Special Appearance: Zoe

This is a special blog post as it wasn't written by me, this was all Zoe and her entrance into Peru with me. So enjoy a different writing style for a post! 

I guess you could say that ever since my arrival in Lima, Peru, I have been kind of confused. A good confusion, excellent, I'd say. Probably the best confusion one can even experience,  the disorder and slight chaos of experiencing something new and exciting. The fresh feeling of a new culture with new people and lifestyles. But mostly the language,  that's what confuses me the most. I was sat next to a very nice woman on the plane, who lived in Lima. I just remember thinking "Man, if everyone in Peru is as nice as her, life will be great!" I have a hard time sleeping on planes, but I managed to nod off a few times. One of those times being when a man came by with immigration papers, of which the woman seated next to me grabbed for me while I was dancing with father time. After getting off of the plane, it was left to me to figure out where the hell I needed to go. All signs are in Spanish from here on out, though luckily immigration is very similar in both English and Spanish! God bless English's melting pot attitude. It was definitely a refreshing sight to see Harrison waiting on me after customs with a sign reading "Zoe." A nice reunion for sure! Shortly after finding Harrison in the airport, we met up with Victor, who offered to house us for the night. Though before leaving the airport, we had to pick up one last traveler, a man named Lei, originally from China, studying in New York, and going down to Argentina in a month. The bus ride to Victor's was one of my favorite experiences so far, honestly. Nothing can compare to the very first time you are thrust into something new. And that bus ride? So new for me! I've never seen a service run like it was, but now it is very common to me. Imagine a semi - worn down van, filled with 4 rows of very crowded benches,  and a man hanging out of an open door shouting locations and prices in Spanish. Excellent welcome to Peru, I think. My stay in Lima was 90% in Victor's house with his family, which was excellent. According to Harrison,  his house was one of the nicest he'd seen in Peru. Which I believe now! It had stories on stories, to house the people on people that composed his family. And his dogs, of which I only saw two, but they were as sweet as can be. Dogs roam the streets around here, I love it. I have yet to see any dog that looks the same, yet they are all beautiful. Albeit a little dirty. Though I find that to be a good descriptor of Peru in general; beautiful if not a little dirty. Harrison,  Lei, and I  stayed the night at Victor's, arriving at his house at around 1 in the morning thanks to my and Let's late flight, and the next morning enjoyed the awesome instant coffee that Peruvian ' drink with the two matriarchs of the family. The grandmother was sweet as can be, though the communication was difficult. Communication in general for me is very difficult down here, I'm glad Harrison knows at least a little bit of Spanish. That's something that I need to work on more, though I'm picking up a little bit, one at a time. I have yet to have the opportunity to practice though, Harrison's been doin' all the talking, god bless him! From Victor's, Harrison and I took the bus to Ica, where we have been staying for the past couple of days. Though we didn't stay in Ica very long after arriving there, taking a taxi to Huacachina soon after.

 

Haucachina

I could spend forever talking about Huacachina. Huacafuckingchina!!! We were initially wandering around the small oasis, plopping ourselves down on the most picturesque spot on the beach, with a gorgeous view of the sunset in front of us. Harrison ran off for a bit to find us a beer or two, life was good. The sun was setting on the  sand dunes in front of us, cold beer sat between us, lying down on the sand on our packs listening to the sound of the water and the life around us, watching two dogs play behind us... It was gorgeous. And then the impossible happened! Chill mode was fully engaged when we hear a "NO FUCKING WAY!" behind us, and turning around,  it was two New Zealanders that Harrison had met a few days prior in Huaraz, what are the chances? We had some fun with those guys that night for sure. Funny, because in the time between Harrison and them finding each other, they had both picked up people. Me being one of them, and the New Zealanders' Scottish friends had just arrived. They wanted to get some dinner, so even though we had already eaten, we joined them and had some drinks at the restaurant. I got to try pisco sour, which was excellent. I can't wait to try authentic pisco! The waiter during dinner was absolutely hilarious,  he knew how to appeal to tourists for sure. Because he was so chill and cool with us we thought we could try and ask him about good ol Mary Jane, and he went off on some spiel about some bar and "huacafuckcingchina!" Leaving the restaurant,  we sought out a bar for some drinks and very shortly on our journey around the oasis we see a giant sign that reads "HUACAFUCKINGCHINA" and we all just about died, none of us thought that it was a real place! So what was our next course of action? To get absolutely shitfaced of course! I remember dancing with our waiter, and at some point a guy from across the room buying us all more drinks and starting a rousing game of slaps with the ENTIRE bar, basically. Don't know what slaps is?



