Hello again Mudcatters,
   Just a little background on my hike. I've finished 100 miles of my 280 mile journey which I started on July 16th. It takes a while to do this... I'm allowing 30 days (about 10 miles a day average). So I've got a while to go.
   But get this!!! I'm home in Colchester CT right now because I fell and hurt myself on a shopping trip in Rutland Vermont. There is a wonderful country inn at about the 100 mile mark so my wife came up to stay overnight with me and help me resupply for the next leg of the hike. We were shopping in Rutland and I tripped on a curb, slamming down on to the sidewalk. I broke my fall by putting my hands forward and badly sprained the palm area at the base of my thumbs. I thought they'd quickly heal but it turns out I need a
few days before I start using my trekking poles again.
So I can attest to the fact that SHOPPING WITH YOUR WIFE IS MUCH MORE DANGEROUS THAN HIKING OVER MOUNTAINS IN THE ROCKY WILDERNESS.
My wife brought me home so I'm now puttering around the house and watching the convention (Kerry-Edwards RULE!!). The plan is to be back on the trail by 9:00 Sunday morning. This extends my 30 day timetable for a few days but we didn't want to take any chances.
The actual hiking itself is lots and lots of fun in a perverse sort of way. It's like I'm back in the days of my youth playing in the woods. I walk alone all day in the beautiful wild woods with a 35 lb. pack on my back until I'm dog tired. Then I camp in crude filthy
shelters with other similarly sweaty misfits. The overwhelming feeling is one of complete exhaustion and wonder at the difficulty and beauty of it all. My body is getting into great shape and I'm meeting all kinds of interesting people.
   The first hundred miles of this trail are shared with the Applachian Trail and so I've been camping with people who have been on that trail since March. They've covered about 1600 miles of their 2100 mile walk. I call it the "University Of Backpacking" because they have taught me all kinds of camping, hiking, and cooking skills. This is my first long walk and so assistance is both needed and appreciated.
The culture of it all is wonderfully odd. Everybody has trail names conjured up from some incident or accident or philisophical bent. Here are the names that immediately come to mind
from over the last week or so... Stumblebum, Flippy, Maine Dish, Oxy-Moron, Trunks (fat legs like tree trunks), Bonfire, Night Rain, Wiz Kid, Four Winds, Overkill, Outhouse Repairman,Pony Express, Hiker Gnome. You get the picture (A lot like Mudcat, isn't it?).    My name has become "Strummystick" because I'm carrying
and playing a tiny 1 lb backpacking guitar-dulcimer kind of thing. One pound of luxury weight is certainly reason enough on the trail for the quick dedication of a trail name.
   I'm a settled middle-aged guy with enough income to pay for this trip and so my plan is to busk along the way and give the $$$ to some of the hikers who are short on funds. Forgive my vanity, but I just want to see what I can get on the street by playing in my hiking clothes with my gear next to me, claiming poverty.

MickyMan

( Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Midchuck...I'm hiking South to North)