All I Could Think About Was "Noon on Saturday"

   When I crossed the state line into Vermont I knew that I was making progress. I was now in the "Green Mountains". The mountains are beautiful, and they are green. I found out why they are green. It rains a lot! All the vegetation loves the frequent showers in the Green Mountains. It was summer time and I didn't mind the frequent showers (they cooled things off)!
   At this time I was focused on getting back on schedule. Way back in Virginia I had bruised my foot. By the time I got to Pennsylvania it developed into a stress fracture and I had to go to a hospital. After several days of rest, I was back on the trail with a thick pad inside my boot but I was behind schedule. Now, several hundred miles later I was close to getting back on schedule. I reached my last supply pickup point in the afternoon on a Saturday. The post office was closed and I had to wait until Monday morning before it reopened. I was determined to make it to my next supply pickup point before noon on Saturday.
   Every day I tried to hike just a little bit farther. Every day I looked at my data book and planned how many miles I had to make in order to make it to the North Clarendon, Vermont post office by noon on Saturday. The trail helped me along. There was a lot of ridge walking which is much easier than straight up and down mountains.
   After a week of pushing hard I found myself at a shelter on Friday night just six miles from the road crossing leading into North Clarendon. I knew that I could make it to the road in the morning and catch a ride into the town to pickup my box from the post office by noon on Saturday. All I could think about was noon on Saturday.
   That night I met some "weekend warriors". That's what we called people who came out to hike for a night or two on the trail during the weekend. They were friendly people and quite impressed that I had hiked to Vermont all the way from Georgia. I had learned a long time ago that most weekend warriors carried much more than they ever needed. I always needed Coleman Fuel for my cook stove. So I had the habit of asking weekend warriors if they had any spare Coleman Fuel that I could buy from them. Usually they had a full bottle and gladly gave me whatever I needed to fill my bottle. A full bottle would last me about two weeks, so I almost never ran out. I always offered to pay them, but no one ever took my money.
   As night fell that Friday evening, I snuggled into my sleeping bag with a smile on my face. I had a full fuel bottle. I was only six miles from the road crossing. My alarm was set for early in the morning. There was no way that I was going to miss the Post Office by noon on Saturday. I had done it. I had gotten back on schedule. I was proud of myself. But there was something that I didn't know. Something that would be a complete surprise to me. But it would have to wait until the morning.

   2011 Update:  This morning I weighed in at 169.2 pounds! Diet and exercise DO work if you stick with it! I am so excited to finally be under 170 pounds. My goal is to reach 165 pounds by September 4th (the day I climbed the last mountain on the Appalachian Trail back in 1980). For a few days I was wondering if I could make it, but I redoubled me efforts and now I am back on track. I see a big salad in my future.... :)