Day 25: sobo

Miles: 12
Water: some
People who asked us about walk in the woods: 3

Good day today, did many miles to set up for a resupply tomorrow. Feeling good.

I hiked solo for the first half of the day. It was nice I might start doing it more often. I met a sweaty jogger at the top of a mountain, we chatted, but most importantly he gave me a big bar of 85% cocoa chocolate. That's what they call trail magic folks. He said he carries one around to give to the through hikers he meets. People are awesome.

The morning hike took me by sunfish lake, a glacial pond that is "one of the seven natural wonders of new jersey" what are the other 6?  The pond is so acidic, only crappy sunfish live there, and giant frogs. I startled a hawk who flew by me about 6 feet away. Those birds are huge.

I have another sub category of hiker to add, number 2 is the powerful southbound hiker, or sobo.

This is something I will probably go into more later, but the trail based internet of log books and personal anecdotes is largely one way. You can only really know what happened as far north as you have traveled. Most people hike north bound. So information from further north on the trail is like a message from the future.

Luckily there are time travelers in our midst. The south bounder.  The south bounder knows all. He has seen the friends that  passed you up. She knows all the shelters and water sources you are about to encounter. Each time we shelter with a sobo hikers have many questions for them.

But since few people south bound, their path is a lonely one. They will never know the feeling of rushing up trail with a bubble of friends pushing them along. Like Merlin they live in reverse time. Sages of the future, but ignorant of the past. Lucky for them, there are plenty of nobos to interrogate.

So my new goal is to be a sobo crazy loner.