What's the name of the game? SLAPS!

What's the goal of the game?  TO GET FUCKED UP!



And we definitely did!

 

Huacafuckingchina

The rest of the night is kind of a blur, and I woke up the next morning on the side of a sand dune, stuffed into a sleeping bag with Harrison, and both of us were absolutely drenched in sand. Solid night, I must say.

From huacachina, we headed back into Ica. Our lovely host Werther didn't get off work until 4, so Harrison and I wandered around Ica for most of the day. The food here is stellar, I must say. Chifa especially! Chifa basically just means Asian food here, and it's wonderful. Much like the Chinese food in the states is americanized, the Chifa here has some good ol Peru on it. It's mostly a thai influence, and it's muy bien. (I hope I used that in the right context!) Meeting up with Werther,  we then went to his house. Of which we had full reign! Werther had unfortunately gone through a divorce, which consequently left his house empty, so he now uses it to house his little couch surfers. An excellent use of the space if you ask me. Werther is an interesting guy, and the only other person I've ever met in person that listens to Beyond Creation. I'm glad that we could share our music tastes, he has a very nice collection of death metal CD's and records back at his house. After staying the night there, Harrison and I woke up and immediately headed to Nazca to see the muy importante Nazca lines. It was a two and a half hour bus ride there to spend a mere couple of hours in the town, but it was so worth it. Upon arriving we really had no way of getting up in the plane, but as luck would have it the very first man we talked to was cousins of some people who flew the planes, and he drives us to the mini airport and sent us on our way. The Nazca lines were absolutely gorgeous. I can't even imagine the dedication it took for the ancient people's to move all of those rocks out of the way to make those intriguing patterns in the sand. I'm glad they did though, even if the plane ride made me nauseous as hell. Who knows of they were trying to communicate with aliens, the patterns themselves are a massive feat that definitely needs to be appreciated. As Harrison put it, "the desert is a slow moving ocean!" which just makes the fact that these lines have stayed true despite the test of time even more mind boggling. My mind has been boggled by almost everything I have seen, and I love it. I've only been here for a few days, but I feel like I have fallen in love with the place. I love Ica, all the metal heads I have met there,  and really all of the people and the sights. I can't wait to explore Arequipa!

Hands
 

Spider

Adios!

 -Zoe

Lima to Ica: The waiting game

What, you may ask, ever will I be doing with myself now that Stumbles and Flip are gone? What will I do while all alone in a country where I don't even speak the language? Well, as y'all well know, this ain't the first time it's happened and I doubt it'll be the last, so I'll just float around wherever the wind happens to be blowing as I wait. Ah, the second question, why the waiting game? What am I waiting for? Or whom ;)?

My first full day in Lima was a bunch of muddling through Español, pero luckily I've gotten to the threshold of 'I understand basically everything you're saying, I just talk like a three year old in response'. I look upon it as improvment. I visited the beach and, early in the morning, met a bunch of nice old men sitting out there on buckets. They invited me over to join them and I practiced all I could. And it kept on like that. Meet some nice people, practice Español. Rinse and repeat. All day long. I got a few 'Tu miras Jesus! (you look like Jesus)' while my hair was down, and while it was nothing out of the ordinary it was much more hilarious in Spanish. Got a few more 'guapos' and catcalls too. For some reason I find this one of the funnier things ever. Mostly because I remember, back when I was recently in the real world, there was this person who posted this video about role reversal with catcalls and how funny it'd be on Facebook. Then I come here and get to actually experience it, and yeah, it's as funny as you'd imagine.

Marcus, whos house I was staying at, was having another surfer stay at his house. The new surfer was from Colombia and his name was Jordy. This was more than good because Jordy speaks no English at all. Nada. So me and Jordy got to hang out for a full day and I just practiced my little heart out. And I'm getting better. It's kind of fun being on the end of not speaking the language well, I feel like in America people get so entitled that everyone should speak English and they lose their patience when someone doesn't speak it well. Every once in a while everyone needs a little humility to put 'em back in their place and the better of us can enjoy it. I learned all about Colombia and where to go and what to do and all about these other places and Español as a language from Jordy that day. I enjoyed it greatly. 

The next day me and Jordy left Lima together. He to Cusco and I to Ica (because that's where the wind is currently blowing), but Ica was on his way to Cusco so we got to experiment with the bus system together. Basically we were told 'go find the green and yellow bus, then take it to Mexico' and that's what we did. This bus was more like a really really really really crappy city bus in America. But I guarantee the driver was 100 times better than any driver from the tame streets of America. Because this was Grand Theft Auto style driving, nothing to hold us back other than we didn't use the flying cars cheat. 

