Mile 2206 to 2226
Town day! Nothing motivates a hiker quite like the idea of a hot meal and a potential bed. Today was extra sweet since my parents, who have driven all the way from Ohio, were planning to meet us for the evening.
We were tempted to simply hike the 20 some miles without a big stop, but we’re suckers for a proper lunch. We found a nice spot next to a small river to lay out in the sun speckled dirt and make some oatmeal. Hawkeye spotted a spider making its web over the river, and despite being 30 or so feet away, I could also see it (big spider!). Our hour long break ran long (nothing new here) and we were almost packed up when Mayor and Cat Fox rolled in.
Mayor is a nice fellow from Florida who self published a very popular book on his adventures on the AT (Lost on the Appalachian Trail: Kyle Rohrig), and Cat Fox is his super cute dog that hikes with him (if you were wondering, Cat Fox is her trail name. Real name is Katana).
[Indian Wilderness; Boom and Fey chillin; The catfox; And Katana; Parents on trail!; thoughts?; Dinner time; So sad this one is blurry]
Anywho, Cat Fox had to go off trail for a month or so because she had a bad cataract in one of her eyes, so they had to remove it:( Sad times for the pup, but she doesn’t seem to let it hold her back at all! She is very stand-offish and rarely cuddles, but she came over and laid down next to me. I later realized that she simply wanted to lie on my tyvek and could care less about me.
The parents met us a half mile down the trail and after some smelly hugs we trampled back to the van and headed off to Grandma Jean's house. This is a cute Airbnb place where we were actually staying with Grandma Jean! An eighty year old lady from Connecticut with a cute puppy, Max. She was very supportive of hikers and was excited to have us in her house for the night… Not nearly as excited as we were!
Showers, laundry, veggie soup, corn on the cob, apple crisp and vanilla ice cream! It’s wonderful to have your mom on trail:)
