Date: 2019-06-27
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Stealth Campsite 
Miles today: 13.6

Day 129 Stealth Camp to Wildcat Shelter Day 130 to Stealth Camp. Total 13.6 miles.The Mosquitos were in full force this morning, I Deet up every morning with Ben¢s 30% strength Deet but that bug juice did not deter them at all, I¢ll definitely be picking up some 100% Deet at my next stop. BTW I¢ve been taking garlic pills and evidently that does not deter them either.We had several hand over hand rock climbs today. Those are so much fun, if anything this hike has reverted me back to my childhood ways. One day I¢ll have to share an almost mishap climbing story on Signal Mountain when I was a kid. Today we decided to take a blue side trail into the village of Greenwood Lake NY. We heard there was a great Cafe ¢The Village Buzz¢ and we wanted to check it out. The food was truly fantastic and the owner was extremely nice to us ! Greenwood Lake is a very cool town , the village was settled in the early 1700s, there is a beautiful lake with very expensive lake homes. Back in the day ,1934 ish, Babe Ruth would frequent this village and had a beautiful mahogany motor boat that he would zip around the lake in. Betty Garbo would also vacation in this resort town and now three not so famous stinky hikers have hung out here also. We went to the local hardware and bought some fuel and I called Garmin to try and get some assistance with my explorer GPS that has stopped working unfortunately no luck.We had to climb the very steep blue side trail back up the mountain but the extra steps were well worth it. Once we got back to the AT we only had a few short miles before we hit the 17a trail crossing . Set up in the parking lot was the trail manic legend ¢Tent Man¢ who handed us cold cokes and snacks. But get this he also gave us each a brand new pair of Darn Tough Socks!! For those that don¢t know these are one of the finest pair of hiking socks money can buy , full life time warranty and exactly what I use , Thank you so very much Tent Man!!You are so kind to help us out and your generosity is amazing.Another great surprise while we were sitting there B Mack who had signed my guest book drove up and  I had the honor of meeting him. B Mack has done a lot of trail maintenance on the AT and has been a Boy Scout leader for years serving as an ambassador for these mountains. We actually got to camp out with B Mack at WildCat Shelter later that evening and he gave me and the Free Range Crew a lot of history and back ground info on the trail. Thank you B Mack for every thing you do, your generosity and best wishes on your upcoming Thru Hike , I will look forward to following you on Trail Journals , I need that fried Spam recipe lol!Before we hiked up to the shelter we took a slight detour and hiked to Bellvelle Farm Creamery.  I can¢t begin to explain how totally amazing their ice cream tastes . We hung out there for at least two hours, I was the guy sleeping on the sidewalk enjoying my overly full ice cream belly in the shade..... I mentioned I reverted to my childhood , I believe I had more sense than that as a kid. Wildlife update: As I napped on the super soft cement side walk a bear crossed the road right there in front of the Creamery. I totally missed it but RG and Stingray saw it, bummer for me. The next day we took another short hiking day 13.6 in two days is not exactly setting any distance speed records but guess what??? Yay Q caught us tonight!!We were all so very happy to have our long lost Free Ranger back to complete our quad.  Life is great again and we can start crunching some miles, well after a run into town tomorrow to resupply and celebrate with more food. Everyday is a holiday and every meal is a banquet, OOHRAH!PS: I sincerely want to thank everyone who is reading my journal and sharing my adventure and also thank you for signing my guest book. Your words of encouragement mean so much to me. I¢m blown away that kiddos are learning a little bit about the trail in school from my journal. Truly I never feel alone with your support.Sincerely,