Day 36 on the Trail

As of 7/19/11:
Miles today - 12.7
Miles to date - 436.0

Dave got to his stopping point fairly early today and was able to make some phone calls.  He was happy to have decent service.

He had a good walk with nice weather and Trail Magic!  When the trail ran up against a parking lot, there was an ex-trail hiker sitting there offering the other hikers water and beer from a cooler.  Dave filled up his Platypus with ice and water, then on second thought decided to sit and have a beer.  (He didn't want to take the can with him -- something else to carry!)  He drank about half of it and could already feel the effects, so poured the rest on the ground.  He said he didn't realize he was so dehydrated he could get tipsy on half a beer!  It took about 15 minutes, and lots of water, for him to feel normal again.

There are several people in and around the Bromley shelter tonight, including an 83 year old hiker.  He started at Harpers Ferry, WV, and is going all the way to Mt. Katahdin, a distance of 1166 miles.  Rumor has it that a hiker ahead of Dave is 88 years old and started from GA.  I should have asked Dave, What year?

Dave was fascinated by the beaver ponds.  These ponds, including a 40-acre one, were created by beavers damming the streams.  He saw 18-inch diameter trees chewed in half.  In some areas, the trail is below the level of the lake.  The hikers were commenting they hope the beavers built sturdy dams!  Dave also saw moose tracks and said they were wider than his boot.

Now that he's told me that, I have a hard time getting this out of my mind:

Dave said the mosquitos and some sort of gnats were bad again tonight.  He was wearing his head-net, and even wears it to sleep in.  It's been so warm lately he sleeps in his bag liner, not the whole sleeping bag.  He hears it's going to get really hot tomorrow.  I should look up the daily weather forecast and have it ready for his evening call.  Tomorrow he should have a high of 87º with low humidity. Sounds great to me!

He will be going into Wallingford tomorrow, and Country Gold is going too, to pick up a mail drop.  They are hoping they'll be able to hitch a ride into town, but if not, the PO is supposed to be just two miles off the trail.  "Just two miles" - four miles round trip.  That's in addition to whatever miles they walk on the trail.  This is an unplanned stop for Dave, but he's fine with it.