one score years ago...

best. birthday. ever.

well, folks, twenty years have passed. and, although it has been a very random few days, i must say it has been celebrated in a way that i believe will be quite challenging to beat.

it all began last night....camped alone for the first time. had the most random day yet on the trail; meaning i hiked over 20 miles, only 4.6 of which were actually on the AT. put that in your pipe and smoke it. but, anyway, this story has a beautiful ending. was hiking along, down the blue ridge parkway, and a small girl in a small car pulls over and yells out the window, "are you a thru-hiker?" i said, "yes!" and she proceeded to leap out of her car and lift the trunk to reveal, through the magical sparkles of happiness, a cooler full of whole foods products, of which she unloaded on me fresh strawberries, a whole mango, all-natural orange creme soda and organic blueberries. i shoved them in my pack for later and hiked onward....it was getting dark and i was getting tired and cranky...found a tiny sign pointing to the left promising "overlook, 200 yds," and followed it in hopes of a campsite, nothing more. found instead a haven...the perfect place.

picture this...a rock overhang facing westward, the whole western world spread out before your eyes. the sun is setting, the sky ignited in reds and oranges, the sun a ball of fire sinking slowly below horizon. its just you, alone on top of the world, its the day before your 20th birthday and suddenly you find yourself with everything you could ever need, in the only place you could ever hope to be. and then, just when you think its really getting good, you realize not only do you have the beautiful place and the beautiful moment, you have fresh mango and all-natural orange creme soda, you have a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie from the little grill, you have bob dylan on the i-pod and you have nothing to do but sit there and enjoy it all until the lights of the far off city twinkle at midnight.

yeah, it was a good moment.

then, today. hiked 17 miles into waynesboro...got to talk to my mom on the phone for an hour (she's nuts)...hitched into town and did some annoying hiker chores until MAURY LYNN HOWELL arrived for a visit. ate pancakes then went to kroger. at kroger, i purchased:

1 16-pack crayola crayons
1 disney princess coloring book
1 pack 24-assorted small plastic dinosaurs
1 pink, sparkly my little pony with green hair named "bunches-o-fun"

yes, i'm twenty. no longer a child.

now i reside at the free hostel in waynesboro...grace lutheran church. i'm surrounded by happy hikers and church volunteers who just filled their bellies with birthday cake and ice cream provided by maury...they're playing with their plastic dinosaur party favors and we're going to watch death to smoochy.

oh. my. god. they have cinnimon toast crunch here.
yes, sir. going to be a hard birthday to beat.

onward and upward. into shenandoah national park tomorrow...back to harrisonburg for a nother LGC visit and to see some importantly beautiful folk soon. i love you.




"look around you to the people you see
how many of them are happy and free?"

home again?

hello all...i type this post from the eggplant colored couch in my very own living room in radford, va. i have been home for about three days now...has been a very surreal time. as i was coming across the grayson highlands i was attacked by a very rare breed of ankle-tendon-eating pony and it did exactly as its name implied and ate the tendon on the front of my ankle, a grevious injury that left me no choice but to continue to hike like an idiot for another 48 miles, yes that's 48 miles, until i became largely incapacitated and had to hitch to the nearest town. since i was so near home i decided to come home to recover...will hike out tomorrow morning.

my smelly hiker friends have joined me here in radford since yesterday; they took a zero day today and have since deemed dad's house "miss becka's hostel." we are currently sitting all around the living room....just put my new hendrix album into the DVD player and "red house" is filling the room with guitar-infused luxury...the floor is littered with wal-mart bags full of tortillas and instant oatmeal packets, stove fuel and duct tape, the products of our late night wal-mart resupply run. stephanie has been hanging out with us for the last two nights...she fits right in with the hikers, besides the fact she is wearing deoderant and has been showering with predictable frequency. it is beautiful to see her. i apologize to anyone else who is in the area....it has been a crazy last couple of days, as strange as that sounds, and i haven't had a chance to attempt to catch up with many.

i understand that, apparently, my birthday is coming up sometime this month and, apparently, some people are interested in mailing me something or another (i prefer cash). i want to be able to make a prediction about my whereabouts during that time...but i just swear to god i have no idea where i'm going to be. i'm such a horrible planner. how about this...if you really find it necessary to send me something, just send it to dad's house unless i post something in a few days with a more defined plan. i still feel like i'm just wandering around in the woods with some crap in a bag on my back...i have yet to become a stream-lined, cool hiker who knows what's what. somehow i doubt i ever will. dad's address is:

2308 8th street
radford, va 24141

the surround sound of the television speakers is intoxicating. these people are intoxicating. this life is intoxicating. but you know all of that. i hope this update finds you happy and at peace with your surroundings. i reccomend a walk in the woods to cure your any pain you may have, or just to discover your soul, because i know those can get lost sometimes.

i love you so much

CONSIDERING THIS NEW TRAIL NAME!
--tomato gravy