Day 122, Wednesday, June 13. Iron Masters Mansion—6.9 miles

Our trail has become much simpler.  There’s only one thing we need to do, now.  All the effort and energy we have expended to get here, we just need to do that one more time and we’ll be done. It’s not nearly as intimidating as it was at the one hundred mile point—do it all 21 more times.  Now that we are a mile past the half way point, it truly is all downhill from here (effortwise). 

Gray Squirrel said he kept hearing strange animals noises all night.  A bear growling coming from the direction of our tent (I keep telling Bunny she snores, now maybe she’ll believe me).  He also said he was hearing squishing noises from all around.  Both ET and us own Big Agnes sleeping pads which come with an integrated noise amplifier to wake everyone up whenever you move.

Since we were stealth camping (just not camping at a shelter, it only becomes stealth camping up north in AMC country which charges for the privilege of camping—to save money, hikers will set up late and get up early to not be charged) we all decided to hold on for the mere 3 miles to the next privy at “Toms got the runs” shelter (aka Toms Run Shelter). I was last in line. After three women and an old guy unloaded ahead of me, the smell was so strong that my window of opportunity got slammed shut. I learned to hold it for up to a week when I went to summer camp in Boy Scouts—I’ll be fine. 

We hit a major milestone after leaving the shelter…we crossed the 1100 mile point of the trail. Now we can look at a map of the entire trail and not be intimidated by how far we have to go. We’ve already gone 10 miles further than the amount we have left to go (1100 done vs 1090 remaining). For the first time in my life, I like the double entry accounting method (I still think accountants are assholes, though. All engineers do and rightly so).

Just a few hundred yards later, we came to the halfway mark from 2011. They got a big sign with flags and all we got was a printed piece of paper saying “this is close enough to halfway for the scum of 2017 & 2018”.  I wonder who hiked the trail in 2011 to get such recognition. The mileage to the north is still right and it is a good looking sign, so we took pictures next to it. 

Milestones aside, we had one of the most important activities to complete today. An event I have spent my whole life training for (even before I knew it existed)—“the half gallon challenge.”  To mark the half way point of the trail, every hiker worth their salt eats a half gallon of ice cream. I decided to throw a little twist into my challenge to prove my worth. I started off with a half pound bacon cheeseburger and a large order of fries. 

Bunny Tracks surprised herself by completing the challenge in 42 minutes. She is her father’s daughter when it comes to ice cream. I would like to be the first to officially welcome her to the Glutton Club.  She downed 3 pints of Neapolitan and 1 pint of mint moose tracks to complete the final requirement for her invitation to overeaters anonymous. 

As a charter member of the Glutton Club and Overeaters Anonymous, there was never a moments doubt for my completion.  What was surprising was that Gray Squirrel and Wallaby both completed the challenge as they are both so small. Wallaby completed hers in a little over 30 minutes. ET did not even attempt the challenge since a half gallon of ice cream represents almost 10% of her body weight.

Bunny and I have been planning on staying at Iron Masters Mansion for quite some time. Since it doesn’t open until 5, we had plenty of time to waddle on down to the AT museum and have a look around.  We have it so much easier hiking the trail today. We have lightweight gear, backpacking food, and over 200 shelters. The first thru-hikers had to carry canned goods and canvas tents (if they bothered with tents). Granny Gatewood barely carried anything and walked in tennis shoes. 

The Mansion opened at 5 and we were on the porch waiting. There’s a woman’s dorm and a men’s dorm. Each sleeps 14. Originally, Gray Squirrel, ET, and Wallaby were going to hike on another 7 miles but severe rain storms with hail were predicted for tonight, so they decided to stay. Every hiker should try to stay here. You get run of the entire place. I didn’t check into the history of the place because I just didn’t have time with all the chores we had to get done, but I’m sure this was the owner of the iron furnace which still exists in the park.

For years now, I have been working to become a minimalist. I’ve often considered lower expectations to be the secret to having a happier life. I’ve gotten rid of most of my possessions reducing the overhead required to keep me going. I’ve accepted living in a tent and sleeping on the ground to be an integral part of my existence. Pretty much, the only goal I have left is not to sit in my own bodily wastes. As I smelled myself stepping into shower, I’m clearly still aiming too high. 

EFG