We woke up early and were on the trail by 7a. It was our earliest day yet. But we had a “Halfway Hiker Feed” we didn’t want to miss! We only took a couple of breaks in the fourteen miles to the state park. The first break was at the shelter so we could use the privy. The second was when we hit a particularity awesome milestone. The third was to chat with a day hiker we met.
We hit the official halfway point today! 1,095.2 miles. Holy cow. We’ve walked a long ways. In fact, we even broke the 1,100 mark! When we hit the halfway mark the trail conservancy asked us three questions:
- How did you get here? NOBO from Amicalola Falls … we walked.
- What do you know now that you didn’t in the beginning? This hike isn’t just about the hikers, it’s about the community that surrounds us too.
- Is the glass half empty or half full? It’s right where it’s supposed to be.
I expected a lot of emotions, but didn’t really have any. Of course I’m excited, but I think all of the emotions I have were felt in Harpers Ferry. Plus, we were so focused on the free food ahead of us, we didn’t take too much time.
Note: Above is the halfway sign for 2011. Our halfway point was actually at 1,095.2 miles. We had a post with a photo of this sign there.
Overall, the trail was easy today. There were no major hills to get over, but our feet were still killing us. I think it was because we didn’t take our normal breaks. We had nearly a full day of hiking mileage-wise, without breaks. We did it to ourselves, but again… for food.
About four miles outside of town we crossed paths with Julia, a day hiker probably in her 40’s. She was originally from Jamaica and had all kinds of questions for us. She was very inquisitive – the answer to one question almost always led to another that she’d ask. She had a beautiful soul, I could easily tell this by the ten minutes or so we spent chatting with her. Even though we didn’t talk to Julia for too long, I felt lucky to meet her. Her open mind, adventurous spirit, and kind heart is sure to make the world a better place.
We rolled into the hiker feed just before 2p. There are sayings like “ten (miles) before ten” or “eleven before eleven”. We had hiked fourteen miles before 1400. I’m not sure it’s that impressive, but it was a good day for us and that’s all that counts.
A hiker feed is a cookout with the single purpose of filling up hikers. We got to go to one in Franklin, NC. When we arrived today, they were all out of hotdogs and hamburgers. We were quickly informed that more were coming. Just when the new meat was thrown on the grill, a storm rolled in. Everyone dove to the center of the pavilion. We stayed there for two hours eating, visiting, and helping with the feed. It was a lot of fun.
At 4p, we moved further into the state park to the beach they have and went swimming. There were a lot of people there – a reminder, this is the Fourth of July weekend. The water did clear temporarily… while a water moccasin made its’ way through the roped off area. It was funny how quickly people scattered. Girls were screaming reaching out to other people to help pull them out faster. The snake eventually made it across and people slowly re-entered. Every floating stick now became a potential snake. One of the thru-hikers swimming in the deep part came near a stick. He grabbed it, made a dramatic “Ahhhh!” noise while holding it above him. The beach erupted with laughter.
We swam for a while. Well, we mostly stood in the shallow end and would every now and then swim out. Afterwards, we took showers in the bathrooms. It seems like we need to shower more frequently lately in order to feel sane. I have a hard time dealing with the stickiness that humidity and old sweat leave on my body.
The next step was laundry. There was a hostel nearby we could do $3- laundry at. Unfortunately, there were three people ahead of us. It would be at least an hour and a half before we could get started. We really hoped to get back into the woods, so that was a bit late for us.
We went back and sat in front of the general store next door. This is the store that you do the half gallon challenge – hikers are supposed to eat a half gallon of ice cream in honor of being halfway through the trail. It’s something I’ve been excited for since I found out about it (long before we started the trail). Lucky me, the store was closed. The power had gone out because a tree fell on some power lines. So no ice cream. I was incredible bummed out. We can’t go tomorrow because it would be before the hiking day. It’s a bad idea to eat that much dairy and then hike. Our plan is to do the challenge together at the next town we go to. It’s not the same, but life is never fully what you expect it’ll be and neither is the trail.
The store was closed, but hikers still sat out front. We all ate our dinner on that patio except for Warthog. He was still paying the price for eating too much at the hiker feed. After dinner, we did laundry out of a bag using the spigot for the store. It works, but I know it won’t be dry by the morning. We will have to hang in on our packs.
We met Wind Jammer and Sun Fish, two guys from Savannah, GA who are section hiking from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin. Sometime later they will finish the first half, but don’t have a specific date in mind. They were on day six of their hike. It was fun to sit and chat with them. I felt a little like senior giving advice to freshmen. Even more fun, Wind Jammer is a photo major. Of course we talked shop. Then the two played their guitars. It was fantastic hearing the soft guitar as we hung out on the patio. We all miss music.
At 9p a ranger came around and kindly kicked us out of the sitting area. We knew we needed to get moving. She reminded us of our urgency. We left, hiked about a mile into the woods and found a nice spot near the river. I’m listening to the water rushing now. It’s just fifteen feet away, I love falling asleep to water.
-ansel