Date: 2017-07-26
From: Riga Mountain Shelter

To: Pine Brook Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: clear sky

(There are two entries for this day.  This is the regular one, the other is a special edition - don't miss it!)*-TWO-* It was not Another Great Day. From sunrise to sunset to darkfall to me now writing in my tent it was an NPD ¢ Near Perfection Day. [Note there are two separate journal entires dated today. One is this one and the other is a "Special Edition." Do not miss either.] Let¢s say you are Bill Gates¢ Executive Assistant and Bill says ¢Design me a wilderness sunrise experience. Spare no expense.¢So you design a rustic log shelter, snug, waterproof, open on one side that faces directly east, enough room for Bill and five of his billionaire buddies. Place it high on a densely wooded mountain with enough trees cleared for an open view to the east, but enough left to frame the sunrise like a painting. Pray for good weather and tell Bill to set his alarm for 4:30 am so he can enjoy the whole show.OR you could be the six of us southbounders at the Riga Shelter this morning. Silent, rapt, watching the sky change from deep gray to burnt orange to pinks and brilliant reds all over a valley filled with moving fog. Dot nodded off and on. Buck was restless, moving out of the shelter and back in again. The show lasted over an hour: Here are Buck and Sheriff enraptured with the view:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...At mile 3 we walked into Salisbury, where we had second breakfasts. I¢d never heard of a French toast croissant but it was amazing. And combined with a cinnamon roll, hot chocolate, and whipped cream should make Frodo happy with me. I won¢t quite be Chubby Hubby like the Ben & Jerry¢s ice cream, but hopefully there¢ll be enough meat on these well-used bones.At 1:00 pm with 10 miles showing on the foot odometer. I was out in front and stopped at the base of the 80-foot-high Housatonic Falls. A perfect spot for lunch, river side, smooth rock, both sun and shade, with the roar and sights of the waterfall nearby. It had been largely ¢Hike with your own self¢ Day, but Dot and Sheriff got into a talk about cuddling ¢ no, it wasn¢t me who initiated it, even with Frodo due tomorrow. On ¢spooning,¢ one of them said, ¢Sometimes I like to be big spoon to his little spoon.¢  Here's our lunch spot:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I had some great trail conversations today.  I passed two day hikers out for a series of hikes, Evelyn and Maggie, both schoolteachers. Earlier in the day I¢d been singing songs from West Side Story to myself and next thing I know I¢m speaking to two Puerto Ricans:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...It was an honor to stop and speak with an AT Warrior Hike contingent. This program at one time was called by the more descriptive title ¢Walk off the War.¢ Wesly, Justin, and Wella, thank you for your service:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...   Less than 24 hours till I see Frodo tomorrow night in Kent, Connecticut!At dinnertime I cooked up the four ounces of sirloin tip pieces I¢d bought in Salisbury, saut©ing them in olive oil and then adding them to my Knorr rice dish. How can it be better than that?Meanwhile, out in the real world, the ¢shorts¢ debate rages on. What was once a one-sided discussion has suddenly taken a turn toward ¢Let him wear them!¢ Families have been torn asunder. The father of the Princesses (who said in an email, ¢The shorts, well, I know you like them. It's just that your dear wife might be accurate on this one...¢) sits at the dinner table, with the three Princesses firmly on the side of the skimpy shorts and even his wife has taken her stand (¢And Monica says that you should wear whatever you want and everyone else (me) should keep their opinions to themselves unless they are going to go hike the AT.¢)Viva la Shorts!