Date: 2016-07-19
From: Churchill Scott Shelter

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: clear sky

1700 miles! That's what milestones are all about! Woo! It's hard for me to fully appreciate that number because it has been so gradual, but I understand that it's a long way, ha. We're up so far north that even though the days are still hot and horrifically humid, the evenings are getting a nip to them.We're passing more and more southbounders now. At least a few every day. Sometimes there is a mutually beneficial exchange of information about things ahead of us both, other times it is nothing more than a knowing nod of the head. I have an idea what they've been through and they have an idea what we've been through.Radar and I always seem to come upon people going South on the trail when we're discussing the most controversial or inappropriate things. Punchlines taken out of context that make the exchange of niceties far more awkward than it needs to be. Haha! It never fails! We're up to about 5 times of this happening now. I think they just materialize behind trees when an edgy topic or tasteless joke has been stated.Radar, Shoe and I all went to the Mountain Meadows Lodge together for lunch. We were all singing Bohemian Rhapsody when we arrived outside the front door. When we walked inside what did we hear? Bohemian Rhapsody on the ukulele being played. Around the corner in the lobby was Juan Durer sitting by himself in a chair just grinning. So we all proceeded to have a nice lunch of leftover wedding food there. Soda, steak tips, potato salad, actual salad, a bagel and fruit. She brought it to us where we were on the couches and we had a nice time. Juan Durer showed Radar some things on the ukulele, and they both played different songs very well.After this meal, Radar and I tried to find the side trail to Killington. I'm not sure if we found it but we ended up hiking through a disc golf course and found our way to the resupply market after a short road walk.Later in the day at Thundering Falls we passed several families of Orthodox Jews. I don't know much about Jewish Orthodoxy, but none of them seemed to know about the Appalachian Trail or that people have ever hiked the entire thing. It was fun telling them something that they've never imagined before. One group was headed up the AT where we came from. They were trying to get to the falls, so a woman asked where that trail went. When we told her Georgia she called her family back down and told them they weren't going to the falls but to Georgia. On the way out of that area, it seemed like some of the families were trying to catch up to us and I told Radar I was feeling a little skittish, to which he corrected a "Little yiddish".Quimby Mountain kicked our butts today and we complained about how hard this still is, and wondered why we "...aren't in good shape yet somehow?" I guess we are but sometimes these never ending uphills make me feel like I did on March 12.We arrived at the shelter and Juan Durer greeted us with a "Well there goes the neighborhood." We had a nice evening of cooking and ukulele music. I wrote some simple lyrics to some simple blues chords and it goes a little something... Like this!When you're hiking in the evening and a something is a groaning you're a moaning cause you need a liftIt's time to eat again my friend or else you'll meet an early end, this belly aching ain't no giftHiker Hunger Blues, the hiker Hunger Blues, for me and youKnorr sides and ramen Tortillas are a common, pepperoni cheese mashed potataPeanut butta smotha pop tarts sure I love em, and add a little tuna for flavaHiker Hunger Blues, the hiker Hunger Blues, for me and youDon't let it get you down, turn that frown upside down with a mouthful of sour patch kidsA snickers or two will change your attitude, M&ms and a bag of trail mixHiker Hunger Blues, the hiker Hunger Blues, for me and youAdded note: Last night I had a dream that I was Superman, but a very pitiful, terrible, uncertain Superman. So that's odd.