Jo-Mary Road to Logan Brook Lean To – 15 miles

I love the way information and goods travel along this trail.

For the past few nights we’ve been camping with Johnny Sunshine, a Virginian with a lot of enthusiasm, if not experience. Each morning we scoop up some forgotten item of his and carry it to the next night’s camp.

When we pass people during the day, they sometimes ask if we’ve seen Captain Caveman or Not Bob, trying to judge if their trail friends are ahead or behind. Those same folks may check a shelter’s register for messages from their buddies or write a note to someone behind them.

This afternoon we stopped for another long lunch break at a lake. We chatted for a while with Oh Lordy, who was heading the opposite direction. He shared beta on upcoming trail conditions and we gave him pointers on hiking the John Muir Trail.

Oh Lordy mentioned he was short on food, while we’d been trying to give away some of our extras. He eagerly accepted our offcast mashed potatoes, olive oil, and that huge pepperoni.

As we were packing up, Gibberish came up from behind carrying Lucky’s water bottle. He handed it to Oh Lordy, since they were planning to camp together.

With so many people headed different directions at varying speeds, chatting with other hikers makes this disjointed network feel smaller.