Date: 2017-07-28
From: Highway 341 and Kent, CT

To: Highway 22, then Scarsdale
Miles today: 17.4

Frodo: Sorry about how behind I¢ve gotten on posting journal entries.  I write this on Wednesday, August 2nd.  And now I have to ¢fess up. Scout usually emails me photos of his journal pages and I transcribe from those. But since I was actually WITH him, he handed me the pages for this day, our first full day together this time. AND I LOST THEM. I assumed they would show up when I unpacked my luggage last night, but no joy. Tomorrow¢s entry has been written already by me, so that Scout can have an occasional day off from journal writing, and now you¢ll have to put up with me writing this day¢s entry as well. Sorry about that. I know, Scout¢s the storyteller, not me.Scout and I had a wonderful reunion when I arrived at Elaine¢s house at 10:30 last night. We had so much to tell each other, it was difficult to stop talking and just go to sleep. Well, not JUST go to sleep, but we won¢t go there.Then this morning, it was up and at ¢em. I met Buck and renewed my acquaintance with Dot and Franky, who I had dinner with back in Rangeley, Maine, several weeks ago. We had bagels and delicious homemade banana bread for breakfast, packed up efficiently, and I dropped them all off about 7:50 for their 17.4-mile day. They were carrying very little and the trunk of my rental car was crammed with their gear. I planned to meet them at mile 7 with fresh bakery goods, fruit, juices and chocolate milk.But first I needed to drive to the Ten-Mile River train station to meet Aaron. He¢s the significant other of our niece Eliana and they live in Manhattan.  Aaron had the day off and he wanted to see what this long-distance hiking is all about. I had kind of hoped Scout and DF&B would want to sleep in a bit so Aaron could join them from the start, but that didn¢t happen.  Aaron didn¢t want to wait to join them at the 7-mile point, so we set off to see if we could intercept the hikers. The trail parallels a road along the Housatonic River and we drove along, hoping to find a side trail that would get Aaron to the AT. But between the road and the AT were either cliffs or steep densely-wooded slopes.  Eventually, though, the AT actually came down to the road. Since we had driven about 3.5 miles, I assumed it was about the halfway point if the 7-mile section. Stupid! Of course, the trail winds and wanders, so it turns out we parked the car fairly near our planned meet-up point. I hiked with Aaron north on the trail and it took me a while to realize why we didn¢t soon meet up with Scout and DF&B. But after about 1.5 miles of uphill we ran in to Sheriff and Cuckoo, talking with NOBO Toboggan. I passed Aaron off to Toboggan and hiked back to the car with Sheriff and Cuckoo, having a lovely chat along the way. Though I felt like a doofus, it was meant to work out this way. Aaron, who is quite gregarious, got to hike a bit with me, then a bit with Toboggan, then turned around and hiked with Scout and DF&B, adding a little variety to his morning.  And I got to hike with him and then get to know Sheriff and Cuckoo a bit. Very nice.  Here are Aaron and Scout: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I hurried off to buy food and drinks and rushed back to where everyone was waiting for me by Bulls Bridge. We had our ¢second breakfast¢ picnic at a very cool overlook, just above where Ten-Mile River tumbles down to join the Housatonic River.  This is a special spot for the father of the princesses, who grew up in the area.  I can see why; it's very stirring.  Aaron had brought a 6-pack sampler of gluten-free mini cupcakes for Sheriff, at Scout's request, and I brought a nice bakery macaroon, so Sheriff felt pretty special: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I met them again 3.5 miles later, with Subway sandwiches, fruit, and drinks.  Here are two of us eating lunch:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...It was a day of congenial and convivial hiking, with a fairly large group of 7. Aaron evidently did great, which is not something you take for granted. Most folks can¢t just jump on the fast-moving determined train of thru-hikers and keep up for long. He discussed music theory with Dot and I think I heard they also practiced their French a bit.  Here's Scout cooling off: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Scout bemoaned the fact that we hadn¢t broken out the new AT gold tattoos from the ginormous suitcase buried in the car¢s trunk, since they had crossed paths with several NOBOs and he only had a few left. This group seems to be the Vanguard of SOBOs. There are probably a couple others ahead of them, but not many.  One NOBO put it on his neck: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...At the end of their 17.4 mile day, Scout, DF&B, and I dropped Aaron off at a train station and then drove south.  Once in Scarsdale and ensconced in the home of some hiker friends, we had pizza for dinner and called it a day.Again, sorry you didn't get to read Scout's prose about the day.  If he wants to add anything to this day, I'll make a note to that effect in an upcoming entry.-Frodo