Date: 2016-07-06
From: Mt Wilcox South Shelters

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

It has been a gradual change, but the land is a little different now. There's more pine and conifer, more pine needles on the trail, as many rocks as Georgia still, but not as bad as PA of course. More ponds and swampy areas as well. It was hard to see the changes happen since it appears gradually to me. I wonder what changes I've already undergone and haven't even noticed yet. Am I more patient yet? What sagely lessons have these ridges bestowed upon me? How has my intestinal fortitude changed? Today I had lunch at Cobble Hill, where two hikers from Mexico came and sat. They were Goat and Chica. Goat is a yo-yo hiker, meaning he is hiking North to Katahdin, and back south to Georgia again. He has already been to Katahdin. He started March 2 and hash been to Katahdin, where his girlfriend joined him and now they were here in MA going Southbound. He joked that it was cheaper to walk back to Mexico than fly. He showed me a picture of the view we had from two months ago when he first came through. Bare trees and no vegetation. Wow. The dude was legit.Reading Man caught up to me and we hiked together for awhile. On Jerusalem Rd, there was a wooden snack stand just down the road run by the ranchers' children. Apparently they keep it stocked and everything. It was all honor system, $1 for a cold sodas, $2 for a Gatorade, and then snack bars and other things like duck and chicken eggs from their farm. There was also a take a book leave a book collection. A lot of thick books in there... And a hardback Larry King book... Really?After that, at the next road crossing we hit a Styrofoam cooler of sliced watermelons. That was indescribable. That sweet fruit juice is just what you need on a hot, muggy, swampy day. Very thoughtful trail magic from a couple in Tyringham.Eventually got to this hostel-like cabin, (Yay Push is here) and scoped it out. Very Evil Deady on the inside, and pretty stuffy in the upstairs bunk area so I pitched a tent outside where I could get some airflow that isn't from someone across from me snoring.I had dinner with Radar and Fugitive, and Bag Lady and a few other section hikers were there as well. Gus the caretakers young son was there, bumming Nutella and trail mix off of us and hanging out with us. Funny kid, and he did make us popcorn later. The kind in the aluminum Epcot ball. Anyway yes, there's a caretaker, and he mass produces pancakes on a huge griddle in the morning so that's going to happen.I went down to the pond to get a couple shots of the vanilla sky. Just breathtakingly beautiful. Geese were shoring and snacking on the bushes along the coast. Not a single house along the shore in sight. Just me and the pink ripples of a cool, mirrored pond. And then Sundog came down, got naked and went in. I averted my eyes and battled mosquitoes. We talked for awhile as fish painfully nibbled at his bare bum and once I realized the best part of the sunset was over, I came back to my tent. I'm just not big on swimming or really even getting wet if I can help it. I really just operate better on old Terra Firma. Ya know? I'm not much good in a body of water. I can swim relatively poorly and keep my head above the surface for at least two minutes. Plus I don't like fish smell, yucky toes on the bottom of the pond, or waterborne parasites. So that's me. Deadwood, the stick in the mud. Well, fine, but mud is still better than water!10:01 PM and it's still hot. True story.