7/13/00
Day 112
Mt. Algo lean-to / Kent, CT
1445.7 miles

Wow!  When I asked you to check for any gaps in these letters to make sure there were no more mail-mixups with your neighbor, I didn't intend to create a huge gap on my own.  I think traveling Northbound and knowing some of the people I'm sharing a shelter/hostel with makes it that much harder to pull away and find the time to write.  Also, I'm tending to do longer miles lately, arriving later in the afternoon, and when I do lay down with a light in hand, by the time I've planned my options for the next day's hike I'm starting to nod off.

Well, excuses out of the way, let's see if I can't do better from now on.  I just bought a fancy, high-tech headlamp that uses 3 L.E.D.s, instead of a bulb, and is supposed to burn for 100 hours on 2 lithium AA batteries.  Using that electric glow-stick thing I had before was like trying to read by the light of a firefly in a jar.

Trying to give a synopsis of the last 17 days would be painful for both of us.  Hell, looking at the Data Book, I can't even get a mental picture of a few of the places I've recorded staying in.  But looking at the mileages it's clear it's been some time since I had a low-mile day.

So, just like at the 501/Pine Grove, I'm trying to do a "town day" in Kent without paying for a place to stay.  Fortunately the Mt. Algo lean-to isn't far away.  The Outfitter here has a solar shower set up on the side of their building.  Anyone eating at the Chinese restaurant next door must have gotten quite a show as I tried to disrobe, bathe, and dry off inside the flapping plastic enclosure.  But, for the moment, I and my clothes are both reasonably clean.  A cartoon of me drawn right now would not have to include visible stink lines.  And though I've only made 3 tenths of a mile's progress on the AT today (which I will backtrack this evening), hopefully my body is using the rest to repair some of the accumulated wear and tear I've done to my muscles, joints, bursa, tendons, and ligaments.

Oh, I've got two new items for the list of ailments:

1. I took my first tumble off the Trail a few days ago.  Comparing notes with my fellow hikers, I'm actually way behind the average on this and need to fall a lot more to catch up.  My foot caught on some type of vine that crossed the Trail and down I went.  Of course I couldn't land on some soft dirt, or moss, or grass, but instead tumbled right into some bayberry bushes (little tiny thorns) so my legs have many new and interesting scratches.

2. My left leg seems to have some general nerve or circulation problem.  It goes to sleep whether I'm laying on my right side or my left.  If I cinch the waistbelt of my pack too tight, the entire front of my left thigh goes numb.  Fortunately I come equipped with two legs, so in a pinch, I can hop to Katahdin on my right.

The finest privy I have seen so far:

At the Allentown shelter in PA.  A genuine Clivus Multrum.  No smell, toilet paper inside, and it even had a mirror!.

The record for the most jerks yelling at me out of passing cars:

New Jersey.  And yet NJ also had its share of Trail angels and magic.

The worst mosquitoes so far:

Hands down - the Brink Road shelter in NJ.  I tried to stop there to use the privy, read the register, have lunch, and refill on water, and only managed to do the absolutely required first item before I was running out of there.  (Not that I actually can "run" anymore, but that was the command from my brain and my legs did the best they could.)  An interesting exercise in muscle control is to try to relax your bowels while attack squadrons of mosquitoes are landing on you thirty at a time and you are slapping yourself silly with both hands over every exposed inch of your body.

Best meal so far:

The Long Island Duck in Orange Sauce ($9.95) at the Gap Diner in Delaware Water Gap.  The quantity of the food was equal to the quality (delicious!) and I was actually able to appall the thru-hikers sitting accross the table from me by finishing all of it.  And then I went next door to the bakery for some pie!

Best FREE meal so far:

The NY/NJ Trail club held their annual meeting at the RPH shelter the night I arrived.  To make up for their intrusion, they brought plenty of food and the hikers were invited to partake.