Day 132 - Wednesday, August 18, 2021

We were able to sleep in today and have breakfast at the hostel this morning. It felt great to get 2 hours more sleep and get a hot breakfast and several cups of coffee ☕️.

It was raining when we got up but it  is expected to stop before we hit the trail… but Mother Nature has already made the trail wet and slippery 🥴.

Today we are continuing our “Ultimate Platinum Slack Pack” through the 100 Mile Wilderness from Logon Brook Road (2123.3 NoBo) to Jo-Mary Road (2137.1 NoBo) for a total 13.8 miles.


Meet “Malibu” our shuttle driver who also is a Ridgerunner for the Appalachian Trail. 


This is “Buttercup” who I mentioned a few weeks ago in my journal. She fell and hurt herself in New Hampshire suffering a concussion and bruised leg; left alone in a shelter to fend for herself. Two local hikers came to her aid and escorted her off the trail to awaiting EMT’s. She was off the trail for 12 days recuperating and is now resuming her flip flop thru hike. “Buttercup” began in Harper’s Ferry on February 16th… in case you haven’t notice the wisdom and experience in her eyes as “Buttercup” is a young 74 😳! Glad to see you back on the trail “Buttercup”. Happy Trails! 


The East Branch Lean-to.



We stopped for lunch at Crawford Pond enjoying the peacefulness and tranquility. 

We resumed hiking and went over the Crawford Pond outlet. Turtle Power makes the turn and begins going over a small knob when I see this blur rolling downhill… it was Turtle Power on the ground or was it dessert, “turtle falla mode” 😂. That put me 1 up in the slip/fall count but there’s plenty of hiking left 😬. 


Just another badge of honor from the trail… luckily that was the extent of any injuries.



The trail has been very forgiven to us the last couple days… a lot has been easy maneuverable earthen trail 🙏🏻.

We finished hiking at 4:15 pm and met some “Trail Magic” at Jo-Mary Road who were providing cold drinks and hot dogs to hikers. We enjoyed some trail magic while waiting for our shuttle.We got back to the hostel, took a hot shower and had dinner. 


Meet “Jeff”, “Maverick” & “Mogul” (l-r) who are from Amherst, MA,  Jolly, TX and Philadelphia, PA respectively. We have seen them almost daily for several weeks as we all make our way NoBo. Jeff left Springer on March 12th, Maverick on March 8th & Mogul on March 10th. They liked our “Platinum Slack Packing” and decided to try it themselves.  They  received their official “Platinum Slack Packing Thru Hiker” designation tonight after dinner…. Welcome to the club gentlemen!



Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋


“Acts of generosity in this wild and primitive setting…where basic amenities…are intentionally absent–are often received in a heightened sense of wonder and gratitude by hikers. These acts of generosity are referred to as “trail magic.”

                  (Appalachian Trail Conservancy)




Comments

  1. Joe ArcuriAugust 20, 2021 at 4:02 PM

    Sorry to read about TP’s fall. I hope he’s ok. The way you described it it sounds like a 2-dinner fall, no? 😉

    ReplyDelete

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