5-30-12 All Smiles

I have walked 108 miles thru the SNP in less than 5 days.  We averaged
around 23 miles per day.  Saw 5 bears.  One was right above me in a tree
as I walked along.  I looked up and there he was eating something in the
tree, it was a cherry tree, they grow wild here. The group I'm walking
with, Skeeter, Hawk, Wiffle Ball, Polaris, and Swiss (from Switzerland)
and I are getting ready to "aqua blaze" which is starting in Front
Royal, Va. and canoeing Shenandoah River to near Harper's Ferry.  I will
be missing about 45 miles of AT that way but it will be a welcome change
from backpacking (now 950 miles).  Also, Sheila and I have planned to
cover this section on our way back from Maine after I summit Katahdin
and we are driving home.  This section is on the way back so it will
actually be fun to "finish" the trail with my wonderful wife.  By the
way, when I get a chance to speak with her, she tells me that some of
you are showing a great deal of interest in this hike and are following
the progress on Ky. Heartwood's site.  I encourage you to do that and I
hope that you each consider pledging a penny for each mile I walk.  That
would make me very proud if you did.  Also, some of my friends are
really pitching in and helping Sheila at home.  Thanks a bunch.  I'm
going to try to get some pictures out.  I also caught up with my good
hiking friends, Peeper and Gumpy.  Unfortunately, in moving ahead
faster, I left behind some good trail friends also.  Missing Watermelon,
Hungus,  Pace and the rest.  The trail is getting hotter and drier now.
I carry more water and less food now.  I have sent home my cold weather
gear and pretty much am carrying only a tarp, poncho, the clothes I
wear, water and food.  I have many many stories to tell you.  I will say
this...I brag on my law firm quite a bit.  People eventually ask me what
I "did" before coming on the trail.   I tell them I'm still doing it,
just taking a break and re-charging my batteries.  Folks are amazed that
I have an office that supports me in this trip.  I can't express to them
fully the absolute love I have for my law office staff and partners.  I
have been given time out here to think about what they  mean to me and I
am now clear in my understanding of just how unique our firm is.  I look
forward to getting back at it in October.  I look forward to putting
into practice some of what I am learning out here.  If you are wondering
what that means...its simple.  Out here, you hurt.  You can complain
about hurting but you have two choices, quit or go on.  If you decide to
go on, then shut up about hurting.  If it rains, you welcome it.  If a
snake coils beside the trail you respect it.  If someone you've never
met before needs water, food or encouragement, you give it...freely and
without condition.  You don't bitch, you move forward.  I think that may
prove to be an important tool for a lawyer.  I look forward to seeing my
colleagues ( and that means my Judges too) and I hope to be a better
lawyer when I get back.   This trail is amazing in every way.  I give
and take energy from the other hikers.  I talk to the tourists.  I am
blessed nearly every day with some kind of "coincidence" which is
happening so often that I am beginning to believe that these
coincidences are staring us in the face in real life every day but we
are too blinded by all the noise of day to day life that we pass them
up.  We miss them.  We miss life.    Gotta go now, getting in a canoe
and heading along north.    Love Michael