Thursday, September 17 8:30 pm 15.4 mi
AT 1991.3 Spaulding Mountain Lean-to → AT 2006.7 Cranberry Stream Camping
Weather: Temperate overnight, cool breezy day
Trail Conditions: Beautiful fall colors starting to show – vivid reds, bright oranges, sunny yellows
My Condition: Officially a 2000 miler!
Hit 3 milestones today – the place where the CCC finished the last piece connecting the footpath from Georgia to Maine, the 2000 mile marker right across from the plaque (it was ~1993 – maybe they included the approach trail?), and the “official” 2000 mile marker. Tom, an incredible gentleman with a big dump truck and two two-year old labrador retrievers (Trooper, a brown, and Max, a black lab, both from the same litter) who drove us in to Stratton for a resupply and a meal at the restaurant. Not only did he drive us in, he gave Blue his phone number for when we wanted a ride back. Trooper jumped into the back seat with the gals on the way to town and Max sat up front with me. Both pups sat up front with me on the way back – beards must carry dinner flavors better! Trooper lovingly/aggressively gave me face kisses/cleaned up my dinner beard crumbs. We likely only have two more resupplies on trail. Crazy! On the sad news front, Puddles told me her grandfather had passed away. We walked and talked good memories – his mischievous side, his kind/caring side. Met some Mainers out for a day hike who congratulated me, and a group of 4, one of which was from Hopewell and another from Oil City, PA. They recognized my Pittsburgh accent almost immediately!
Post Trail Analysis
It’s getting harder and harder to type up these entries and analyses – I’m finding myself getting rather emotional! Not only was our ride from Tom and pups amazing, we received trail magic before meeting him. Mountain Dew and baked goods! They left the Mountain Dew in a cooler and handed me the baked goods to distribute among my trail family. Waiting at the trailhead parking lot for them, I looked down only to realize that I had eaten all of the baked goods before they arrived. Oops!!! This was a great resupply – I remember being blown away by the different varieties of cheese. Cabot Legacy Collection – Alpine Cheddar: Hints of swiss and parmesan in a cheddar aged to creamy, nutty perfection. Cabot Legacy Collection – White Oak Cheddar: English-style cheddar surprises with subtle hints of caramel sweetness. Vermont Seriously Sharp Cheddar. Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar. Vermont Sharp Cheddar. Mild Cheddar. My diet was mostly cheese at this point, and I left the store quite happy! After returning to the trail from town, I remember that I was walking like a baby deer on wobbly legs. I took a bad step and stumbled off a two-log bridge, right into the muck. Shortly after, I walked directly into a tree.
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