail. Just recently I've found a set of trail legs have grown in where my old legs used to be. They may have been cobbled out of the rubber tire that has gone missing from around my gut region. It is truly amazing what these new toys can do! They keep on trudging up hills even when I'm too out of breath to keep going, they can jog at a good 4 mile per hour pace on the few flats and copious down hills. Unfortunately, my right foot is still pretty against the whole idea of walking 2000 miles and keeps trying to escape by breaking off at the ankle. It has attempted this escape maneuver twice this week.. I can tell because my ankle complains of separation anxiety. I'll survive, but don't be surprised if I come back with a peg foot.

I hear it is toasty hot in NYC, but the last several days I've been looking at my breath as is fogs out from my wheezing lungs in the White Mountains. I've luckily avoided hypothermia, but was a bit concerned when going towards and up Mt. Washington, at a 1 mile per hour pace, in the rain, in the clouds, in the 40 mph winds. I had skipped breakfast that morning and ran out of fuel for the furnace about half way up. Luckily I was able to cram about 2000 calories into my Oreo hole on the top of Washington, and complete the day soaked, and shivering about 10 hours into my 7 mile hike that day.

I've been very wet. It's been one of those Charles Shultz weeks (or two?), but with real rain clouds following me and trees that eat pack covers rather than kites. I'm still loving every moment... though mostly in retrospect, rather than as I live them.

I did a work-for-stay at one of the Huts in the White Mountains a few days back, where to get room and board that night I had to tell about the AT trip to a crowd of well fed, warm, day-hiker types. This bard's tale was to be told the night of my Mt. Washington hike. I planned it nervously, but as I started talking and folks prompted with questions, I really brightened up as I revisited all the funny stories and beautiful spots. I think I talked for about an hour and fifteen minutes to the crowd, and around 2 more on an individual basis to a few more interested folks. Memories are right at the top of the list of thing I'm loving about this trip, rivaled by the people and beautiful sights, while the actual walking has moved down to the bottom, just above shivering in the cold rain because everything I own is wet.

I forget where I left you guys last, so here are some of the more interesting parts that I think didn't make the last mail I sent out:

- I crossed my first state line (now my socks have become a federal Superfund case, not just a Maine problem!)

- I have pictures of a gory Moose death in the Mahoosuc Notch. (the notch is claimed to be "the hardest mile" on the trail... envision a glass of ice water, the cubes bunched up at the bottom; be an ant crawling down the nearly vertical inner side of the glass as water pours down it, then climb over and under the cubes of ice for a mile, then climb up the far side of the glass as water pours down it as well.) (hell, the locals can't do it very well either, just see picture of the moose for verification)

- I've turned into an "ounce weenie" to some extent. I dropped my pack weight from around 40 lbs. to around 25 lbs. Now every day is almost like day hiking. I still have more pounds to shave from my packing list... but I've got plenty of time.

- I'm nearly through "all the hard parts" of the trail, according to most north bounders I run into. Apparently, I should start pushing 40 mile days unless I'm a real wuss, or a cadaver, or both. Judging from the smell of my socks... I'm no wuss (hey, I did voluntarily smell them, right), but very possibly cadaverous.

- I can still get a sun burn in an hour. A few days back I got 1 hour of sun, in between sprinkles as I was crossing an open cliff. I proceeded to strip down and pull everything out of my pack to dry. I just had enough time to dry it all before the rain came, and I had to pack quick... but I can still feel the burn on my shoulders (yeah! pack straps rock my world... or is that wreck my world?)

- I met the cleanest, perkiest north bound chick ever (just near the NH ME border). I still have no idea how she kept that lime green, tight, sleeveless tee so clean and wrinkle free. Yes, I made eye contact first, but the cleanliness had to be looked at... promise I wasn't "checking her out" for more than a few minutes.

- I've been congratulated on my beard several times this week. Kind of strange being alone in the woods with a guy praising the fur around my lips...

- I challenge you all to Indian leg wrestling. $5 per match!

- I haven't weighed my self recently, but I do now have this odd pack of flesh where my belly fat used to be contained. I hope that pocket tightens up soon, or 'm going to play with it until it falls off.

Hopefully I can upload some pictures before I head out from the Yellow Bird and Grey Goose homestead. If I ever leave... they are too nice here!

slack packery, foot quackery, nerd geekery, and otherwise jabber jawin'

Huh? What's "slack packing"? That's what us guys who carry too much do to get by.

I've hit Andover, ME and will be getting a lift, with a much lighter pack, to two points along the trail, do a day of hiking, and get picked up at the end of the day. I'll be getting through one of the rougher 10-20 mile sections this way over the next day or two. This way, you get all the parts of the trail in, but don't kill yourself doing it. Just two weeks ago I was scoffing at this practice, thinking I wouldn't do it.... but gosh darn it, these last few hills have been much bigger than the map, and I'm not ready to push the infamous foot too hard just yet. In other words, I'm pussing out for a bit. On a plus side, I may be trading my highly prized computer skillz (learned from watching napoleon dynamite at least 3 times) for a night or two at the pine ellis hostel in andover.

For all those who expressed concern regarding my masturbatory difficulties, let it be known that much discussion and some experimentation have yielded a surprisingly and disgustingly simple solution (pun obviously intended). I will refrain from damaging the eyes and minds reading this, but if your dark depraved side must know, ask me and ye shall be stricken with the information.

Google's spell check doesn't work on this computer... so, now you will all realize how poorly I really spell. Another cat out of the bag... speaking of which... if there are any folks out there who can put an ear or three to the ground to help find a home for sick cats, please do so and get back to me or Dave Bogdan. The cat is expressing frustration at my disappearance by causing her kidneys to fail. This in turn is leading to all sorts of fun for Dave. If someone knows of a home that would take in an unhealthy kitty, it may very well keep us from calling her names or otherwise putting her down.

The two leading questions I've got from folks:

1) accidental mail program failure caused the chopping... who knows what I was going to say?