(Sat. 8/4/12) Maine (text, e-mail)

While out and about I received this text from Brett:
Tough days. I have broken part of my foot from a trip and fall. Will update when I have service where I can make a call, but it may be a while.

Later, I received this e-mail:
Feel better from being sick--100 percent recovered. However, I took a fall and think I have broken a part in my foot.  It's totally black, and I can barely get a shoe on.  I am making slow progress but still going.  I have been hiking with Coconut and her dad since we have met up again.  No cell reception anywhere.  I am slow but still pushing on. Thinking around the 20th.

Nothing like having bad news with no way of talking to Brett!

(Mon. 7/30/12) Andover, ME (phone call)

I got a surprise phone call from Brett fairly late tonight. We only talked for a few minutes--just long enough for him to tell me that he was miserable and that Maine was killing him. I immediately thought it must be sore muscles or blistered feet. I was sad to hear that Brett, along with a large number of other hikers in that section of the trail, has come down with a stomach virus.

Brett said that it hit him at 4:00am. He went in search of some lodging and found a bed and bathroom at Pine Ellis Lodge. Brett said there are five other hikers in the hostel with the same symptoms he is experiencing (including Coconut, whom I met in Gorham, NH, and her dad). The hostel right by the trail in Gorham is full, with some sick hikers. And there are more sick hikers in the hostel north of Brett.

Brett had told me before that hikers don't often get sick, because germs don't get passed around the same way that they might in a community with more people. It is unusual for this many hikers to get sick. It makes you wonder if there's something in the water.

Whatever it is, I hope that Brett isn't miserable too long. I hope he doesn't lose any more weight from being sick. And I hope that he gains his strength back quickly. Brett said that he planned on taking a zero day tomorrow (Duh!). I hope that he is able to rest his body back to health.

(Tue. 5/22/12) ?, PA - Becca/Brett Exchanges

5/22/12 Text from Becca to Brett:
Sitting at the ball field thinking of you. Will try to type our family news soon. Sorry it's been a while. Wrens left the nest today. Miss you when I watch them. Hope to talk to you soon. Love you!

5/22/12 Text from Brett to Becca:
Crossed into PA today and left the comfort of the south. I was also thinking that I really do miss you. The past two days have been solid rain. I want to dry out. Dry is a feeling that I take for granted when I am at home.

5/21/12 E-mail from Becca to Brett:

Brett, I was just looking through the book and noticed this description of Pine Grove General Store (1095.6 mi., “home of the half gallon challenge”):

“open 7 days Labor day to Memorial Day….”

First of all, I think it is supposed to say “…Memorial Day to Labor Day….”  My concern is this: are you going to get there before Memorial Day [next Monday, 5/29/12]? And will they be open?

5/22/12 Email from Brett to Becca:

I have heard that they are open. If not I will do my challenge at Don's house. I should be there this weekend.  If you could, get a list of dentists around Carlisle PA that take our insurance. My tooth is beginning to hurt again. But not worse than my feet right now. Two days of rain and walking with soaked shoes makes all the feet soft and wore three or four blisters today. But I am a few days from hopefully getting everything clean and dry.

(Sat. 5/5/12) Montebello, VA - Email Update From Brett

I am at Dutch Haus B&B. No cell service, but I have Internet. I should be in Waynesborough on Tuesday. I have a new backpack being sent there. I am just about done with the Blue Ridge Pkwy. There is no way that we could have worked out a way for Dad to meet me. It was just not what I thought it would be.

I am having some medical issues that I am worried about but will talk to you about those later. I am in for a good rest today and should be back on the trail tomorrow afternoon. Things are still going well. Once I get to Shenandoah NP it is rumored that the terrain will get easier. I am looking forward to that.

I may not be out of the so-to-say "blues," but I do feel better again about what I am doing. I do believe that I can do this. It is just tough and somewhat monotonous. Someone I was talking to a few days ago said something to me like, "Either you think it is worth the effort [and tough it out] or you go home. It is that simple." I thought that was a good way to put it simply. It really is that easy of a choice. I know it is worth the struggle. I am the one who is making myself climb this stupid hill and cuss it the whole way. I am deciding to do this, and I can decide to quit whenever I want to. I know that it is worth the effort. What is keeping me going right now is that it will get easier soon.

I am still taking pictures, but I have to say they are tapering off, because there is not as much to see. Anything that is worthwhile I do take a picture of.

I crossed the James River the other day and was told that it was a tradition for a thru hiker to jump off the bridge. So I had to do that twice. The first time I had to see if I would survive, and the second time I jumped to get it on video to show everyone else how stupid I am. It would be like jumping off the top of Shalimar Bridge. Scary as hell to actually let go of the rail the first time. Then it was fairly easy. Gravity took over and did the rest. The water was cold but felt refreshing after a few.

We have had a few 90 degree days. It really takes a toll on hiking up hills. I think I came close to drinking 3 gallons of water the other day, and I really did not pee much.

I should be able to call in a few days. Until then, love you Hun.

Email from Brett later in the day:
If the scale here is right, I am now below 200 pounds. That is over 40 pounds lost.