Date: 2017-07-14
From: Stealth camp beyond Clarendon Shelter

To: Peru Peak Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: overcast clouds

For weeks it has felt like the trail milestones were for the Northbounders. ¢2000¢ and ¢1800¢ written in bold signs or in rocks. What about us SOBOs? Are we chopped liver?? (Hey, Dan, explain that phrase to the princesses.) But yesterday we finally earned our due. ¢500 miles¢ said the sign. (Hmmm¢¦ did I write about that yesterday? Welcome to being 65.)Think of someplace 500 miles away. You¢d likely fly there instead of drive. Now imagine walking to that place.I woke in my tent, listening for rain. The prediction had been for a 90%chance, with thunderstorms. I packed for rain but was grateful it hadn¢t started as I rolled up my dry tent.The descent of Beacon Hill, where I had camped, was a mini version of the steep Maine descents, and I needed one of my poles to half ward off a fall. It flexed, then bent. Dang, my second bent hiking pole. But better it than me.I¢d really like to do a 20+ mile day today. Tomorrow I¢d like to hit Manchester Center, my next town, for lunch. That really means 23 today, leaving 10 for tomorrow.The sky spits and threatens as I stride out on largely great path. I hit 13 miles by 1:00, have lunch at a deserted shelter ¢ surprising since I¢ve seen over 30 hikers before lunch. I¢ve never had 13 miles covered by a 1:00 lunch on the AT before. It¢s not flat ¢ we climb 500 feet, then 1200 feet, but the trail tread is so often mighty fine. I thought someone had dropped a plastic toy lizard on the ground. It was a bright fake red ¢ then it moves. It¢s a red newt: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Near the peak of White Rock Mountain I came across a cool sculpture garden of rockpiles. Scores of stacked white-colored rock shrines: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...¢Scout, I stayed at your house.¢ I heard that twice today. First from ¢Hawaii,¢ who¢s in the rock sculpture photo with me. She stayed with us in 2014. Second, the Green Mountain Club Shelter caretaker, Elina. (Frodo: Sorry if I butchered your name; Scout¢s writing is illegible.) She said almost exactly the same thing. Except she stayed with us in 2011, a big snow year on the PCT. And except that she handed me a baggie of seven organic strawberries she¢d just hiked in today.  Here we are: http://www.trailjournals.com/j... and here are the strawberries: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...¢I was an Eagle Scout,¢ said Eddie Spaghetti, a northbounder likely in his 50s.  You have to earn your Eagle rank by your 18th birthday, so he made Eagle over three decades ago. But he was wrong. ¢You ARE an Eagle Scout.¢ It is always present tense, whether you just had your Court of Honor or you are 80 years old. All other ranks are past tense. ¢I was a Life Scout.¢ That¢s the rank just below Eagle. A decent number of the male hikers out here are Eagle Scouts.Did you know that there are fewer Eagle Scout ranks earned each year than Ph.D.s? When I learn someone is an Eagle Scout, no matter their age, it¢s as meaningful to me as if they were Phi Beta Kappa. On so many fronts a boy has to exhibit real leadership, run events, and learn skills. And one of the biggest requirements is an Eagle Project ¢ he has to plan and fully execute a significant community project. He has to raise the money for the material and expenses, not from his own pockets or his parents¢. Often there are multiple days for which he has to arrange a work party. And here on the AT was a sign indicating an Eagle Project. Many, many feet of raised boards over a bog. Thank you, Eagle Scout Graham Melville!¢Scout, you made it.¢ So said Moose when I pulled in to Peru Peak Shelter at 6:30. Twenty-three miles done. The rain held off all day. AT 9:00 pm, a short while ago, it started raining hard. I am dry in the lean-to shelter. The pinging on the roof is my lullabye.