June 17

Fathers Day

Had a nice breakfast this morning of waffles, eggs, and sausage.  All of us hikers here at the house snapped photos in the front yard.  Then we started driving everyone back up to the mountain in shifts.  I'm taking the day off to spend time at home with the folks.  What a surreal weekend this has been.  All of our hiker guests had such a great time.  I can only imagine what they must have thought meeting mom, all in her usually hysterics.  Dad hamming it up.  It was strange, but really nice, to see all these new people in my parents house, totally comfortable like they were at their own homes.  Helping set the table, washing dishes, etc.  It was kind of like having 10 brothers and sisters.  All I kept hearing was "thank you so much" and "your parents are awesome".  Thanks mom and dad for treating my smelly hiker friends like family!  It's fitting, since they are my 'trail family'.  I spent the afternoon in Front Royal, playing in a softball game with dad.  How's that for a wholesome slice of Father's Day Americana?  Nice.  I did get a nice bloody knee on one play where I hit the ball way into the outfield, was rounding second base trying to push for another inside the park home run, but dad pretty much tackled me.  Goober.  It was really fun.  I'm not going to try to head out to the trail tonight.  Going to stop by the outfitter in Luray tomorrow morning to pick up a few items, then get back to hiking again.  I'll try to push another big day, 24 miles or so, and see if I can catch back up to my crew.  That's been a recurring theme through Virginia it seems.  Hey, but if this week has illustrated anything, it's that if I am separated from my crew, I'm always guaranteed to meet other interesting hikers along the way.  This is going to be a whole new challenge for me leaving home.  For the first 3rd of the trip so far, I've been walking toward 'home'.  So that was a huge motivating factor.  And a big reward for making this far.  Now, once I get past Front Royal, I'll be blazing through totally new and unfamiliar territory on the trail.  Most of the hike so far has been new to me, but this time, I'm walking away from home.  The only goal ahead is the trail itself.  Katahdin as the finale.  Not that that isn't an amazing goal, but I feel like it will be a lot different mentally than the hike has been up to this point.  The way I see it, I'll have a big mental hurdle to overcome hiking through the Mid-Atlantic states.  At least I'll have my disco ball and tunes to make the experience hilarious, unique, and interesting.  Haha.  Then for the last 3rd  of the hike, I'll be making my way through New England.  Time to ship the fun stuff home, and get my heavy cold weather gear back too.  They say once you hit New Hampshire, you've done 75% of the trail, but only 25% of the work.  Sure I'll be in great hiking shape, but it will definitely be a physical smack down.  For an added degree of difficulty, the mental/emotional element will be tough too.  I should expect to see less and less hikers, experiencing more solitude, and having to dig pretty deep to grind out the miles.  From what I've seen and heard though, that should be the most amazing section of the trail as well.  Working hard, but rewarded well.  It staggering to think about.  I've hiked over 900 miles to get here.  I've been in the woods of Appalachia for the last 2 and half months.  I've still got over 1200 miles to go, and about 3 more months to live in the woods.  What!?!  But making it this far, it's finally starting to sink in.  I can do this.  The end is a long way off still, but at least it is in sight.  Like just being able to start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.  A long green tunnel.  Haha.  I have already started to imagine touching the sign on Katahdin.  I expect to laugh. I expect to cry.  I have to make it there.  I'm not sure how often I'll have internet access going forward, but I'll do my best to keep things updated as often as possible.  Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way so far, and thanks for reading.

A full house.
Orion, Wiffle Chicken, Jean Claudia Van Damme, Trekking Pole, Tinkerbell
Tex, Highking, Bambam, Rainbow Eyes, Apache, and Crayola.