Day 25 on the Trail

I was in my bed last night, watching a Netflix DVD (True Grit), enjoying the comforts of air conditioning, feather pillows and fresh sheets when Dave called - from a wood shelter in the Berkshires, while drying out his pants and boots.

As of 7/8/11:
Miles today - 13.4
Miles to date - 310.3

Dave was very upbeat, in spite of having hiked in a downpour.  He heard thunder in the afternoon and decided to stop at the nearest shelter.  He had a few miles to go before he got to one, and the skies opened up before he got there.  It had quit raining by the time he was making dinner, so he was optimistic his pants would dry out overnight though his boots probably would not.  Fortunately his rain jacket had been handy and he was able to get it on when it started raining.

Earlier in the day, the trail crossed Route 7.  Dave saw a sign rather far down the road that said, Good Food.  He started thinking about sitting down for a little while and having a hamburger for lunch, so he made the turn and headed for the sign to see what else it said.  When he got closer, he saw it said, Good Finds.  It was a antique store, not a restaurant.  How disappointing!  He turned around to go back to the trail and passed a small shop he hadn't noticed when he was thinking about a hamburger.  Its sign said, Hikers Welcome.  He went in, the owner had drinks and snacks for sale though the store was a real junk shop with old hammers and machine parts for sale.  Dave bought a couple things (food, not junk) and asked if he could sit outside and eat his lunch.  The owner said, "Go out back to the gazebo and sit at the picnic table."  As he did, she also told him he could plug in his phone and recharge it.  Very nice.  He said said the name of the shop was Dolls and Dwellings.  Sounds to me like a miniature shop with dolls and dollhouses, but Dave didn't see any.  Then I wondered if it was the same sort of 'dolls' on the billboards in SC who want to give you a 'massage'!

Later in the afternoon, the trail went through swampy areas.  The places where Dave was supposed to be able to get water, according to the guide books, were not looking good at all, some with black water.  His water bladder, a Platypus, was getting low.

Dave was thinking, I sure would like a bottled water.  Soon afterwards, he came upon some Trail Magic!  There was a cooler by the trail full of bottled water, Vitamin Water and other drinks. Amazing.  Dave drank a Vitamin Water and took a plain water with him.  Hopefully the Trail Angels know how much their gifts are appreciated.

Dave thinks he got some good pictures of a big buck today.  He whistled, the buck looked right at him and Dave snapped a couple of pictures. The buck didn't move until Dave made a motion, then he took off.  I asked Dave if he saw any other wildlife.  He said, Besides mosquitos?  No, the buck was all for today.

He was quite surprised when Cloud Walker showed up at the shelter.  CW walked 3 hours longer than Dave to make up mileage from the day before.

To follow up on yesterday's post -- Dave was able to talk to Chad about his tick bites.  He hasn't had any symptoms or rashes that look like targets, and he doesn't think the ticks were on him very long, so he is saving his meds.