Took over an hour to get to Mexico (not the country) and once there we didn't know what to do. Apparently there was a ticket here to Ica for dirt cheap. The tickets at the main bus terminal are 90 sols ($30), we found a terminal here for 30 sols ($10). But even that wasn't good enough. We asked around and were directed to a man on a corner. Shadier than a palm tree (how's that for a simile!?), and he scratched some stuff down on a piece of paper for us. We then walked back to the EXACT same station that was selling tickets for 30 sols and got our tickets for 20 sols. Like what? Why? We didn't understand, but that's all good! I call it another learning experience about the inner workings of Limas bus system. Bueno.

The cheap buses in Peru (still nicer than America) 

And then we were in Ica. Jordy went his way and I mine. I had to wait until 10pm to meet the guy I was staying with. So I goofed off and met some nice people at this coffee shop that kept giving me free coffee and cookies. Ica is a cool city, but people don't go to Ica for Ica. They go for Huacachina. 

Werther met me at 10 in the Plaza de Armas. He's a super cool guy who teaches English to adults here. I learned all about the area and then he showed me how to get to his extra house I'd have all to myself. And I slept pretty damn well that night, but there was still the ever present stress of the waiting game. I dared not stray too far from Lima, but I was exhausting my options of nearby opportunities. Huacachina was the last chance to be entranced for at least a few days and hopefully only a few days ye know? So I fell asleep with Huacachina, the desert oasis only 4km away, on my mind.

Huacachina

It was exactly what I'd imagined. A little piece of paradise tucked inside the desert of Peru. And I spent the next two days chilaxing in the shade drinking Coca-colas and cervezas. 

Oasis at sunset

Then I got the message. The waiting game was over. At the soonest possible time on two accounts. It was over. It was time to set the gears into action and work some magic. That's how I was off, back to Lima. Why back to Lima? You're gonna have to wait to find out ;) 

Be Happy, 

Beacon 

Goodbye my friends

The remainder of my time with Stumbles and Flip was well spent. We spent our last night in Huaraz relaxing, resting, and trying to dry out our soaking clothes. The next morning was a stunningly bright one for the normally rainy Huaraz and we all sat outside at a restaurants patio already looking back on the adventures we'd had together this trip. We could say things like "Hey Beacon, remember that time we fell into a glacial lake in Peru?" and, to us, it was hilarious.

Remembering the journeys we'd taken in the last week and how the already unbreakable bond between thru-hikers had been reinforced even more. Stumbles and Flip were ready to go home and see their friends and family, it was with a heavy heart that I got on the bus to Lima knowing my two friends would be leaving me that night. Even so, the evolution of the scenery outside the bus window did well to keep me distracted. 

Looking back on Huaraz 

Into the desert 

And finally to the coast

We spent the bus ride enjoying the scenery and watching movies in Español. Once we finally arrived in Lima, and the end was near, I can't say I was excited about the adventure ahead of me. I was more sad about the friends I would no longer have with me in Peru. Wasn't worried, just knew I'd miss them. And then, out of nowhere it was time. The couchsurfer, Marcus, I was staying with in Lima found me and it was goodbye Stumbles and Flip. Goodbye hugs were given and then I was off. Off on the next adventure.

I learned a lot about Lima from Marcus that night, most importantly being how the public buses work. Because it's insane. This is how I understood it: you go stand on a corner somewhere and a van rolls by with a guy hanging out the door yelling out where they're going and if your stop is on the way to that destination you jump into the van, often times it seemed without the van stopping. And there are 2, 3, 4 vans pulling in at a time all yelling out a place and people running over and jumping in with every van packed. There certainly was a time I wasn't even completely in the van and was hanging halfway outside as we headed on our way. Don't be fooled though, this was organized chaos and everyone knew what they were doing. It seemed like the most normal thing in the world to them I'm sure. 

Now there is something about a dirty city that is just attractive and ye know what it is? It's culture, it's true pure bred culture. Because being inside a city raises a different sort of person than being outside and it's just interesting to look at and get lost in ye know? I've already spent mornings with old men by the beach and been catcalled (hilarious) up and down the streets of Lima at this point and it's been grand. But getting lost in it isn't the important part. Lot's of people think losing yourself is the fun part. They think throwing away all your cares and getting engulfed by something is the part that keeps things exciting and unpredictable, but I disagree. Losing yourself is a fun part, yes, just not the best. No, losing yourself is not the best part. Finding yourself again after you've been lost is what I yearn for. 

