Date: 2019-04-24
From: Tri Corner Knob Shelter 

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 18.5

Day 23 Lobster Crabs and SalmonThe weather gods were kind again and it was another day to soak up the verdure. In the shade I took a spell to sketch a bit.My plan for the day was an ambitious 15 mile hike to Davenport Gap Shelter. I was looking forward to visiting there because it¢s one of the last remaining shelters that is ¢caged¢. A few years back the authorities decided to cage in the entrances to many shelters to prevent bears coming in and stealing the food of the hikers sleeping in there. It was a kind of zoo for humans. It was the animals turn to take a look on in. Trouble was the hikers thought that this was a great way to safely get close to the bears. So they fed them whilst they were safely on the other side of the cage.This only increased the dependence and appetite of the bears on human food. Not only that but some hikers got trapped in their cage because the bears wouldn¢t let them come out! So then the cages were removed, bear cables installed so hikers would hang their food way out of the bears reach, and educational programs begun to better inform hikers about more appropriate ways to interact (ie keep away from) with bears. Davenport Gap is one of the last shelters to still have a cage and I was keen to see how it felt to sleep in a zoo cage. Along the way one of my fellow hikers was doing his best to persuade me to do otherwise. ¢If you walk on only another 3miles then you will get to Standing Bear Farm. Im going there because I can buy beer there!¢ Now the first two or three times he said this I was not interested. But it went on and he said it repeatedly to everyone we met. Pretty soon we were all getting thirsty so when I did get to Davenport Shelter at 3:15pm I thought to myself ¢Well it is only another 3 miles¢ Foolish me didn¢t realise it was all very steeply uphill and that¢s just to the turnoff. Add another half mile uphill again! Standing Bear Farm is an institution on the Appalachian Trail. It¢s very wacky and quirky and as I was to find out run by a lot of folks who enjoyed alternative lifestyles. Their shop was full of outdated product and it was run on an honour system. Upon entry I was given a scrap of paper and I was to write on it everything I bought then settle the bill when I left. I took a quick look and then made a quick decision to avoid any food there. I then took a more detailed look and realised there was no beer. My colleague who was so desperate for a beer was devastated. It seems that if he wanted beer he had to find a taxi that would take him 20 miles away to the nearest liquor store!!!!! He was shell shocked. I was plain exhausted and in my delirium ordered a pizza which turns out was a frozen product placed in a rather dirty oven until it was burnt to a crisp. Frankly I didn¢t care, I was so ravenous although after the second slice I was having second thoughts. My other friends were much more civilised and cooked up couscous filled with a variety of tinned product. At this point I was retiring to my tent when a ute (pick up truck) with New York plates pulled up and a gentleman alighted and placed two ice chests full of a selection of specialist Connecticut IPA beers. He told me he missed the Trail so much he, on a whim, drove 14 hours south to provide Trail Magic to hungry hikers. I couldn¢t believe my luck. I asked if I could bring my friends over. First I went to the ones glumly cooking couscous. ¢Pssst ... do you want a beer?¢ Their eyes lit up. They were amazed I had found such a treasure trove. I went over to my colleague who had suggested coming here in the first place. He was having none of it. ¢ No, I¢m not having a beer now!¢, he exploded,¢ I wanted a beer when I got here, not later on. I¢m going to bed!¢ Well we had a merry old time exploring the contents of the ice chests. And there was more. Our Trail Angel then asked would we like Lobster, Salmon or Crab. He had brought 24inch long fillets of freshly caught salmon, and a selection of other sorts of treasures from the sea. It was a gourmet feast. Unbelievable. All from an angel who missed seeing the AT hikers as they were yet to arrive in his state.