P E D R O ' S   A P P A L A C H I A N   T R A I L
T H R U - H I K E   J O U R N A L

THE  GREAT  WENT

August 27, 1997

It's been a while since I've written. The Darian Lakes Show was AMAZING! We met up with Tom, Brooke, Shawn, Paul, Aaron, and John in the lot. It was really nice to see some familiar faces. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters showed up in the Furthur Bus and they were GREAT! Great set list too! We then got a ride with Drew and Zac, from Kalamazoo, in a NICE VW Bus and went through Canada to Limestone. Customs tore us apart; they even brought the dogs out on us. They really seemed to be having a good time harassing us. But we came out clean, no problem.

Canada was cool. It was interesting to go to a place where people speak another language. The Went was AWESOME!! I had so much fun, however, it was hard dealing with lines and people waiting on other people. I've been so used to walking where ever I want when I want and now we had to wait in a line to do anything. We met lots of new people, we even met a few people with a YGTS flag that had thru-hiked last year. The YGTS stood for You Got To Suffer, very suiting. We even sold and traded some of our Peyote stitches. Nice!

The set lists were so amazing. Phish just kept on playing and playing and playing .. and we kept on dancing and dancing and dancing. We had Mad Crazy Fun!! I wasn't particuly happy with the ending, but that's alright. They also had all these other bands playing during the intermissions which was really nice. They were mainly Maine bands and they rocked. My favorite was the Beatroots which had this female singer/guitarist/fiddlist/various other instruments who just went wild. She was so good and so full of energy, it was amazing!! Great dancing music!  Brooke and Shawn then gave us a ride back to N.H. where I met my family in North Woodstock..

I was so happy to see my family! We hiked out the next day to Beaver Brooke Shelter. It was a steep and hard climb. One of the hardest ones yet. There were so many people at the shelter! More hikers than I've seen in a long time, plus a whole bunch of Southbounders. I was so surprised to see Southbounders. They are all over the place! The shelters are so packed. We had thought that we might be the last ones. We've taken so many days off. The next day was nasty. Rain, Hail, Sleet! YUCK!! We ended up going down a side trail to a cabin. That day Gatorboy died up on Mt. Lincoln. It's rough when you hear that a fellow hiker died, even if you never met them. I never got all of the details as to what happened though. It was so nice hanging out with my family. They complained a lot of the way, but I know that they still had fun. We definately could have done without the hail and sleet, but oh well.  I then met Jen and Tom in Hanover. Scott(Leftover) left the day before I got there. He still has Leishmaniasis and has to have some crazy heavy metal treatment. I miss him, and Lucky too.

We left the next morning and hiked about 14 miles to Thistle Hill Shelter. The terraine is so different now. Rolling hills. It's hard on my calves. Lot's of up's and downs compared to one huge up and then one huge down. It's tiring, but I like it. I especially like the raspberries and blackberries along the way. They get kind of dangerous. I sit down to eat them and completely forget about hiking .. I just sit there and eat berries. It's great.

Yesterday we hiked to Wintuni Shelter, about 12 miles. We stopped at the barn and T-Bear was there. We ended up going into Woodstock for pizza and beer. We then set out to hike the 4 miles to Winturri at about 6:00. We stopped and watched the sunset. It was pitch black by the time we got to the Shelter. It was nice to experience night hiking, but I wouldn't want to do it a lot, especially with a really good buzz kicking. It's certainly a lot slower. You have to look for too many different things. You have to watch your feet for rocks and roots, watch in front of you so you stay on the trail and don't run into any trees, and watch for signs so you don't miss the shelter.

Today we went a whopping 2.7 miles to the lookout, which is a cabin with an observation deck. It started raining and we realized we have an extra day somewhere because the Post Office is closed Monday. So we're staying here. YAHOOEY!! We have gotten really good at justifing days off or short days. They're really fun.

August 28, 1997

What a beautiful day! Lot's of ups and downs, but a beautiful day! The day started out really foggy and it looked like rain. And it's my turn to have the Southbounder cold. It's been going around for a while. Mudlark, Lil' Legs, Rabbit and I are all sick, and Sister Smiles doesn't feel too hot either. I've been having problems with my hip and sciatic nerve - I think - It's really sharp pains, and I don't like it one bit! It's even caused me to have 3 horrible nights sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better!

We hiked 12 miles today to Thundering Brook Road and met this great lady, the librarian, who not only took me into town to pick up subs, chips, & sodas, but also drove us about a mile up this dirt road and showed us a GREAT campsite, right by a river with some small Falls and an awesome swimming hole.

I forgot to mention before, while on the Appalachian Trail Concert Tour, we also went back up Loon Mountain for a Ziggy Marley, Big Head Todd Show. Once again, Steve was great! Even gave us a ride to Hanover after the Show. We worked making French Fries for the 1st half of the Show, then got to dance during Ziggy. Chatted a little while with one of the guys in the Band too! If you have time you should really check this place out! They have mountain bikes and all sorts of stuff to do, and its even better if there happens to be a show going on.

Sister Smiles fell in a River today, but I missed it. Happened while I was getting Sub's. Going to Killington tomorrow. Just stopping in to get food, then heading out. Need to stay away from towns for a while. They're way too expensive for me.

August 30, 1997

We're at The Inn at Long Trail. We made it here yesterday after hiking 3 miles from Thundering Brook Road. The Inn is really nice, but the rooms are small. The people are extremely nice and you can catch a bus into town if you need too, except on Sundays. We weren't going to stay, but we did, and I'm glad we did. Its funny how that usually works out. We've all been sick for a while and my hip has really been hurting. It starts earlier and earlier each day and the pain radiates further down my leg every day. I'm going to see if I can have it checked out somewhere today. I'm also still fighting a cold. YUCK! There was a great Band here last night. An Irish Band with a great fiddle player! Tom even got to jam on his harp with them for a while. I'm experiencing some financial difficulties. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about them yet, but it'll work out somehow. ;~)

© Megan Hearn 1997