Be happy, 

Beacon

HuarAZ

We arrived back in Aguas Calientes still awestruck from Machu Picchu. But we couldn't afford to sit around and do nada. We had decisions to make. Either we put up the money for the train back or go through another 8 or so hour endeavor to make it back to Cusco. Of course we decided to take the train, mostly because it was something different, which meant we had plenty of time to do some more eating and drinking in Auguas Calientes, don't tell me you're surprised.

As soon as we got on the train I understood why it cost so much (still wasn't that expensive), this train was legit. First off, the view for the whole ride was incredible. Second, they fed us some amazing somethings or others. And thirdly, they put on a fashion show. That's right, a fashion show. Right down the center aisle. And then, in between our staff showing off reversible coats, there was a guy dressed up as a clown thing dancing around and taking all the ladies for a spin. And, through my encouraging, Stumbles was one of the lucky ladies ;)

Stumbles goin' for a spin

It was a damn cool train ride, absolutely worth the money and experience at least to go one way. Once we made it back to Cusco we found a room easily enough, bought a couple bottles of wine, and then we drank in honor of Stumbles birthday!!! Happy birthday Stumbles, that was a damn good day. Hiking that mountain in the shitting rain with you. First, seeing the wonder of Machu Picchu with you beside me as the clouds hovering in and out of the surrounding mountains, ghosting over the ruins. Drinking, chilling, and drinking some more. I'm happy I got to spend that birthday with you. Hell yeah. Happy Birthday Stumbles. 

The next morning it was up at the crack o' dawn again to fly back to Lima. No use crawling out of bed that early considering our flight got delayed like 3 hours. But whatevs, we made it into Lima around midday and, you guessed it, ate and drank our way through the day until we were waaaaaaasted for our night bus to Huaraz (don't call it Huarez haha). And so that's what led to how I lasted maybe 30 seconds on a bus before I was in the sweet embrace of a drunken sleep. Stumbles may have lasted a little longer, but I remember waking up to see her cuddling up to Flip in front of me!

And then we were in Huaraz, dropping our packs at a hostel and loading into a van up to some random day hike at 5000 meters (if you don't know, that's REALLY HIGH... 15,000 feet). It was the highest I've ever been. Lemme' put it into perspective a lil' bit though, we were half way to high fiving an airplane. Also, I pretty much got an instasunburn from it too. Yay for being white (<== sarcasm). So anyways, we take this long bus ride up into the mountains and down (literally up though) this long dirt road to we don't even know what. We didn't know what we were going to see, but it sounded cool. When we finally got to the hiking part we all took about 2 or 3 steps before we were big bad wolfing it (huffing and puffing that is) like we'd just run 10 miles uphill. I was considering the 15 sols (5 bucks) it cost to take a horse up, but we struggled it ourselves. Flip was hating the altitude, and I can't blame him for that. We didn'y even know what we were going through this effort for! Until we rolled over that last little hill and all our complaining about the altitude stopped. 

Glacial Lake

It was a glacier and its accompanying lake. Breathtakingly gorgeous. It was just beautiful. Other than that there's not much to say about it. Except that Stumbles and I fell into the glacial lake trying to get off an iceberg! 

We were the only ones to fall in

After our quick dip we were quickly rewarded by a nice man with a couple shots o' whisky to warm us up ;)

Shots! 

Woo! Go us! Then it was back to Huaraz for a night in an awesome restaurant/library. Yeah, that's right it was a restaurant with books and stuff. Über cool if I do say so myself. 

 Books baby

We put our exhausted selves to bed knowing the next day held the really cool stuff. Lago sesenta nueve (excuse my Spanish). 

Another early bus ride up a long and winding dirt road (we did see a squinny (dunno' what it actually was, but it looked like a bunny and a squirrel had gotten it on at some point)) before seeing the first of the glacial lakes. Everyone in the bus was cooing at that first lake, entranced by the purity in that glacial blue.

Glacial waters

Hike time! It was only like a 6km hike up or something, but at nearly 14,000 feet by the end of it (double instasunburnt). One hundred thousand times worth it. The hike was gorgeous. Absolutely out of a story book. 

Wow

Plus I was hiking with Stumbles and Flip. Just like the good ol' days. Like, I can't explain how hiking with them again makes me feel. True enough to say 'elated' can't hardly touch it, words'll never be enough. Just like words and pictures will never be enough to make you feel what we found at the top. 

Lago 69

Because it was unreal.

Happiness,

Beacon 

The Journey that is Machu Picchu

There are no roads to Machu Picchu. You either take the train from Cusco, or you take the 6 hour bus ride from Cusco to Hydros Electrica and then walk 2 hours more to get to Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu). Of course we took the bus and the walk.

