Well hello folks! We know that we just had an update but we can type up another already, it's not a problem for us. Ah, where to begin, well we, Mango and BabyFeet, made the decision to stop and join forces with Yogi, Count, and Smurf in Harpers Ferry. After leaving the cabin we went to Washington D.C. to meet with Smurf and Count before Count flew home for a week. The three of us returned to Harpers Ferry and the warmth of Yogi! Since then we have been moving together as an ever-changing blob. At the real half way point (Pine Grove Furnance State Park) Smurf, Mango, and Yogi each put down a half gall of the cream de ice. Damn it's harder than you could possibly ever imagine! We each took about an hour to finish. As the children were getting ready for bed that night, a car with a nervous yet excited young pup was preparing to hike 1000+ miles! Damian, with his enourmous pack, met us at the hostel. The following day, Count caught up to us and we continued walking home. Damian quickly got accustomed to the lifestyle as he was around five hairy, stinky men who knew a thing or two about hiking. From then on we became: MTFKS The Magic Treehouse Funktastic Kill Squad. (yo wuddup to Mary Pope Osborne)
We hiked through the wet, rocky, boring terrain that some call Rocksylvania (also dubbed chipmunklandia) however we were able to keep our spirits high (hehe) and experienced some of the greatest trail magic from the legendary Trail Angel Mary in Duncannon, central PA. Trail Angel Mary allowed us to go to her home while she was running errands for other hikers to hide from the brutal heat and watch Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. We were able to show young Damian that it was perfectly normal for thru-hikers to crash on the apartment floors of complete strangers...Damian was learning fast and we were all so very proud. Mango and Yogi went ahead and did a big favor for Trail Angel Mary later that night, driving out to Harrisburg, PA in Trail Angel Mary's busted old Buick to pick up a hiker at the bus station and bring him back to Duncannon so she could attend a pool match at the bar down the street. Little did these young men know that they would be driving through a tornado storm. Yogi kept super calm and collected as he drove down the highway through horizontal rainfalls, giant trees blown down into the road, and a real tornado. well done Yogi.
The next day we said our goodbyes to Duncannon and stepped back onto the brutal sharp rocks of the PA trail. Many days in PA we would not see a single view and the trail began to feel more like a grind. Some of us were becoming majorly affected both physically and mentally. Yogi's foot pain eventually drove him into the Palmerton, PA emergency room as the other 5 moved on into New Jersey. At this point we encountered a major turning point on the trail. Count's family friends picked Yogi up in Palmerton and met up with the rest of the gang at the NJ borderand then drove us all back to their luxurious woodland fortress in New Jersey.
The Gage family welcomed us with open arms into their home,we were met with warm beds, showers, and an obscene amount of food. During our stay we had the pleasure of making a trip to Asbury Park, New Jersey with Count's father Keith, Smurf's father Stevie, the Gage family, and some of their good friends. Typically a hiker would set out to a populated beach thinking about how it's gonna be swarming with beautiful women in bikinis, however to our surpirse we soon realized that it was gay pride weekend. We found our-selves doing some people watching and encountered characters that were not often seen out on the trail, like 60 year old men dressed up as dolls. The place that we most wanted to be in the end was at home with our lovely New Jersey family, Richard, Pegasus, and Matt. Yogi got stuck and ended up staying with the Gage's for the next week while Mango, Smurf, BabyToes, and CliffyMcFly walked through the hottest of weather across the beautiful mosquito-infested ridglines of New Jersey. Yogi met up with them just shy of the New York border with WELL rested feet. We would like to shout out to the Gages for supporting him so much with resting his foot, including even taking him to their chiropractor. We love and miss you Gages!!
Life has been moving quickly as usual, especially since it's taking us less than full weeks to get through states. From New Jersey we moved into New York where we got to take frequent lunch breaks at Delis and Pizzarias. Then came Connecticut where the prices on food SKYROCKETED in every uppity town we walked through where everyone dressed as if they were going sailing. Highlight in Connecticut was our pleasant visit with NATTLES!! Natalie Dellinger is a good friend and strong supporter of the MTFKS movement. Yogi, Smurf, and Mango met her on their South America semester abroad trip this fall, and she was able to come and meet us in Kent, CT. While in Kent, Natalie happened to mention that she had grandparents that lived in Becket, MA, which is mentioned in our guide books as a town the trail goes through. So now we write to you from Natalie's grandparents lake house! We took a day of rest here yesterday in the comforts of this awesome house. There's a music room with a pipe organ that we jammed out on, we all lucked out with our own beds, we even went kayaking on the lake outside of the house. Stevie, Smurf's dad, met us here and now the team, with Stevie included, is ready to move. We are very close to Vermont. Then comes New Hampshire. Then comes the promised land...Maine.
We love you all.
MTFKS
