I Guess I Should Have Warned Steph that She Would Be Picking Me Up on Hike Naked Day

Steph Looks a Little Surprised

June 21st is Summer Solstice day, I believe.  It is also the day that my niece Steph and her fiance Matt had agreed to come pick me up from the trail and take me to their place in Phoenixville, PA for some much needed rest and relaxation.  Oh, and one other thing about that day that Hemlock reminded me of when I saw him early on the trail... it is the traditional Appalachian Trail Hike Naked Day.

Truth be told, I very quickly decided that I would not be hiking naked.  There are just certain things that a 60+ year old should not do unto others... that being among them.  Hemlock said he too was going to pass on that tradition.  But he has a friend hiking the Shenandoah National Park section with four others who claimed they were going to do that.  Can you imagine the surprise of many out for a day hike on a beautiful Saturday in June when they encounter that spectacle?

One other thing about the 21st... it is Anne and my 39th anniversary.  It has been nice to be able to communicate with her.  She is enjoying a weekend at the lake with our good friends, the Reicherts... the ones that came out to meet me on the trail with her way back at Fontana Dam Village.  I told Anne that the time we celebrate our next 39 years, we will both be centenarians!

My legs had started telling me a few days ago that they were in need of a little R&R, so I told Steph I was going to take them up on their kind offer to come pick me up and take me back to their place.  The nine mile hike to the rendezvous point that beautiful morning was fairly uneventful.  I did pass several groups of local hikers, none of which were hiking naked.  I suspect that this naked hiking tradition is practiced by very few hikers.

Once at Steph and Matt's place I was treated like royalty.  After the mandatory shower and laundry load was done I was treated to a "gargantuan" Jimmy John's sub from one of Matt's stores to tide me over till dinner, and then got an epsom salt bath treatment for my feet while watching the Germany - Ghana world cup game.  Later in the evening, we had a great meal at the Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant.  Steph and Matt said we ate more than they typically do. I had sweet potato fries and a chicken enchilada as a shared appetizer, scallops with risotto with a shared extra macaroni and cheese, and we shared fried brownies with ice cream for dessert.  We closed out a superb day with a couple of games of 31... and I was content to the world even though they each took one of the wins.

Steph and Matt are the couple for which I will have the privilege of coming off the trail in early August to officiate their wedding.  I am excited about that.  We will spend some time preparing today.  Other than that it will be a lot of resting, eating, some more epsom salt treatments, and resupplying to get back on the trail this evening.  Matt offered to wait until after the US - Portugal world cup game to drive me back to the trail this evening and I jumped on that offer.  Fortunately, there is a shelter very near the PA 501 crossing where I will be dropped back off.

I am generally feeling good right now.  My Injinji sock and Oboz shoe combination seems to be working well, with my toes all in the best shape they have been in for quite a while.  The only concern is a blister under the ball of my left foot that worsened during that very wet week a couple of weeks back.  It split open at that time, and seems to have a hard time doing any healing since it is in a spot that continues to take pressure all day long.  So far, I have been able to avoid infection by applying Neosporin twice a day and trying to keep the area sealed with a sterile bandage during the hikes.  Thanks, Nikki Wilke , Child Life Specialist/ Recreational Therapist at Shriner's Hospital for Children, for again getting her wound specialist team to advise me on how to best keep the blister treated going forward!

I was running some numbers my last evening before being picked up for this rest break, and I think I will be able to complete this hike if I can stay healthy the rest of the way, despite my upcoming "month plus" off beginning in early August for the wedding and my visit to my new granddaughter (and her family of course) in Oregon.  With the miles I got in yesterday morning, I hit the point where I have less than 1,000 to go for the first time.  I have 100 miles left in Pennsylvania before hitting the relatively short trail states of New Jersey (70-some miles), New York (about 95), Connecticut (40-something) and Massachusets (about 95).  Most of that stretch will have relatively mild elevation changes.  Then the close becomes very tough again with the mountains of Vermont (150 miles), New Hampshire (160 miles) and finally, Maine (280 miles).  I'm figuring that I will have to be well into the state of New Hampshire before my month off in order to be in a position to finish.  Hiking on the final summit of Mt. Katahdin is closed each year no later than October 15th.  It can close earlier depending on the weather.  Of course, what my month off the trail due to injury/illness earlier has already shown me is that the best laid plans mean very little.  And a key for me is that I want to enjoy the hike, living in the moment of each day's hike.  So, bottom line is, "we'll see".

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support of my hike and of my friends at the Frazee Dream Center!



Steph and Matt get a stinky hiker embrace

Hemlock awakens to Hike Naked Day