The smell of puke woke me up from my rough nap against the hard window of a small van. The girl sitting shotgun decided sitting in a fast moving van on a dirt road hitting sharp switchbacks with a cliff edge about 6 inches to our left was too much for her. I didn't even have to look back to know everyone was covering noses with hands and averting their gaze from the stream of puke slowly rolling across the side of the van. Honestly it was pretty comical and props to our driver for not even looking over at her, what a pro. He honks as he bombs the next blind corner and stops in the middle of the stream crossing. We all unload for some fresh air and he pulls out a broom to clean the side of his van. Apparently it isn't the first time this has happened. No surprise as this drive wasn't for the faint of heart.

 Impromptu car wash

After some of the most incredible views we arrived at Hydros Electrica. At this point everyone's like f*** this van and we spill out in a flurry. Not much to see here other than a ridiculously powerful river so we shoulder our packs and hit the way to Aguas Calientes!

 Hiking to Aguas Calientes

The walk was gorgeous as could be and thank goodness it wasn't raining. Stumbles kept true to her name as well ;) 

Gettin' there

And then, before you know it, we could see Aguas Calientes built off this massively roaring river ahead.

This river was goin' at it

In the middle of this hidden valley where there was absolutely nothing it was crazy to come upon this cute little town tucked into the hillside. We went straight up to the hostel to unload our packs, had a little trouble with the reservation, but then all got worked out. What do you think we spent the night doing then? Eating of course. 

(Cuy head)

We tried the Cuy (guinea pig) at the first happy hour we hit. You know in America how sometimes for happy hour it's buy one get one free? Well here it is buy one get 3 free and the drinks are only a dollar or two. We hit up some more alpaca and explored the city. Then the place we were staying at took us out for 3rd dinner and I'm pretty sure we followed up with a fourth somewhere, some trout ceviche I believe. Flip and I had some bonding while Stumbles drifted off to bed and then we both passed out too, ready for the early hike up to Machu Picchu in the morning. 

At 5am me and Stumbles set out for the "hour and a half" hike (only took 40 minutes). Flip had decided he's too old for that and took the bus up hah. Good choice Flip, 'cause it poured rain on us the whole way up. Torrential downpour. Me and Stumbles got to the top soaking wet, but pumped because we were about to see Machu Picchu! I mean we were about to see something that is undeniably wonders of the world status. It's like that moment when you know you're about to see something so mystically beautiful that the anticipation forces your heart to hover in your chest and you breath comes a little shallower with every step forward. Knowing that moment'll come when all of a sudden you just see it. You just see it and it just staggers you. 

...

.....

........

  In all its glory

All I can say is it was breathtaking. It is one of those sights you see and you'll never ever forget. Something so old and incredibly inspiring. How could you not travel thousands of miles to see this? How could thousands of miles ever be too far to go experience some ancient magic with two of your best friends? It couldn't be. It isn't. It never will be for me, this is how I do and this is what I do. This is my life.

 

Be happy, 

Beacon 

Peru, porque por qué no?

As many of my stories go, this one must also come with a disclaimer. I cannot fit all that has happened in one blog post. Probably not even in two. So just have patience with me and know that I'm lagging behind a bit because life comes first and blog sometime later. 

Stumbles and I were chilling at an airport bar in Rhode Island. We didn't really want to wait in line so we were just catching up a bit. I hadn't seen her since the last time I hitched across America so there was quite a bit to talk about. Only once we saw the last person walk through the gate to the plane we finally went over to board our flight to Atlanta. We were to meet Flip and all fly together to Lima, Peru from there.

 An announcement comes over the intercom as the plane's approaching the runway to take off.

"We're having some difficulties and we're going to have to go back to the gate for a bit."

Of course, it wouldn't be a Delta flgiht without some sort of delay. So we go back to the gate. Of course we're a little worried we'll miss our Peru flight, but we had a two hour layover in Atlanta and surely this wouldn't take two hours... 

Two hours later I was still looking at the same piece of tarmac as before. It was 14:30 before we finally were on our way. And our flight to Peru left Atlanta that day at 17:20. The flight was 3 hours long. If you're any sort of math wiz you can figure out that means we'd miss our connection flight in Atlanta. There was absolutely no way we'd make it and the worst part was we'd miss it by only 10 or 20 minutes. It was beginning to look like Flip would be going to Peru alone. 

Once we hit cruising altitude the intercom came on again.

"We're sorry about the delay, but everything is operational now. We're going to take as many shortcuts as air traffic control will allow and we're gonna put the pedal to the metal!" 

(He didn't actually say that last part, but I like to think he did). 

