Date: 2014-06-08
From: Fort Montgomery, NY

To: Ralph's Peak Hiker Shelter
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: light rain

Day 89: Monday, 9 June 2014 at Ralph¢s Peak Hiker Shelter (1422.9)Per phone update:I decided to hike a little longer today so I¢m within 5 miles of the rendezvous with Ginger Beard Man¢s Mom tomorrow. It will almost be like zeroing!Did you get the package I sent? (At the time of the phone call, we hadn¢t checked the mail. It did come today.) I¢m trying to lighten the load, get rid of things I really don¢t need, and prepare for the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) and the Heyduke Trail. I might also look for a different pack. With this one, my shoulders were starting to hurt at 18 miles. I¢m also getting rid of my stove. [You¢re OK with no-cook meals? Remember last year on the PCT, it got rather boring!] I think I¢ve improved my dinner menu, and I feel like I¢m eating way better than I did last year, especially with you back home as a Trail Angel Extraordinaire! [I¢m just sending the stuff we originally planned, like the couscous lentil curry soup and black bean soup.] Yeah, but you also send those great vegan bars, the nuts from the Farmers Market, dark chocolate bars, the sesame spread and all the other yummy vegan things you find. Besides, it seems to be getting harder to find the denatured alcohol as a fuel now.I¢m going to see how well the instant rice rehydrates. If it doesn¢t do so well, I¢ll have you stop sending it. Oh, and I got your message about the cans of dehydrated raspberries, potatoes, and TVP (textured vegetable protein). You can send rations of the raspberries and TVP but the potatoes have milk or butter in them. [They actually don¢t have milk or butter, but they DO have partially hydrogenated canola oil and mono and diglycerides. YUM!][I let On Point know that we can help get him back to the trail if he needs. He wrote back that there were only two places for which he couldn¢t get transportation- Sierra City and, da da da¢¦ Belden!] (HUGE laugh from Buffalo!) Oh man, I was SO glad you and Dad were at Belden to get us. We didn¢t want to spend any more time than we needed to among the Ravers! But Sierra City is a really nice, quaint, little town. It would be neat if you could go there and see the place. [Well, we¢ve really enjoyed going to all these places to meet up with you or On Point (Got to see Idyllwild on that trip.) or whomever in the future.   It¢s been fun to use it as an excuse for a ¢vacation destination¢!]So, you¢re STILL looking forward to helping Claire and me on the Heyduke in a couple years? [You bet! We¢re also ready to go back to Dillon, CO to be CDT Trail Angels in that area! This is WAY better than a cruise!]Hey, if you hear about some movies called ¢Flip Flop Flippin¢¢, I met the guy who makes them out here on the trail! His Trail Name is Squatch, as in Sa-Squatch! His first 2 movies are out. When we met, he asked me my Trail Name and so he interviewed me about my name! Maybe I¢ll be in a movie!! Woo Hoo!Jules, Canary, and Slow Bro are here at the shelter. (Slow Bro was at our Trail Magic stop at the James River, along with Jules and Canary.) They¢re doing some slack packing, thanks to ¢Happy Fellow¢. (Slack packing is hiking with just the bare essentials for the day, like a day hike. With thru-hikers, this means that they get taken to and picked up from the various points on the trail to be ¢reunited¢ with their packs in the evening. It¢s often a pleasure and relief to be able to walk 12-20 miles in a day without a large pack.) Happy Fellow tried thru hiking the AT but found that he was more of a trail runner/day hiker, and didn¢t care for the camping out stuff. He now helps other thru-hikers as a Trail Angel, especially those trying to set some sort of record.I camped in the ballpark at the monastery! We heard the bells in the distance but never did meet the monks. Went to the Episcopal Church yesterday. The Herd is behind me, but they¢re planning to resupply in a town about 12 miles past me. We might eventually meet up again.Met Bear Bait and his Dad. They¢re section hiking. Bear Bait is about 12 years old and doing big miles just like the thru-hikers! He¢s awesome!(Buffalo told of an incident while sitting at a gas station table. He was talking to a guy when Happy Fellow came up and asked the guy his name. This guy, who seems to have a grumpy disposition, grumbled at Happy Fellow and complained about the trail and that people won¢t leave him alone. I guess he¢s ¢Old School¢! See June 7th entry, about the history of Trail Names.)(Well, one more day and Buffalo ought to be in Connecticut! Movin¢ right along!)