Date: 2017-08-07
From: Buttermilk Falls Trail Campsite

To: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

(From Frodo: Scout's entry for this date follows this guest entry, but maybe should be read first.  I can't figure out how to change the order!)The plan was simple enough. We would be traveling north from Washington, DC to New York. Scout would be walking south from Maine to Georgia. We will intercept Scout on the AT! In practice, it proved to be slightly more challenging. After a series of rental car mishaps, we soon realized that catching Scout on Sunday in an easy spot on a main road was not going to happen. Sandy (Frodo) was providing support from afar, keeping us up to date on Scout¢s planned movements to help coordinate a ¢surprise¢ rendezvous. Frodo was becoming concerned ¢perhaps we should get Scout involved.¢ A daddy veto overrode the wishes of the three princesses to continue for a surprise. Scout was texted early Monday morning, and he called while we were in the parking lot of the only local grocery store we could find. Good thing, as he was already 4 miles further along than anticipated! The weather forecast was bad. Steady rain is a nuisance but the foreboding warnings of severe thunderstorm activity with 2 inches of rain in a short period of time seemed worth heeding. We would have the morning before the worst of it arrived, according to all three forecasts. Scout advised we meet at the AMC Mohican Lodge, his destination for the night, later in the day (dry and comfortable with a nice lounge and kitchen). We had other plans! Off we drove in the drizzle, then steady rain. There was only one remaining place the trail crossed a road, and google maps could get us there just in time based on Frodo¢s estimate of Scout¢s pace.  We chose the shortest route, which would take us through the Delaware Water Gap NRA. The roads became progressively smaller and less paved, more like a series of large holes full of water, with small patches of pavement in between. Then we were directed onto a NPS ¢service road¢ and it was getting more interesting. The ¢Old Mine Rd¢ that came next was marked ¢closed in winter¢ which, based on the condition, seemed wise. The youngest princess became car sick. We¢d have to make a stop. Finally, we found the trail intersection and backed our rented van into the trailhead area. Did we miss him? Based on Frodo¢s estimate, Scout should have reached that point right at the time we arrived. We¢d have no way of knowing, so we decided to set up and wait. Seats folded, tailgate up for rain protection, high calorie food gifts from a local bakery just about to be taken out. We had been there not 5 min when a tall figure, shrouded in an umbrella, became visible through the trees at the trailhead. No doubt ¢ it was Scout. We hadn¢t even been there five minutes. Frodo was spot on with her estimate of Scout¢s pace! Here¢s the rest, from the perspective of the three princesses:Princess Sophia:We woke up in the morning and drove out to where the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey meets the road for Trail Magic. It was a long twisting road and our dad was driving fast so we didn¢t miss Scout. The littlest princess got car sick so we had to stop for a few minutes. Finally, we got to where we wanted to be and got the minivan and the patries ready for all the hikers. We had bought tons of pastries and donuts for the hikers that came by. Then we waited for Scout. One of the princesses had to use the bathroom so we thought we might drive back to the bathroom. But then we saw an umbrella and a figure emerge from the trees. It was Scout! He was so excited to see us and we were so excited to see him.  Princess CatherineWe took Scout to our car, which we had folded down all of the seats so we had room to sit away from the pouring rain outside We all sat and told stories while Scout ate food from the bakery that we had brought him. Scout told us all about cowboy camping under the stars. It sounded like tons of fun! Soon we saw a woman emerge from the forest. It was Dot! She had woken up later than Scout so she had arrived later than him. She sat down and ate food, too. We traded stories and dad talked about how he and Barney had played tricks on people with a toy penguin. We were all laughing and having a great time. Then another figure came walking down the path toward us. It was Frankie. Frankie came to the car and had some pastries too. He told us all about how he had taken care of a deer and even showed us pictures. Everybody was laughing and joking around. Two north bounders walked by us and my family offered them donuts, which they accepted gratefully. Soon they left and continued hiking. Scout took AT tattoos out of his pack and we put the AT tattoos on immediately. They were sparkly gold and look so pretty. All too soon, Dot, Frankie, and Scout said they should probably get going for the three miles to the Mohican Outdoor Center where Scout was going to spend the night. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  My mom took pictures of us all together and then we said goodbye. It felt good to see the smiles on the faces of the hikers when we gave them treats! Trail Magic! Princess Jessica:My dad asked if we could slack pack Dot, Scout, and Frankie to the Mohican lodge center while they hiked to it. When we got there, we went into the lodge and it was very nice. They were still hiking so we hiked part of the AT to try and meet up with them. We came across Dot and Frankie because they had ran part of it until they got chilled. We kept hiking but we couldn¢t see Scout. My dad went ahead, but couldn¢t see him. We waited a few minutes, but no Scout. We wanted to hike out farther, but it was really foggy so we couldn¢t. So we started hiking back, but then in the distance we saw Scout!!!!!!!! He told us that he was thinking that it would be so cool if we hiked out to see him. He was so excited that we hiked out to see him. We hiked back to the Mohican lodge center and my mom was waiting for us. She was taking pictures of us. Dot and Frankie were inside on the couch. We looked at the menu for lunch and ordered it. Scout and Sophia had the corn chowder soup and I had the grilled cheese. I ate half and Scout ate the other half. We had to go back to our hotel but I wanted to stay with Scout. We said goodbye and we drove to our hotel. We were finally back at the hotel but we miss Scout. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Frodo will be pleased that we watched Scout consume many high calorie treats and baked goods. We left him stocked with additional treats and drinks. The rain never really stopped, but the thunderstorms never arrived. We took a longer, but better maintained, route back to the hotel, smiles all around. Trail Magic!Thanks for reading our guest entry,Dan, Monica, and the Three Princesses