Date: 2017-07-20
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Mark Noepel Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: few clouds

Day 55, July 20, Mark Noepel Shelter,16.6, there are no wrong moves, only variations AGD. Another Great Day. Dot, Franky, and Buck (DF&B) head out a few minutes before I do. Our goal for the day is the shelter 17 miles away. Three miles before the shelter we¢ll summit Greylock with its iconic 93-foot War Memorial on the peak (and a lodge with a restaurant ¢ food!) DF&B are on a mission. In six miles we descend to the road that leads to Williams, the college town. Dot got new shoes two days ago and they¢re killing her. You rarely read an important long trail fact ¢ your feet often swell a full size or two larger in the first weeks. She¢s doing big Vermont miles wearing instruments of torture. We discuss operating, cutting flaps for her big and little toes. But first she¢s going in to Williams.  Franky¢s pack is dying, it¢s way too big, and he¢s got a new pack waiting for him in Williams. Buck wants town food and he doesn¢t know it yet, but he will throw away his boots in Williams and buy trail runners like the rest of us.I headed out with Sheriff. We made easy work of the six miles down to the road. I no longer have tattoos to give out (Frodo: there are more on the way!), but for each NOBO the two of us stand on opposite sides of the trail and just before they pass by we raise our trekking poles and cross them over the trail, like crossed swords over a bride and groom, and we cry out, ¢Southbounder Salute!¢ It always gets a smile.We pass the Vermont/Massachusetts border on the way down. Our fourth state! Vermont¢s Long Trail begins at that spot and we bid adieu to the Long Trail Tribe. We¢d been seeing them for 105 miles.Oh my gosh, before I go any further I have to tell you that I saw Bennie the Roadtrek¢s first cousin yesterday¢¦ I guess I better unpack that. (Princesses, you know and love Bennie.) Back on the PCT, Frodo and I would fantasize on inclement days, ¢Maybe at the next road crossing there will be a camper and they¢ll have hot chocolate on the stove and a head will pop out as we trudge by and say, ¢Why don¢t you come in?¢¢ On the CDT we borrowed a 19-foot mini-motor-home van, a Roadtrek, from our dear hiker friend Tammy. And Frodo ¢ thank you, thank you, put 14,000 miles on it doing trail support for me and other grateful CDT hikers. 14,000 miles!The Roadtrek¢s trail name was Bennie. Yesterday, a quarter mile from the shelter, we were met by a trail angel with Mountain Dew cans and candy. He is driving support for a NOBO AT hiker, and what did I see behind him? Bennie¢s younger first cousin, a Roadtrek 190. I know ¢most every inch of one. On those nights I slept with Frodo on the table converted into a bed, ¢Right here, Sheriff, I¢d swing open the big back door and I¢d pee standing on the back bumper.¢  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...But back to today. Sheriff and I chatted our way up Greylock¢s big climb, got a great view of Williams College and its environs. And we knew we¢d make lunch at the restaurant ¢ closes at 4:30 ¢ with 90 minutes to spare. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I had a BLT with double B, I had a coke, and orange juice and an apple juice. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich. Both plates came with coleslaw and potato salad. I texted Frodo photos of the full plate and then the empty plate. If she could, I know she¢d paste a gold star on my forehead. We got to the shelter not long after 6:00. It¢s big, 4 double-wide bunks, a loft nabbed by Dot and Franky, and it has an expansive wood floor. I have had a trail dream for months. This might just be the place to make that dream come true. A wide floor, a DANCE floor. I¢m in a line dance class with Frodo at our local YMCA. All women. No guy has ever survived more than one class¢¦ UNTIL ME.My dream was to teach a dance to hikers, somewhere on the AT, and record our own dance video. Franky recorded, Dot, Buck, and Sheriff picked up the moves. They lay down in bunks, I put a map in front of my face, and then Franky pressed ¢play.¢ On came ¢Easy Money.¢ I leapt to my feet. ¢Five, six, seven, eight. Walk, walk, one-two-three¢¦¢ I called the moves, they leapt out of the bunks behind me. Cappie, our line dance instructor, says, ¢There are no wrong moves; there are only variations.¢  Boy, we pushed the envelope on that one. We threw in the Twist, the Swim, the Monkey, and Buck was doing something with his butt with no name. Dot has posted the video and it¢s on my Facebook page. But don¢t have any food in your mouth when you watch it. Here¢s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9wipIMWZKAThe link is to Dot¢s great YouTube site where she records short trail videos. You should check out the rest: https://www.youtube.com/user/BriaMcCall/videosOy, it¢s so late. Light off. Tomorrow we hit the tiny burg of Dalton.Dot's up late, too.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...