Aight, so there's a chance. We can do this. We've got this Stumbles!

It's 30 minutes until our plane leaves Atlanta and we're still in the air. The decent has begun but who knows when we'll actually touch down and how long the taxi'll be. Plus our flight to Peru leaves from about the farthest possible terminal from where we arrive. Stumbles and I take our packs and move up to the closest empty seats to the front of the plane. And then we land. With only 20 minutes until our flight leaves. I text Flip to make a ruckus at the gate so they can't leave us. During the longest taxi of my life, lasting only a mere 5 minutes, me and Stumbles prepared for the race. I looked at Stumbles, she looked at me, and we f'n ran.

Flip!!!! We see him waving us over to the ticket kiosk as we are running down the mile long hallway to our departure gate. Jesus Christ was that closer than I've ever made it in my life. We were 5 minutes from take off, the last on, but we're on the plane! We made it! 

We arrived en Lima at one in the morning. Me and Stumbles carried our bags on, so we're waiting for Flips bag when we here a "Christopher" being shouted in a rough accent. What'd you do Flip..? Turns out Delta fouled us again and they hadn't gotten Flips bag on the plane (he'd had a really close connection as well). Good thing we are all chill people and we casually moved on with it all. They said they'd send it to meet us In Cuzco (where we were flying to in a short 6 horas). With no other reason to be in the airport we took a taxi to Stumble's hotel (she's a  manager for a hotel chain) then passed out hard. We flew to Cuzco the next morning and spent the whole day there. An amazing place if you ask me. Also, ask me how I met Charlie via FB if you're interested because all my stories aren't always quite appropriate for the blog. 

But what to say about that day in Cuzco (o Cusco?). Well first there is the food. I have had a lot of food in my life. The best food award used to belong to Turkey (the country, not the bird), but Peru has taken it to a whole new level. The sauces they have, and the spices! The ceviche and the alpaca! Seriously the best foods I have ever had and it's all cheap as can be. We spent that whole day eating and drinking traditional Peruvian food and drink while overlooking the 11,000 foot high city. We had some challenges, but it was a damn good way to start Peru I think. 

Well I know this wasn't the most exciting thing you've read, but it only takes you one day into Peru. The next couple posts will be about Machu Picchu and the real pieces of travel! Promise!

Be happy :), 

Beacon 

Song Series Part II

The Way You Look Tonight: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZGKALMMuc

Prelude

100.9 miles. We'd made it to the fire tower atop Mt. Albert. I had just walked 100 miles. 100 MILES. Before doing it I wouldn't even have been able to comprehend what walking 100 miles means. Certainly the farthest I'd ever walked in my life and the snow had made it less than ideal conditions for most of that. I was at the top of this mountain with Mike, Jan, and Gator. We were celebrating our first 100 trying not to think about the 2,100 we still had to go. Somewhere in the merriment we all decided we go down to Franklin and rent a motel room together in order to hang out for the trail festival happening the next day. We busted out the last 7 miles and I thumbed us a minivan who cracked a beer for each of us and let us out at the Sapphire motel (or something to that effect). The festival wasn't until the next day so we mostly just chilled out. Found ourselves a free breakfast at a church doing trail magic for hikers. They serve breakfast every morning, they alter between having bacon and pancakes one day, and then pancakes and bacon the next. As much as you can eat and at that point in your hike you can already eat more than the average few people put together. Anyways, all this info isn't important to the story. What is important, and what this prelude is about is 2pack. I'd met 2pack before around the trail. She was rolling with Goatman and Headstand at the time. But me and 2pack really bonded at that Franklin trail days. She made such a large impression on my drunk self that night that I'd considered pink blazing (following a girl on trail) for her. She was incredible. The things she'd done, the attitude she had about life, all of it was flabbergasting to me. I just hadn't met that many amazing people at this point in my life and it was a little shocking at how cool she was. So long story short we hit it off really well that night. Really really well. But I hiked out the next day, and she stayed for another night. Like I said, I'd considered staying another night and hiking out with her, but I decided to move on instead hoping they would catch up to me in the days to come. 

                                         Bacon and pancakes, or pancakes and bacon

The actual story

Crazy Frogg!!! It's time to get going!! We gotta get started early, we've got a good little ways to go. 

