To Bee a Flip Flop
tales of
the Sparkle Chasing Mountain Mermaid
called Neck Knife
Naked Neck Knife
Jun 22, 2020
Written on day 32, my 1 month anniversary, at mile 443.6
Big update.
While I will always be a sparkle chasing mountain mermaid, I am no longer going by Purple Rain. It didn’t feel like me, and was kind of a mouth full. One morning a few days ago, I expressed that I wasn’t feeling it. My tramily spent the day calling me random things, Sparkle/Spark/Sparkie was a solid contender for a while... but the names felt like they were trying too hard.
I’ve been carrying a knife around my neck with me since day one- it is easily my favorite piece of gear. Every time someone has needed a knife, I quickdraw it from my necklace. Well, on this day of pondering a new name, the knife was needed, Krispy called for Neck Knife, and it was pretty obvious in that moment that my true trail name was born.
I found a swing set!
The hiker corner at the cidery in Warwick, Pennington Farm Cidery
Gazebo lake break
I made it to Connecticut!
New York was a blast and very eventful. It really blows my mind how much happens in a day spent just walking through the woods.
I have been with the same tramily for most of New York and we have had some pretty spectacular days- it’s felt rather surreal. For your entertainment and better feel on trail names, the current tram consists of Hot Sauce(aka Dr. Sauce), Goat, Krispy, Picasso, Pacer, BFG, Shotgun, and Yearbook, with occasional bumps into Monarch, Bunny, Camel and Nightlight.
We been together since the ‘Cider fest’. On the last day in New Jersey, after we climbed the ‘stairway to heaven’, we hitched off trail to a Cidery in Warwick, NY. The nice lady that gave us a ride to town, handed us 20$ and told us to enjoy a drink on her. The cidery was bumpin’ and had lots of outdoor seating on a large lawn in front of the orchard. We were placed in the back corner, practically in the orchard. We consumed all the drinks and food, laughed, stretched, and then I braided everyone’s hair. There was a drive-in movie theater across the street that let us camp and watch the movies with everyone! We got a little rowdy. It was awesome.
The next day we all moved very slowly but still got in around 12 miles. Krispy, Picasso, and I found a gazebo on Greenwood Lake and had a solid 3 or 4 hour break. Then the next day I picked up a resupply package, we found another lake, and saw a huge bear as we were setting up camp, little did we know...... The next morning we woke up to said bear and her 4 little-itty-bitty cubs!! The cubs were adorable and climbing the trees and momma was plotting to eat all our food. Everyone has different food bag methods... Picasso has a ursack, which is supposed to be a ‘bear proof’ bag, so it was just tied high in the tree. It got ripped to shreds and that bear ate literally every speck of food the bag had to offer. It looked like the food evaporated from the packaging... As for the rest of us, we hung our bags on the bear wire the shelter had in place, but the bear was heading there next. With the cubs still looking adorable up in the tree, we tried to scare away this very not-phased-by-humans momma bear. We did succeed after lots of yelling and patience. And after all was said and done, I found out that mice poked holes in my tequila bag and it leaked everywhere. What a morning! It was so exciting and we were all smiles, even Picasso.
Baby bears in a tree ❤️
Picasso with his destroyed food bag
We climbed Bear Mountain the next day(just realizing the significance as I write this...). We had very few water sources that day and were thrilled to find vending machines at the top! The joy that comes with the sight of a convenience store or vending machine or trash can these days is indescribable. Also, I’ve never drank so much Gatorade in my life. We made it into the town of Fort Montgomery at the base of the mountain, grabbed take out food and had a proper hiker feast on the stoop of the chapel in town. The crew slimmed down that night as many wanted to stay in a hotel in town, but the Baewatch Bandits (Krispy, Picasso, Hot Sauce and I) decided to push on a few more miles to camp. We crossed the Hudson River at sunset and hung out on the bridge for about an hour. Our hike to camp after that was quite entertaining, it was dark, we were inebriated, and ended up climbing our big climb twice (got a little turned around...) but we had a blast and made it to camp by midnight.
Dr. Sauce and I at the vending machines
hiker trash at the chapel
Picasso and Krispy on the bridge
crossing the Hudson
There has been a deli and a lake on trail almost every day. I have started to wonder why I even carry food. Two days ago, after a deli stop, we ran into one of Yearbook‘s friends from college on the road. She had been tracking Yearbook’s progress and met us on trail with pizzas and PBRs and Gatorade (trail angel number one of the day). When we got to the camp that night we were surprised by some old thru hikers who brought out bags of bagels, fruit, more beer and a bottle of Dewar’s. I did my mom proud and drank most of the bottle of Dewar’s. While we’re sitting there enjoying this trail magic, more of Yearbook‘s friends came rolling into camp with more pizza and more beer. This was the night I was named neck knife. As if this past week hasn’t been exciting enough, the 21st of June is apparently hike naked day! In honor of the solstice, I hiked almost 12 miles completely nude, with my pack of course. It was probably my most comfortable day on trail thus far and I really am feeling like a Lady of the woods.
All the excitement said, it’s been pretty overwhelming for the introvert in me to be around so many people all the time, but I’m having a blast. The conversations have been humorous, insightful, and progressive. I’ve had a few challenging political conversations, and some really inspiring ones as well. I’ve had very little time to write, but I’m forcing myself to journal the events of every day, even if they’re just spark notes.
This experience has been nothing like I imagined. The trail has challenged me in many ways and I genuinely am starting to feel like a different person, or just getting closer to knowing myself. The raw simplicity out here is beautiful and empowering.
I came out here expecting a very solo internal experience, and while that is definitely happening, I’ve also been surrounded by so many people from so many different backgrounds, different parts of the country, different countries, different stories. Everyone has a different reason for being on trail, a different reason for staying out here. It’s been really interesting to have all these different paths on one trail.
I think the fascinating part about all the social energy is how committed we remain to our individual journeys. There is no attachment to one another in a really respectful way. We are hiking alone, occasionally having days next to someone else, or planning camp at the beginning of the day. But for the most part, we all do our own thing and cross paths when we cross paths. It cracks me up every day when I call my mom and she asks if I’m hiking alone, and the answer 9.5 times out of 10, is yes.
In other news, I am yet to get the ‘hiker hunger’. I am definitely hungry, but it’s nothing crazy. However, I do have a thirst that is unquenchable. I am known to get 5 beverages at every deli stop; one giant soda water, a coconut water, a couple Gatorades, and a cider.
Back in New England, cheers!
trail magic at the road crossing
Dr. Sauce and more trail magic
Welcome to Connecticut!