Date: 2008-08-13
From: Dalton- The Bird Cage

To: Mark Noepel Lean-To
Miles today: 13.7

Surprisingly, I had a great night's sleep on the garage floor. I quietly moved my gear outside to pack as there were hikers still sleeping in a loft above the garage. Once I was ready to go, I went in and said goodbye to Rob. Already at this early hour he was washing towels.I headed back into town to the coffee & bagel shop. Sprite & Freckles had stayed at the Shamrock Inn down the street. I was ordering them both a coffee to take to them, when they came walking in the door. We returned to their room as they still had to pack. I decided to head on out. The trail passed through a neighborhood until it reached tree line. What a full house last night, Butterfly Moon, Firesocks, their dog Luna, Castaway, Kick it, VooDoo, Twinkle toes, Uncle kevin, Care Bear, Grinder, Freestyle, Wavepool and his dad Cloud 9, a former thru-hiker. Thor, Hornswaggle, Sampson & 3 others?Later down the trail, I heard someone calling out my name? It was Medium Rare, I haven't seen him in a while. He was just leaving his stealth camp site. It was good to have some male company for a change. Not that I ever tire of Sprite & Freckles, but I miss guy talk and humor, which is not always appropriate around ladies.Just before reaching the small town of Chesire, We came upon "Hiker Dave".I didn't remember ever meeting him, however he and Medium Rare were already acquuainted. We soon arrived at an ice cream stand. I didn't know they served hot sanwhiches or I would have ordered one.Butterfly Moon & Firesocks arrived with the same idea. We sat at the picnic table admiring some interesting rocks that were laying there. Firesocks began to spin a convincing but bullshit yarn about what type of rocks they were?He took delight in yanking our chain. I did mention however, that I could identify one of the rocks? I told them it was a sex stone. A sex stone they asked, what is that? With a straight face I replied "A f---ng rock". I was ready to continue and find something real to eat. I later learned that I missed out on a killer meatball sub here. Medium Rare and I continued on, he mentioned his birthday was in a few days. I suggested that since I may not see him then, I would like to buy him a beer now.We did a road walk to a gas station only to learn we had to walk further. Ok, we have come this far, a few more minutes won't hurt. Down the next hill at the very bottom we found the Chesire Liquor Store Imporium or whatever?As we walked inside our jaws dropped in disbelief, the entire wall was a cooler of every possible brand you could imangine. Wine & Liquor no problem, this was by far the best selection on the trail.We opted for 2 very large Blue Moon's in a bottle. Taking them outside, we went around back, crossed a wide creek and sat on the opposite bank. Cheers & happy birthday Medium Rare. The setting was perfect, running water, shade from the very hot day and ice cold beer. We were feeling no pain after the first one, but a second one was required as the day just kind of slipped away. It was one of those unexpected surprises that make for a great day.Eventually we wobbled back across the creek. We gave up on trying to keep our feet dry. We came back to the gas station we passed and got hotdogs and other crap. We still hadn't eaten yet which helped explain why the Blue Moons went down so easily?We found the trail head and continued on. Carrying a pack then climbing up a mountain is not the best way to enjoy our recent activity. In fact, it is real brain damage, but we rolled with it.Today was an all around great day. It was the first day in a week that it didn't rain. Eventually we found the side trail down to the Mark Noepel lean-To. John, Kelly & Dutch were there along with a couple of section hikers.We found a spot away from the others and pitched our tents. Medium Rare had bought S&F a beer each as he and I had one for ourselves as well. We had a little party and shared how we had spent our day. Cheers.