Hot Springs, NC to Erwin, TN AND Harpers Ferry, WV to Caledonia State Park, PA

OK!

Sorry it has been awhile since I blogged. My ambition to blog has been low. For the faithful readers out there, I apologize. I hope this blog post will be fun, exciting, and insightful. We shall see. Time will tell it's tale. So it goes. (I am reading Slaughterhouse Five).

Well, let's see here. Left Hot Springs after a wonderful time with Elmer at the Sunnybank Inn. Onward we marched. I was hiking with The Esteemed Stooge, Sir Charles Guilons (That's his full trail name), Strider, and Raven (who is now Rylu). I had a feeling Dreamcatcher and Fiddlehead were ahead of me, so I pushed a 21 mile day out and caught them. I met Choo Choo, Hog, and Crank, all who are speed demons. I believe they are probably half-way through Virginia now. Good guys, but they were averaging 21 mile days from Springer to Erwin. Ridiculous. The weather was nice, Big Bald was an amazing view, and the hike between Hot Springs and Erwin was a really nice section. Some tough climbs and descents, but that comes with the territory of hiking.

No Business Knob Shelter.... Anyone that has section hiked from Erwin towards Hot Springs, or who is a thru-hiker knows this shelter. I think it is distinctly in a class all it's own. Not only is there a peculiar smell (mostly mice droppings), but it is just a very dirty, not-very-welcoming shelter. So, I stayed the night there. I fought bravely against the mice throughout the night. My trekking poles were like the blade reforged from the Shards of Narsil as I did battle against the mice to stop them from chewing a Gatorade bottle. In the end, I claimed victory in the morning. I was exhausted, but I decided to get moving early and get into Erwin. This was Sunday, 2 June. It rained all day starting at 0845. I was at Uncle Jonny's (a hostel about fifteen feet off the trail) by 0930. Not bad. A little wet, but as the day progressed, my friends behind me caught up, as I was the first of my little group to get there, and they were all miserable and looked like wet cats.

Over the next two days, I was reunited with Fiddlehead, Dreamcatcher, The Premier Stooge, Sir Charles Guilons (his other full trail name), Let's Party and Bottom's Up, Pete, Jason (I like to call him Randalf the Gay, Gandalf's forgotten cousin), Strider, Rylu, Pockets (a retired Navy Master Chief), Rojo Baggins, and many more I would come to meet. I particularly enjoyed the brief time I had with the Jones brother and sister, who are in order, Etc. and Fats. They are from Florida and I had a grand time listening to them bicker like, well, brother and sister. I got to meet the trail legend Uncle Jonny himself. I met Sarge, Bear Bait, and Iron Phil who work at Uncle Jonny's. It was a grand time.

Then the fiasco started.

My grandfather is sick and will pass within some time. When I arrived at Uncle Jonny's, the doctor's had given him through the weekend. I made the decision to come home and hike closer to home and to reconnect my sections later. Let me say this to clear any confusion - I am still thru hiking. I haven't stopped. I will just reconnect my sections. In the eyes of the ATC, I have on full year from my start date to finish the trail. I am not doing it the way I dreamed it, but 'tis is life.

To keep a long story short, Enterprise and their credit card/debit card policy is a horrible piece of work. And apparently, the office in Johnson City, TN (well I gotta get a move on, before the sun......) does not have enough cars to fill their rental reservations. So, after staying at Uncle Jonny's from 0930 on Sunday morning until 1930 on Thursday night, I was finally able to escape and get to a Greyhound Station. Annnnnnnnnnnnd, after 16 hours on a bus, I was in Hagerstown, MD, by way of Marion, VA, Charlottesville, VA, Richmond, DC, Baltimore, and Fredrick... -_-

Bringing you up to the moment..... I got to go see my grandfather with my dad on Saturday. He looks rough, but he has lived a great life and 80 years of it. I have had to explain this several times to people and I think that my thru hiking friends would agree... People have asked me why I got off the trail? Well, in the 400 miles I have hiked, I have been afforded a great deal of time to reflect on the past, present, and future. The trail will be here in 40 years when I am retired. There is no trophy at Mount Katahdin. The trail is a living, ever changing part of someone's life. Just like family and friends. My Pop Pop won't be here in 45 years. Some of my friends won't either, which is why I am going to two weddings while I am thru hiking. After Travis got hurt and had to get off the trail, and I was stuck in Gatlinburg resting my leg, I came to terms with the very likely outcome of me not making it all the way. I am at peace with it. I have already grown so much, resolved so many issues in my past, and have a plan for the future that I want and feels right in my heart. I already feel like I have won. On top of all this, I got to live in the present and see so many amazing places already! I have raised almost $1,300 for a charity. I have already succeeded. Every mile after this is just bonus miles to me. That being said.... I am making it to my Lonely Mountain and I am finishing this within a year. I'll be damned if I let walking beat me....... Hahaha, Christopher Walken. I won't let Walken beat me.... That's what... he said?

Harper's Ferry... I have hiked these trails at least once, some sections twice, and some I can't remember how many times. How many times have you been to Jeffersons Rock? Anyways, I started on the second step of the stairs coming down from St. Patrick's (which reminds me, I stopped at the fourth pole of the handrail on the bridge over the Nolichucky across from Uncle Jonny's. Still good on my White Blaze Purist!!!) and continued to Ed Garvey Shelter. I met Timber and his wife (her name eludes me), and Lucky Strike (a New Zealand fellow). I pushed on through Maryland. It took me two and a half days to get through. I think the week off and a few too many drinks the night before starting made for a rough Maryland. I stayed at Raven Rock Shelter my third night and met Jeremiah the next morning. Marine Corps hiker who had never done a hike before and just decided to keep walking. We walked together a little bit in the morning and ate lunch together. He encouraged me to push past my 19.8 mile day and go for a 25.4. I decided when I got to Rocky Mountain Shelter, I would see how i felt after 19.8 and go from there. I fell and twisted my knee early on, but it didn't bother me, so I kept pushing. Around mile 16, I was walking on flat ground. No roots. No rocks. Flat, effing, ground. Twisted my right ankle. I had climbed, literally climbed and jumped from stone to stone in at least three boulder fields already that day. And flat ground got me. I got to the shelter and was limping at 19.8 miles. I decided, because of today's weather reports, to push on so I would only have an 8 mile day the next day, then I twisted it again. Then I had to climb some rocks, and I twisted it again. As I knew this was starting to be trouble, I called my father to come pick me up two days earlier. I was only 20 miles from Pine Grove, which is a day and a half of walking now, but I wanted ot play it safe as I was already being picked up on Friday for a wedding Saturday. I still got 22.7 miles for the day, a new PR!

OK. That was long. And that brings you up to speed. I am not quitting. I will be back on the trail Sunday. I will be heading north from Caledonia further into PA. Ummm, and I finally got to watch parts of the first Lord of the Rings. We have been talking about that for the last month and a half. Now I just need to watch Jurassic Park.....

Unconventional White Blaze Purism. I love it. Still planning (in my head) a trip next summer before I go back to school and hike the John Muir Trail. Let me know if you're interested!

For those of you interested in why I am called Jupiter, check out the link below. It is "Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity" by Gustav Holst. He was an English composer and composed "The Planets", a collection of symphonies about, *Gasp*, the PLANETS! If you listen from 2:54 in the video until 4:37, that is what I have been whistling for the past month and a half. I feel bad for those who have been hiking with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo

Ok. I'm done. So it goes.

Cheers!

Jupiter