We headed South along the Appalachian Trail under sunny skies, our spirits high and our legs still fresh. We walked at a good pace through the woods.

Backpacking is strange business. Just ask anyone. Go up to your average person on the street and tell them that your are planning to walk off into the woods. Not only that, but that you are going to carry everything you need while you are out there on your back. And just to keep it interesting you are going to walks miles at a stretch over rocky trails over tall mountains. Go tell them that and you’ll look at you as though you had two heads.

It is an odd thing to do, the body and mind know it also. They react in odd way to this trips at times too. And that’s what happened that first day on the trail. As we walking through the woods, I caught a whiff of Hash Browns. Fast Food Hash Browns. I could smell it as clearly as if I walking in Burger Kings parking lot. I called back to Capt. Shutter, “Do you smell that?”

“Hash browns?” He answered. We checked with Short Term and sure enough, he smelled them too. We caught the fragrance of Hash Brown several times over the next mile or so. Why or how, I’m not sure. The mind reacts oddly to being thrust out into the woods and being told to walk.

We climbed to the summit of a mountain called Main Top at just over 4000 feet. After a quick rest, we walked to rocky outcropping, not far from the summit, called Spy Rock. We scrambled up the rock face of this large rock that was once used as out post to monitor troop movements during the Civil War. Once on top, the view was breathtaking. It was 360-degree view showing us nothing as far as the eye could but more mountains. Not a house or road was visible. It gave some perspective in to how deep in the woods we really were. We could see the distinctive summits of the Priest and the Three Ridges to the north. To the West was Main Top, close to us and dominating the Horizon. Also visible were the Mountains known as the Little Priest and the Cardinal, plus many more whose names weren’t known to us.

I pulled out some food, since this seemed like a good place for a snack. Capt. Shutter looked at me and said, “I brought this along, just in case we came to a place like this.”

He reached into his pocked and pulled out something colorful. “It’s a small kite,” he explained. He proceeded to the center of this large rock and proceeded to fly his kite. This was the moment I had been waiting for. He had just earned a new Trail Name. From this point on, I will refer to him as Kite Man.

We descended for a while until we came a small road. There we met another thru-hiker. He was going to go into the small town of Montebello to stay at a Bed and Breakfast. We chatted for a moment and then were on our way again, passing a few more North Bound hikers as we went.

I arrived at the Seely Woodworth shelter ahead of Kite Man and Short Term. I took off my pack and relaxed. The stretch of trail that we walking on runs through the George Washington National Forest. The shelters built by National Forest Service are all the same (at least those that I have encountered,) modest three sided buildings. Big enough to hold six sleeping hikers comfortably, eight if you squeezed. Shelters come in different shapes and sizes. Some very nice, others leave a lot to be desired. This shelter fell in the middle. It was functional and clean, but not much more.

My concern was simple; I wanted to know if there were mice living in the shelter. I didn’t use to care too much whether or not there were mice, but after my experience last summer, I was much more concerned about spending the night with mice. As I was inspecting the shelter for mouse shit evidence of mice, Kite Man arrived, not long after that a young thru-hiker came down the trail.

His name was Grizzly and it was his Birthday. He was planning to go to the Bed and Breakfast in Montebello. Apparently, they were offering free food to thru-hikers. As we talking to him, Short Term arrived and then another thru-hiker named Stogie. We chatted for a bit and they headed of for hot showers and free food at the bed and breakfast.

I didn’t see any sign of mouse activity, but we set up tents anyhow. A little while later some Boy Scouts rolled in, followed later by two more thru-hikers. Every one got busy with the business of preparing dinner and then as the temperature dropped, people moved into the their sleeping bags. It was one of the nicest days I have ever had on the trail.

I slept soundly and woke up early. I got up and was surprised to see that neither Short Term nor the Kite Man were up yet. I fired up the stove and made myself some coffee. As I started to prepare my breakfast, the others joined me. We ate our breakfast and then broke camp.

Short Term left first, he likes to get an early start. After a bit, Kite Man got started. I finished sipping my coffee, took some pictures and added an entry to the Shelter Log. And then I put on pack and headed out on the trail.