Date: 2013-06-22
From: camping area at spring 663.7

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: clear sky

We decided to get an early start in order to catch up with our other friends I hadn't seen since leaving the trail a month ago. I was up first, and felt a whole lot better than the day before. Must have been something I ate. I decided to greet everyone with a fire, but was having a hard time getting one started as the wet dew blanketed all things, including the wood with which to build said fire. Just then Mountain Man peeked out of his tent and asked me, "Want some Birch bark?". "Heck yeah!" I replied. So I used one tiny piece of the miracle fire starter and lit a bunch of sticks. We were all up by 7:00 AM but didn't leave until 9:00. It's nice to take your time in the morning and have breakfast beside a warm fire especially after a cool night. Nomad was just telling me yeaterday how she got rid of her sleeping bag and now has a sheet. This morning, Mountain Man questioned that decision. It was a cool night for the second night in a row, so I was equally glad that Deb had talked me into keeping mine.Once we were on our way, we climbed 1700 feet and othen came down it. We stopped at Kelley's Knob and checked out the overlook. The overlook was nothing spectacular because of trees that blocked part of the view, but the rock formations were cool. They were giant flat rocks built on top of one another, with cracks about three feet wide and about a hundred feet down where we had to jump across. We really could step across them, but it was pretty scary nonetheless.About two thirds up the incline we came across trail magic. On the side of the trail sat a large cooler with sodas and beer to drink and oatmeal creme cakes, oranges and apples to snack on. It was obvious we were the the first hikers to see it because it was full and cold when we got there.Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by Bob, who had helped me find the trail at "The Captains", and his friend Liz, both from Jersey, Fire Hydrant from Mass who got his name when a dog peed on his brand new backpack, Bluebird from Connecticut, Caveman from Indiana, Cheers from Philly and then Bomber from Cincinnati. We had a good old hiker party at the trail magic where the beer didn't last long at all.When we were sitting there goofing around, Cheers said he wanted to pull the hairs growing in a mole beside Bomber's beard just below his right ear. He said OK and Nomad asked if she could video it, which Bomber had no objection to. Cheers counted to three and jerked a pinched finger full of hairs. There was laughter all around, then he said "I didn't get it all". So he grabbed a little tighter this time and there was a pop when he pulled the hairs out. It was so funny when we all heard that surprising, yet somewhat disgusting sound. We were all cracking up. It was a good hiker moment for sure, and Nomad is placing it on YouTube. When we arrived at Laurel Creek Shelter, we met up with our old friends Thistle, Sunshine, Cannibal Curious and the new kid on the block who I hadn't met yet, Ducky.When we walked up, Cannibal and Ducky were juggling circus pins. Later, Mountain Man stood in the middle of them while they were juggling and throwing the pins to one another. Ducky was just learning, so we all held our collective breath that one of these two-foot long pins would at any moment hit him square in the head. Then Sunshine spelled Ducky and she is a professional, so we exhaled and no one got whacked today. I got my clown joke in here: "I was attacked by a gang of clowns but couldn't take them all, so I went for the juggler."Cannibal Curious entertains people on the street juggling and performing magic. It's a way to be on the trail and make a quick buck too. He's really good at it and so is Sunshine.It was good to be with the old gang again. I didn't hike many miles, but I'm trying to build up my hiking legs again and we had to tackle a pretty large hill. It will get better, I'm already feeling better.Cheers,Knutt