Crazy Frogg stirred somewhere deep down in her sleeping bag. We'd stayed the night at her friends mansion which was somehow really conveniently located right between 3 ridges and the Priest. It was an incredible place, but today was the day to go to the real trail days . The trail days in Damascus, Virginia. Her friends gave us a ride about half an hour to the highway that'd take us South and dropped us off there with farewell hugs. It didn't take long for me and her to get kicked out of that gas station for soliciting rides. So we walked across the highway to the gas station on the other side and started asking for rides. All we were getting were tons of nos, when a truck we'd already asked pulled back up in front of us. He said he'd thought about it and we could just sit in the back of the truck with all his luggage if we'd like. Well of course we didn't care so that's what we did. We rode in the back of his truck for 2-3 hours all the way down to our cutoff to Damascus. The whole while me and Crazy Frogg talked excitedly about all the old friends we were going to see at trail days. I mean that's the only reason we were going back was to see all the hikers we loved and missed. We weren't exactly sure who would be there but doubtless we would be seeing tons of people we'd met along the way. Especially since plenty of people were doing the same thing we were, they were all hitching back down to trail days from wherever they happened to be on trail. We finally hopped down out of the truck a little more sun burnt than when we'd gotten in. Snapped a quick photo with the guy who'd given us a ride and then we hit up the next gas station to get to Damascus. It took a total of 2 minutes before we found someone willing to give us a ride in the back of their truck all the way to Damascus. It was easy as that. This had been one of the easiest hitching days ever.

Coming back into Damascus was, I imagine, like being an actor at the Oscars. You're all famous and everyone knows each other. That's exactly how it was because everyone loves the hikers and we all knew each other. Or if we didn't know someone we'd heard about them somewhere on trail. Anyways, this is the place where all hikers come to unite once a year and it is a sight to see. I swear you will never ever see anything like it anytime in your life. It's crazy. Watching all the reunions with people who thought they'd never see each other again. Having all those reunions yourself. One of the first people I saw there was Stretch, a girl I'd met one of my first days of trail, but hadn't seen since. And that kept happening and happening and you'd just see people you never thought you'd see again over and over again. It was emotionally exhausting! So many greetings to friends you respect more than anyone in the world. It was an incredible feeling.

But let's get to the point about all this. Maybe one day I'll write about trail days and the thing that it is, but I am not ready to tackle that beast today. So let's just get to the point. Tent city is the place where all the hikers pitch their tents to stay for trail days. Half of it is a giant field and half of it is hidden in the woods. So me and Crazy Frogg arrived to tent city not knowing who we would find. One of the first people we see is Goatman and he convinces us to come over by them, I didn't know who them was though. Until I saw 2pack run clear across the parking lot and her jumping onto me in a furious hug. It was everything I'd needed. I'd thought I'd lost her, never to see her again when I left Franklin that morning and they didn't catch me in the next few days. I'd thought she was lost to memories, only to be remembered as a missed chance I should have taken. But then, then out of nowhere here she is wrapped around me laughing. I was so relieved I couldn't stop laughing either. That hug lasted so long and when she finally let me go she took my hand and pulled me behind her as she ran excitedly to show everyone else who she'd found.

                                         Truck hitching with Crazy Frogg

                                         2pack (in the pink), Obie, Animal, Mowgli, and Beetle Juice at trail days

Prologue

I hitched a ride back part of the way with 2pack and the tribe. They were at a different part of trail than I. The farewell was a sad one, but I had to keep hitching North and networked my way into going North with some of Headstands family. I stayed with them a night somewhere in Virginia and had a wonderful time with them. But the whole time I was thinking about 2pack. Not sad about leaving her again, but more reminiscing on the time we'd spent together at trail days. And I remember sitting there with Headstands family all sitting in the den when a little bit of background music floated it's way through the conversation and, 2pack,🎶 Some day, when I'm awfully low. When the world is cold. I will feel a glow just thinking of you, And the way you look tonight 🎶

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Ticks Flock (Tik Tok by Ke$ha)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6XpLQM2Cs

I could feel the road up ahead. I couldn't see it yet, but I still knew it was coming. There is a way a trail gets near a road, it's not the same as the rest of the trail and you can just tell you're about to leave the wilderness. Yup, there it is, here's the road. I came out onto the road full stride, no falter as I took a left towards the direction I knew the gas station would be. My clothes were still drying from jumping into the river and I knew Frodo and Tempo were up ahead waiting for me. Lost'n'found wouldn't be far behind me and then we could be on our way to the destination for the night. Earlier that day I'd hitched into town at a road crossing for a sandwich with Tempo, the young girl who'd happened to pick us up invited us and our friends to stay at her house for the night. I was looking forward to having a real roof over my head and I think everyone else was too. I came around to the gas station to find Tempo and Frodo out front laughing hard. I suspected they'd been working on Frodo's parody. Frodo has an exceptionally clever wit and is really quite good at making up lyrics to silly songs. The parody of this song happened to be to Ke$ha's Tik Tok, but he was calling it Ticks Flock in reference to the amount of ticks on trail. I could hear them working out a line as I approached... and zip up my pack.... A burst of laughter, and then they see me rounding the corner and beckon me over to show all they've got so far. Frodo asks if I'm ready and I give him the go ahead as he starts to sing.

