White Rabbit and Large On The Trail

I had the pleasure to meet Rob Whiteside and his daughter yesterday in Harpers Ferry West Virginia (home of limited internet!) yesterday, bringing them a little bit of sunshine into their otherwise rainy month.  They reached the unofficial half-way mark and Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters averaging 18 miles a day (!) on their through-hike from Georgia to Maine.

I comped them a "Town" meal, a trip to Walmart and an outfitter, and an actual mattress-enhanced night sleep, their first in quite a while.

They seem fully entrenched in the hiker culture and all its eccentricities.  They are the 102nd and 103rd North hikers to attain the Headquarters treatment.  Phoebe plans on them passing a few to attain top 100 hikers to reach Mt. Katahdin  in Maine in early July. We all will find out how this is as training for XC, as she will start at Swarthmore in the Fall.

Rob ended up with his old PSU Junior/Senior nickname of Large when Phoebe told the other hikers about it.  Rob thanks you guys for that!  (Bob Hudson was mentioned.) (Bob did not, in fact name Rob "Large".  Another error in fact from Blog Central!!!)  Who else?  Phoebe became the White Rabbit for her "organization skills" and her two watches the other hikers compared to the Alice in Wonderland character.  The hikers never use real names, only their "trail names" when referring to each other.

I ended up walking the entire width of the trail with them.  This was my third time completing the width hike, and I am getting much better at it.  You don't get a nickname for that!

5/6 of the old Rob Whiteside with his daughter Phoebe at the 1000 mile mark in Virginia.

A town meal of bison burgers, fish and chips and teriyaki wings.