Date: 2006-07-17
From: Graymoor Spirtual Life Center

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: few clouds

The day started out much cooler and quietly. Even though the monastery bells chimed thru-out the night, Bama said she hadn¢t even noticed them and slept well. A quick breakfast and Bama and Little Wing were off again at 6:15 am to take advantage of the cool of the day. The forecast was for mid-90s and clear.The trail had turned much easier and nicer. It was starting to look pretty again and the continuous, ragged, knife-edged rocks and car-sized boulders were maybe behind them now. Maybe New York wasn¢t so bad after all. Lots of vistas and streams and wild life. Bama saw a wild turkey family: papa, mama and some toddler-sized chicks. Still funny how many animals she has seen within distance of a car horn in NYC. At Sunk Mine Road there was a strange rock wall, very well built and straight and the trail beside it flat like a road. Bama found out later that it was an abandoned rail line to an old mine. Cool!As Bama and Little Wing neared Hwy 301, Bama heard a woman shout out ¢Bama!¢ As they got closer, Bama and Little Wing saw a woman by a car at the edge of the road. She had water, drinks, Gatorade and brownies. What great Trail Magic! ¢But,¢ Bama asked, ¢How did you know it was me?¢ Socks the Trail Angel said, ¢I¢ve been reading your journal. I knew when you left Graymoor this morning that you would come by here.¢ Socks is from Bethel, CT and had been waiting for quite a while in the sun and heat for Bama and Little Wing to show up. Wow!After a pleasant hour¢s visit, Bama and Little Wing were ready to get back on the trail. There was still almost six miles to go to the RPH Shelter and it was really hot. Socks asked if she could slack pack them there or if they wanted to come stay at her place, but Bama said she thought she needed to get on with her mileage and the shelter was her goal. Thanks for everything, Socks! This was wonderful.Back on the trail, the terrain was good. Except for the stifling heat, it would have been a great hiking day. About a mile or so from the RPH Shelter, Bama saw another woman hiking in Tevas toward her calling out, ¢Bama!¢ This was starting to feel like a dream. When they reached each other, Bama again asked how did you know it was us? The lady, Ollie, said that Socks had driven to the RPH Shelter and contacted the crew of trail maintainers that had gathered there for their annual cook-out and get-together. Hoping Bama and Little Wing would make it to the cook-out in time, Socks apparently mentioned it to someone and Ollie said she would walk out to meet Bama and Little Wing. This was truly an amazing day! What are the odds that Bama and Little Wing would arrive at the shelter on the same day as the ATC maintainers¢ annual cook-out? And that they wanted Bama and Little Wing to share in the fun? And that they got there in time for it? Fascinating.The three of them walked together the last mile back to the shelter. What a party! The ATC trail maintainers had grills going and the food flying: hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit, melons, pasta, salads ¢ all manner of side dishes, drinks and home-made treats. Bama and Little Wing thought they had died and gone to thru-hiker heaven! Bama met Jane the supervisor and her 18 other folks ¢ without the work for whom the trail would not exist ¢ partying and entertaining the thru-hikers. Already there were Rusch Hour, Indiana, Butt Burner and Mule. They had already eaten and had decided to do a night hike and were ready to go. That left five women: Bama, Little Wing, Feng Shui and two section-hikers. There may have been others coming in later. (Apologies if I didn¢t get all the details just right, Trail Angels.)Bama was getting low on cell phone minutes, so she needed to go, but I could tell by the difference in her voice how this afternoon had affected her. All this just for doing a little ¢walking in the woods.¢ What wonderful people! Our opinion of the state of New York forever changed. Thanks to you all (y¢all). As some folks say back home, ¢Hit don¢t git no better¢n ¢nis!¢Bill