Wake up in the morning feeling hot and sticky
I'm up I'm out the flap I'm gonna hit this privy
Before I lea----- HAHAHAHA

Lost'n'found comes up and burst out laughing at the sight of us all huddled around Mister Frodo singing a Ke$ha parody. We quickly calm her so that Frodo can continue.

Wake up in the morning feeling hot and sticky
I'm up I'm out the flap I'm gonna hit this privy
Before I leave brush my teeth and zip up my pack 
'cause when I leave for the hike I ain't coming back

I'm talking about mud between our toes toes
Bugs flyin' up our nose nose
No service on our phones phones 

Pop squat comin' out looking like PB 
Usin' up all our TP 
Nora's gotten us queazy....

And then we all lose and start laughing hysterically. It's too good for it's own good. So I call up the girl I met that morning and she says she's on her way to get us. While we're waiting we go in and grab some sandwiches from the gas station because, well, because hiker hunger is ravenous at this point of the hike. Maria is there before we know it and we spend the night with her and her parents playing instruments and eating food. It was exactly what we all needed at the time and it was such a nice and relaxing stay. Plus, I received the most interesting thing I have ever gotten while hitching. I got Questor, the dead dog.... But hey, that's a story for another time ;)

                                         Frodo, Lost'n'found, and I

                                                   Questor's house

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Defying Gravity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM

Sitting down to write this I realize I can't give this song the attention it needs in this blog post. The song in itself deserves 3 if not more posts by itself, not a fraction of a series. That's because listening to this song takes me back to the day Stumbles, Frodo, White Russian, and I summitted Mount Katahdin. I'll do some thinking on this one and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to sketch the edges of how it feels to reach Mount Katahdin after having hiked 2,185.9 miles to reach it... Maybe

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Wagon Wheel: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E

"Well what movie would you wa---"
"Wait, wait, wait! Shhhhhh. Sis, listen to this song, I swear I did everything in it when I hitched back to Texas from Maine this last time" Turns up the radio

Headed down south to the land of the pines

"That's what I was doing, headed South from Maine"

I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline

"Yep I was thumbin' it"

Starin' up the road

"You're always looking for the next ride, that's exactly what it's like"

And pray to God I see headlights

"Headlights are like a beacon of hope"

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours

"I I think I did it a bit faster than that"

Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers

"Dunno' what dogwood flowers are, but I certainly pick my fair share of things when I'm bored"

And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh

"I passed right by Raleigh when I was goin' through Virginia!"

I can see my baby tonight

"Not my baby, but I was trying to make it to Dragonfly's in Knoxville"

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel

"I don't actually know what to make of the chorus, but it's catchy"

Rock me mama anyway you feel

Hey mama rock me

Rock me mama like the wind and the rain

Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me

Runnin' from the cold up in New England

"It was getting pretty cold up there at night"

I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band

"Maybe one day I'll learn an instrument"

My baby plays the guitar

"Wish I had a baby"

I pick a banjo now
"I touched a banjo once, up in New Hampshire"

Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now

"Like I said, Winter is coming"

Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
"It'd of been funny if that'd of happened"

But I ain't a turnin' back

"Fuck no I wasn't headed back, it seriously was cold up there"

To livin' that old life no more

"Eh, maybe I didn't do this part exactly"

<Chorus>

"See! I've basically done everything in this song so far!!"

"No you haven't"

"Yes, I have! Whatever, shhhhhh"

Walkin' due south out of Roanoke

"I remember the exact trucker stop I was stuck at South of Roanoak, been stuck there a few times now actually"

I caught a trucker out of Philly

"His name was Bill, his wife was with him too. They were so nice"

Had a nice long toke

"Thanks for that one Billy"

But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap

"He dropped me off in Knoxville"

To Johnson City, Tennesse

"See, he was from Tennesse"

And I gotta get a move on before the sun

"You gotta' get an early start"

I hear my baby callin' my name

"Let's say 'baby' is a metaphor for 'home'"

And I know that she's the only one
"I'm coming for you home!"

And if I die in Raleigh
"I wasn't worried about that"

At least I will die free

"Hitching ain't actually dangerous, but if I get offed it's whatever"

<Chorus>

"See!!!! Everything in the song, this thing was basically about my life!!"

"Whatever Harry, now what movie did you want to see?"