I am having way too much fun right now to blog, but I have too many thanks to express to not write them down. My last entry had to be cut short because I was falling asleep (mostly from having too much fun for the proceeding days). 

My last couple days hiking in New York were made a little more special thanks to my friend and hiking buddy, "Plant Man". He and I hiked together last before Chris came to visit in Virginia. He then got ahead of me. However, Plant Man lives in New York near the trail, and decided to take a couple weeks off to rest his knees and feet of hiking ailments. I got an invitation from him to join him in his home for a warm shower, good food, and comfy bed. Of course I didn't pass up that offer!
Instead of staying at the overpriced B&B as I had planned, I arranged to stay at Plant Mans home. I was able to get my mail drop and resupply with extra goodies for the coming week. Roboticus came with me, and at the last minute with the rainy weather, four other hikers joined in as well. Gingersnap, Oliver Twist, Sonshine, and Charlie Brown were also invited in with open arms. 

When we arrived, there were four different kinds of vegan soups and chilies to choose from as well as pasta salad and green salad. We had an amazing feast. 

A couple weeks earlier, I had some equipment fails. I had a strap break on my backpack, and one of my trekking poles busted. Osprey sent me a brand new backpack, and Leki sent me a new pole, free of charge. I also ordered a new pair of shoes. All this new equipment met me at Plant Man's home. It was like Christmas morning! I was so happy to have my new gear, and my feet were glad to have some shoes with tread on them. My tires were bald! I got the exact shoe that I had before since the old ones had been so faithful to me for the last 1160.6 miles. here is what those miles can do to a shoe...

And here is what the same shoe looks like brand new...

Costomer service for Osprey, Leki, and Keen was awesome! It's hard to get bummed out on the trail when companies like this take such good care of our equipment, and people like Plant Man take such good care of everything else! Roboticus and I stayed a second night. 
Connecticut was beautiful to hike through. Two days after leaving Plant Man's home, it was raining again. I didn't care though, because I was excited to have my good friend, Elisa meet me on the trail. Elisa did the first week of the trail with me, and was back to give me some company. It always rains when she and I hike together, so the rain seemed appropriate. We had a great time! Elisa hiked with me through the rest of Connecticut, and into Massachusetts. 

I have sassafras leaves in my headband for its natural insect repellent. The bugs are insane lately.  At night there will be at least 50 Mosquitos swarming between my tent mesh and the rain fly. My tent is my most loved piece of equipment!
Elisa did long miles with me despite not having hiked mountains for four months. Our last night of camping, we decided to push past the shelter to make it so we wouldn't have too many miles to do the next day. We "stealth camped" on some rocks with a nice view. We weren't very stealthy though, since we were right by the trail. We figured it wouldn't be an issue unless a ridge runner came by, or something. Well, guess who decided to come by! Haha! Caught red handed by the sweetest ridge runner around. She thought it was a great place too, so she let us stay. We made sure to be out early in the morning and left no trace of our camping. 

The next morning, we hiked in a little rain, but it never poured on us too bad. Aside from the mosquito infestation in the forest areas, it was a very nice hike. We met a trail angel, "Tink", who gave us fruit, gator aid, and cookies. He offered to give us a ride to town, but we wanted to make our destination as early as possible, so we declined. We ended our hike at a hostel called the East Mountain Retreat. It is supposed to be some kind of silent spiritual retreat, and a couple buildings were used as a hiker hostel. It didn't seem as quiet or serene as I had expected. Elisa stayed there for the night, but I had bigger plans. I got there in time to shower and clean up a bit before Chris arrived. I was so excited to see him! We got to spend time with Elisa for dinner and then breakfast the next morning. When Elisa's son came to pick her up, we did a little window shopping around the cute downtown of Great Barrington, and then had to say goodbye to Elisa and Julian. 
Chris and I have had a great weekend together. We went to a semi private yoga class last night where I was able to relax and stretch some of my sore areas. 

Today, we did another yoga class, then had a couples massage. Chris had really wanted to hike a bit this weekend, but arranging transportation to mountain roads was tough. It also rained a lot of the weekend, so we bailed on the hiking plan. I was very happy to get two full days off of hiking. So are my knees and feet. This is my last true rest weekend before finishing the trail. The trail ahead is going to get tougher, so I needed this rest to push me through. 

A huge thanks to Chris for making the weekend great and relaxing! I sure am gonna miss him when he has to leave me in the woods again tomorrow!

"It is enough right now to taste one moment of peace. Of course I want more, but at least the door is open. 
It is enough to draw a conscious breath, and let my hands relax, fingers releasing their tight grasp on things outside of my control. 
It is enough to to shed a layer of stress as if taking off a jacket or pair of too-tight shoes. 
Ease of being has to start somewhere. This breath is my first step."
~Danna Faulds

Miles hiked: 1524.4
Miles to go: 659.8