May 21, 1997 (Day 63 – milepoint 619. 1 – Rice Field Shelter)

Back on the Trail after a total of nine days off. Dad and I left Indiana late morning and arrived in Pearisburg, VA late evening. I decided to take advantage of some full-moonlight and got to walking northbound at around 8:30 p.m. This allowed Dad to cover some of the distance home tonight and also saved me some cash, avoiding a motel room.

I arrived here at the Rice Field Shelter just before midnight. I startled a few cows in the field and two other hikers in the shelter, Pockets (wears a fishing jacket full of pockets) and Thunder Chicken (hates storms), both from Florida.

Brown cows with glowing white faces occupy the moonlit field outside the shelter. It’s great to be back on the Trail again, but it is a bit surreal. I don’t feel back. It might take a few days.

Aquaholic

May 21, 2009

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”

–Oscar Wilde

May 20, 1997 (West Lafayette, IN – Day 62 – Off Trail until 5/21)

Played golf with a couple of college football buddies. The competitive fire hasn’t diminished one bit and they should be ashamed of themselves for letting a fully-bearded, sandal-wearing hippie CRUSH them on the golf course yet again. It’s good for them, though.

Driving to Virginia tomorrow to get back to the Trail.

Aquaholic

May 20, 2009

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

–Arnold Schwarzenegger

May 19, 1997 (West Lafayette, IN – Day 61 – Off Trail until 5/21)

Relaxed today. Appreciating the relaxation.

Aquaholic

May 19, 2009

Hey Aquaholic,

My marriage is/was a mental and emotional roller coaster ride that I’ve always embraced as a spiritual commitment. My divorce is far more intense by comparison, but also something I am embracing as a spiritual endeavor. Hopefully, the roller coaster ride will be considerably shorter and my wife and I will soon develop a stable, loving, and trusting friendship.

I was reading some quotes around marriage and divorce today. One said, “Love is a feeling. Marriage is a contract. Relationship is work.” I’m pretty sure my wife married me more for love than for business. Unfortunately, feelings change.

Another quote said, “the worst reconciliation is better than the best divorce.” I don’t agree with this. To me, the worst kind of reconciliation is one based on irrational decisions. The best kind of divorce is one that results in safety, security, and happiness for all parties involved. Most divorces probably fall somewhere in the middle.

A third quote that struck me was, “When two people decide to get a divorce, it isn’t a sign that they “don’t understand” one another, but a sign that they have, at last, begun to.”

Joe

May 18, 1997 (West Lafayette, IN – Off Trail til 5/21)

Sunday morning May 18: My once toothless three-year-old baby sister graduates from Purdue University. Sigh.

With friends at Jamie's graduation - 5-18-97

Got some miles in walking home from campus and encountered some wildlife in the form of a dead screech owl on the side of the road. I’ll take what I can get.

The walk made the graduation party and food feel like something I earned.

Looking forward to being back on the trail in a couple of days.

Aquaholic

May 18, 2009

After a day’s walk everything has twice its usual value.

–George Macauley Trevelyan

May 17, 1997 (West Lafayette, IN – Off Trail til 5/21)

Back to W. Lafayette to relax a little. Graduation party for one of Dad’s grad students where we burned a whole trash can full of her thesis notes. Friends drove in from Ann Arbor and we all chilled out for the evening and went out for some late night spirits.

Good to be home with family and friends, but quite a contrast from trail life, and it is interesting that I don’t feel like I quite belong. From afar, the trail calls.

Aquaholic

May 17, 2009

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. –Lin Yutang

May 16, 1997 (Chicago, IL – Off Trail til 5/21)

Jamie and I made the drive from West Virginia to Indiana, spent a little time with the folks, and then continued on to Chicago to visit some friends for the night. What a contrast going from two months in the woods to downtown Chicago! I still can’t imagine living permanently in a city – a little too much of “everything,” not enough “nothing.”

Aquaholic

May 16, 2009

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. –Tim Cahill

May 15, 1997 (Fayetteville, WV – Off Trail til 5/21)

Got a chance to kayak on the Meadow River today for some much needed hydro-therapy.

Sister Jamie made the drive here from Indiana today and we’ll make the trip back to Indiana tomorrow where I’ll be able to visit with some friends for a few days and see her graduate from Purdue.

