Date: 2017-07-22
From: Mark Noepel Shelter

To: Upper Goose Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: few clouds

I was so torn and couldn¢t choose which title to us today, so I chose both.¢10, 9, 8,¢¦¢ Did you watch the space shuttle launches? ¢7, 6, 5¢¦¢ Or are you like me and did you watch the Apollo, the Gemini and, yes, the Mercury launches? We¢d be glued to the black-and-white tv set staring at this slender rod pointing skyward at Cape Canaveral. Often there would be an intentional hold in the countdown. Time passed, but stood still. I have been in an ¢intentional hold¢ since I last parted with Frodo almost 20 days ago. That¢s far too long to do a countdown. To live out here, to be present, I can¢t let myself miss her so. But this morning, at Dot¢s friend¢s house, I loudly announced, ¢Six!¢ Six days left till I see Frodo in Kent, Connecticut. The intentional hold is over. Let the countdown begin.We¢re doing 19 miles today, starting when Dot¢s friend Holly drops us off in downtown Dalton to pick up where we left off, to Upper Goose Pond Cabin which Buck especially can¢t stop talking about and anticipating. ¢They make you pancakes. Blueberry pancakes. There are canoes. Sometimes the caretaker makes you dinner.¢ AT mile 10 there¢s the ¢cookie lady¢ 100 yards off the trail. And other surprises await me. But I am no longer surprised by the nice trail. Look at this: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...And speaking of surprises, I received a punch below the belt today. It¢s so not fair. I was going to tell you all the surprise for Dot, Franky, and Buck. In good time. In a few days.  But then I was emailed this video:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Here¢s the secret. Dot and Franky have never been to New York City. None of the three of them have ever seen a Broadway show. Frodo has purchased five tickets for Tony Award-winning ¢Come From Away¢ and we have arranged to all stay in a friend¢s house outside NYC. Reuben Scout, everyone else thanks you for squeezing that out of me.New York City is 120 trail miles ahead, but let¢s get back to today¢¦ We climbed a nubbin that they rightfully call a hill, and at the top I found Dot and Franky picking at a bush. ¢Wild blueberries!¢ I¢d never have known. We picked at least a cup-and-a-half and each ate another handful. We put them in a baggie to bring to the shelter for the promised blueberry pancakes.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...At nearly ten miles we came to a road and headed 100 yards east. ¢The Cookie Lady¢ is in the guidebook. I had no idea it was also a u-pick blueberry farm, too. So we picked three pounds more. These are the biggest, sweetest blueberries I¢ve ever tasted. I should say we paid for three pounds. There¢s no telling how many blueberries were intercepted by our mouths on the way to the bucket. Are we all going to get the runs?In the late afternoon, 3 miles from the Shelter, two dayhikers approached us. ¢A-Train!¢ It¢s trail magic. We hiked with A-Trail for some of the PCT in 2007. He knew where I¢d be from watching our Hiker Line Dancing video on Facebook. He¢d plied Sheriff, as well as Buck and Franky with goodies, and now Dot and me. Dot heard plenty of PCT 2007 stories, along with drinks, snacks, and apples. Whoo Hoo! And I did jump in the lake as soon as I got to Goose Pond Shelter. But it¢s late now, so I¢ll tell you about it tomorrow.