Date: 2005-06-03
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: Hogpen Camp Gap
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: light rain

I realized something late last night. I had a maildrop at Montebello and with what I had planned I would not get there till late Saturday, after the post office closed! So I revised a little. I would push a big mile day today and lay up a couple miles from town so I could get in early Saaturday to get my maildrop. I took off at 6:30 and made pretty good time. It was cloudy but at least it wasn't raining though they are calling for a chance of showers later. I stopped for lunch at the Brown Mountain Gap Shelter. Up to that point I had not seen a soul. After I ate I started the big up for the day. As I neared the top I pased two people but I was to tired to stop so I just said hi and moved on. A short while later I ran into Wolfsong, Starfire, and Zing, the three children from the Garland 5 family. I then realized who it was that I passed, Foto and Clothesline, their parents. Starfire just had her birthday a couple of days ago so I presented her with a couple of candies as a present. I also gave some to the other two. This was the first I have seen of them since Hard Core. They were going to Hog Camp Gap but I was pushing past. At 2:30 I hit Hog Camp Gap and that is when everything came to an abrupt halt. In the field I could see the mothership had landed! A very large tent, the kind of one you would see at a base camp for Mt. Everest, was set up along with a few other smaller tents. I walked over and met Redneck, Amy, Pop, and John. Redneck and Pop thru-hiked in '99 and every year since then they did a weekend of trail magic at Hog Camp. They broke out food and drink and told me to sit and relax for a bit, which I did. You don't have to wiist a hikers arm when it comes to that combination!We talked and then the Garland 5 came in. At this point in time I still had every intention of moving on. I started talking with Wolfsong. This girl is amazing. 14 years old and a lot smarter than her years. We talked trail and she taught me some stuff about some of the plants near the trail. All three kids are being home schooled as they hike. Wolfsong wants to keep doing home school when they get done but Starfire wants to go back to school. I would think it would be tough to sit in a classroom after all they have seen and done out here. Now it was about 6:00 and my plans had changed slightly. I was going to get up real early and push hard to get to Montebello before noon. Another vehicle came in and Arrowhead and Angus pulled in. They too, had thru-hiked in '99 and were part of the trail magic. We helped unload the car, which was loaded to the gills! This was getting crazy. There were at least 10 large coolers, sacks of food, cases of beverages, and a lot more. The evening progressed and a few more of the trail magic crew rolled in with even more stuff! Every time you turned around food was being handed to you. It was an awesome thing! Then the music started. Guitars, a washtub bass and a penny whislte. It was quite good and everyone was having a blast Once again time flew by and it was 12:30. My plans changed again. The new one was to zero here tomorrow and go to Montebello and the Dutch Haus on Sunday, pick up the maildrop Monday AM and head out. They had offered a ride to get it in the AM but, by then, I liked the idea of a zero and my Dutch Haus plan. I finally made it to bed around one AM. What a great day!