Thursday, August 6 9:22 pm 16.6 mi
AT 1440.8 Morgan Stewart Shelter → AT 1457.4 Wiley Shelter
Weather: Hot and sunny
Trail Conditions: Tons of blowdowns, lots of scrambling over downed trees
My Condition: Feeling great today! Really enjoyed the trail magic from Pipes and Grizz
Hikers Met: Pipes, Grizz, Tall Tats
Saw the majestic Dover Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT. Stopped off at Toni’s Deli to grab a Coke for Puddles, Sunkist for Blue, Dr Pepper for Hummingbird, and Mountain Dew for Jinx. Dipped my feet into Nuclear Lake and refilled my water there, still waiting on my super powers though. Pipes and Grizz, who summited Katahdin this past week, brought pizza, PBR, Maine blueberries, strawberries, and whoopie pies. We got to hear all sorts of stories about the amazing journey yet to come and the people they met along the way. They continued onward when Puddles and Hummingbird got off trail during COVID (wave #1).
Post Trail Analysis
Today was another day full of trail cleanup as we went. Walked and talked with Puddles much of the morning and got a funny picture of her hugging the tree, asking if her hands were close to touching. Almost Puddles, almost! Split off at the road to head to the deli and pick up some pop for the crew. Carrying 4 bottles of pop is a LOT of extra liquid weight to be carrying! Fortunately, I ran into Blue on the way back to the trail and handed one off. 1 down, 3 to go. I caught up to Hummingbird in the middle of an open field, looking lost and confused. In her defense, the trail markings had inexplicably turned from white blazes to orange, and she uses the paper guidebook as opposed to the high-tech, GPS-enabled Guthook that the rest of us used. I turned her frown upside down with a still-cold Dr. Pepper. 2 down, 2 to go! I caught Puddles right before the shelter site where we were meeting Pipes and Grizz and handed off her Coke, which was maybe moderately cool at this point, and definitely shaken up. Jinx pulled in to camp a couple hours later with Tall Tats in tow, and I was able to surprise him with his lukewarm Mountain Dew, which he still seemed to really appreciate. Pipes and Grizz were so much fun to hang out with – I had heard so much about these guys from Puddles and Hummingbird. They were waiting for all of us at the shelter, fire going, a stack of pizzas waiting, cold beer at the ready, table sagging from the weight of all the incredible snacking options. We tried to convince them to get back on trail with us, but their rental car was due in central Pennsylvania the next afternoon.
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