Mr. Bungle

During the hike today, I was reminiscing about all of the trail magic that we had in the southern states and thought we wouldn’t see that again before we finish. Right on cue, a gentleman came walking southbound on the Trail and asked me whether I was a thru hiker. Here was our sweet trail magic again!

This is Spineless Cougar and he drives over from Albany, New York to help out hikers. I used to be so polite and demure at these magic spots but I have changed over the last 1,000 miles into Mr. Bungle. Mr. Bungle is the villain in the 1950s educational filmstrip about lunchroom manners reintroduced on the Pee Wee’s Playhouse series. Check it out for yourself here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9nml8ddJpg

When I stumbled out of the woods and met Spineless I was a lot more demanding. I downed a Coke and Gatorade and then asked if I could take more to go. I asked him to take my trash and ate half of his cookies. Mind if I pee next to your car? No small talk for this guy. I had 14 more miles to go and grabbed my goodies and headed back to the Trail. It was so sweet of him to do this and it is really appreciated. I’ve just become a little more “food aggressive” as the miles pile up.

The hike today was perfect. The temperatures stayed in the low 60s and we had sunshine all day. I took a really long lunch break near Knee Deep Pond and picked several ticks off of me. It is getting that time of the year and I am being more careful to use Picaridin wipes and make sure I don’t have them on me for long. I also ran into a botanist from the National Science Foundation. She was out collecting samples in this part of the valley that she says has never been logged. It was so interesting to talk to her about all of the plants she is studying. I could have talked with her all day.

Tomorrow is an easy day into Dalton, Massachusetts to pick up all (yes ALL) three of my packages that have been spinning around in the postal service system over the last few weeks. It will be great to have a new hiking outfit and a fresh supply of Outdoor Herbivore to carry me through Vermont.