Left Standing Bear Farm at 7:45AM and began a 2 hour uphill hike to Snowbird Mountain top where I had a phone signal and called home. It's always great to be able to touch base.
This was the first day we didn't have some portion of the day in bad weather. The sun was out all day and the hiking great. Lots of uphill as usual. We climbed well over 3000' to finish the day here at Max Patch Summit. This position on top of the mountain gives us a 360 degree view. We set our tents up in a strong wind, but were able to get all secure. Tonight is supposed to be beautiful with a nice sunrise for Easter Sunday.
The wild flowers are beautiful all along the trail. A virtual rainbow of colors. Many hikers have been photographing them, but I have no idea what most are called...but I'm learning.
Today was filled with trail magic. First a small group of day hikers met us at Groundhog Creek Shelter, where we were taking a break, and gave us all kinds of goodies they couldn't eat. 3 miles later we came upon a full blown set up with guys & gals cooking hamburgers to order, endless drinks, cornbread, beans and an unbelievable assortment of fresh fruit and desserts.
This group has been providing trail magic for the last 19 years at this spot for a four day weekend each year. You can't imagine how good ice cold drinks and cooked to order hamburgers taste after 10 or 12 hours on the trail. It was a bit hard to finish our hike after this feast, but we did. They do not accept donations and spend about $1,500 on supplies each year.
We have found coolers chained to trees along the way, but most have been cleaned out. One morning someone put many plastic Easter eggs filled with candy along a couple if miles of the trail. It's always fun to hear what trail magic hikers have come upon. People are great!
Finally, here at camp a hiking couple shared some trail magic they received from visitors to this site.
We were visited here by a huge mule and a cow from a nearby farm. They hung around for hours near our tents
Night has fallen and it's time once again to get some rest. Looking forward to sunrise. This has to be the nicest spot we've camped so far.
Happy Easter
Trolley Stop
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| Our visiting Horse |
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| Lady Slippers |
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| Trail Magic! |
Congratulations on 30 days and 250 miles on the Trail, TS! From my armchair I project myself into all your posts. I feel so grateful when you encounter trail magic and want to write personal thank you notes to all those fine people who have given you any morsel of food or friendship along the way. I am so relieved when you describe a good meal like the made-to-order burgers and think 'oh thank god he ate some meat today!' Your stories make me want to open up a comfy little B&B along the trail and tuck every hiker in to fluffy down comforters at night. I can see you've now got your stride and are excited about your momentum. We mailed our contribution to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy today, and we're sending some trail magic in the way of family love and encouragement out to you on the Trail! Love Deb & Ken.
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