Aquaholic

May 15, 2009

Hey Aquaholic,

Our good friend, Jordan, enlisted in the National Guard at age 37 a couple of years ago and is currently serving as a combat medic in Afghanistan near the Pakistan Border. The updates he sends make me feel a little less stressed out about my own problems. Here is the most recent:

Hello there,
I have a chance to use the internet…so, here’s a quick update about me, in no particular order:

–I’m alive and well

–my post is the last one in this area of Afghanistan before reaching Pakistan…it’s mountainous, remote, beautiful, hot, and hostile.  The people who aren’t trying to kill us are friendly.

–I’m on an embedded training team, i.e., a handful of Americans who are training and advising the Afghan National Army.  There’s a joke there, but my emails are being read by Google, the NSA, and Pakistanis in Quetta, where this traffic is being routed.  I think that Dick Cheney still has direct access, too.

–I’m never bored.

–I’m a medic.

–They call me “Doc.”  I’d like to say that they call me “Mr. Tibbs.” But they don’t.  They call me “Doc.”

–I’m a sergeant.  Don’t get too excited; apparently, there are many of us.

–a few nights ago, after a five-hour dismounted (walking, not driving) patrol to set an ambush, I weighed myself…I’m carrying 119 lbs of army accessories.

–I treat the local nationals who come to the gate of our outpost. I’m the only source of health care here…for the Americans, ANA, locals…everyone.  I call it “voodoo” medicine: me, a Merck manual, and a drug reference guide.

–Two days ago, a father carried his six-year-old son to the gate. After examining the boy, interviewing the father, and consulting the Merck manual, I explained to the father that the Arab doctors in Qalat told him the truth: his 6-year-old son has polio.

–Be happy for me, I’m alive and well and where I belong, here and now.

Be well,
Jordan

Jordan and me in our whitewater days

Jordan, the combat medic, in Afghanistan

May 14, 1997 (Fayetteville, WV – Off Trail until 5-21)

I woke up this morning wondering how the heck I was going to get to Fayetteville, West Virginia today. I lay in a comfy bed this evening in Fayetteville thinking how funny it is sometimes when things just work out.

There is an outdoor gear shop in Blacksburg called Blue Ridge Outdoors. A few years ago, the owners moved to Fayetteville, WV and opened a Blue Ridge shop in there, too. Well it just so happened that one of the owners, Gene Kissler, was in Blacksburg today on his weekly loop to check on the shop. We connected and I rode with him back up to Fayetteville this afternoon.

Great to be back in the New River Gorge area and to be able to visit with everyone. Kayaking tomorrow for sure!

Aquaholic

May 14, 2009

Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.

–Cesare Pavese

May 13, 1997 (Blacksburg, VA – Off trail until 5-21)

Spent the 13th (Tuesday) running around Blacksburg. Bookstore, grocery, lunch on some rocks on the New River. Still need to find a ride to West Virginia tomorrow…

Aquaholic

May 13, 2009

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

–John Steinbeck

May 12, 1997 (Day 54 – milepoint 612.3 – Pearisburg, VA)

Warm sun. Wildflowers. Views of the New River Valley.

I was supposed to be at the Pearisburg, VA Post Office by around 1:00 to meet a friend who lives nearby in Blacksburg. When I hadn’t shown, he drove toward where the trail crosses the road, saw a bunch of packs outside DQ and caught me with a mouthful of ice cream.

“Uh, sorry man. My #1 rule is to satisfy all cravings.”

“No worries,” Chris replied with a smile, “I understand completely.”

A quick stop at the P.O. and we were off to Blacksburg. I’m at Chris’ place now with he and his girlfriend, Halle. We went out for dinner and some beer and caught up on our respective lives. Chris is at Virginia Tech and expects to graduate next year. Halle is teaching acting to 13 year-olds and we actually got to go to a rehearsal.

Spoke with sister Jamie tonight and she is going to pick me up in West Virginia in a couple of days to take me back to Indiana for her graduation and a few days of general socials with friends. So I have two days to get to WV. This could be a challenge.

It is really nice to spend time with the Red Princess and the Hairy Italian!

Aquaholic

May 12, 2009

Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
–Albert Einstein