Goose Pond Shelter Offers Unexpected Luxury

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if any day is going to beat today. It was simply perfect.

In the morning we hiked out with our newly made friends. The first thing we noticed is that the forest is just stunning. And the meadows too!

The mountain we climbed didn’t under deliver either, surprising me with a cool view.

Just before lunchtime, we arrived at a little AT stand, with soda’s, snacks and ice cream for sale. For a thru-hiker, these initiatives always draw a smile on our face. It’s so nice to drink something else than water and eat something else than what’s in the bear can.

Where are we?!

Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any prettier, we hiked into a huge field with flowers all around us. The sun also truly highlights the beauty of this place. Today really feels magical.

This is also when we encountered a South-bounder and greeted him with the usual “Hey, how are you doing?”. “Just hiking on..”, he answered, while staring into the abyss. Dude, just look around you! How can anyone be in that state of mind here. Dreamcatcher and I looked at each other, shrugged, laughed and hiked on.

The best kept secret of the AT

I’ve had such an amazing day today, truly enjoying every second of it. And the best was yet to come. Around 4 pm, we arrived at Goose pond shelter: a fully enclosed cabin with bunks at the lake. This place looks very cool, nothing like your average shelter.

We were greeted by the care taker: Forrest Gump. A spry, well groomed middle aged guy in a tie dye shirt calmly sewing something together while telling an elaborate story about the place. Every few minutes another hiker came hiking in, making him start all over again.

Dreamcatcher couldn’t take it anymore and asked him with a big smile on her face the burning question on all of our minds: “Are there enough bunks for us? “, “Are we allowed to take a look around?”. He just ignored the questions and kept telling his story. He definitely enjoys messing around with us.

After sitting out the story, he actually showed us to our bunks. They even have some sort of mattresses in them! The luxury is nice, but the general atmosphere of summer camp is what really does it.

In his way too long ramble about the place, Forrest mentioned there are canoes you could ride and that he needed to get some water from the spring. This place is totally off the grid and has no running water. The caretaker usually crosses the lake to the spring to fill up the canoe with jugs of spring water. Without any hesitation Dreamcatcher jumped up giddily and asked if we could go with him to help.

A fun little side quest and our way of paying back for this amazing place that’s free for all hikers. We all hopped on the canoes, got the water, rode the canoe around the very picturesque island in the middle of the lake, and returned to the dock.

The weather was perfect and we couldn’t resist to dunk in the water for a swim. Who needs running water when you have a lake to swim in?!

Happy birthday!

The fun wasn’t over yet! Forrest mentioned today is actually his birthday! And as a special treat, he’s organizing the now legendary “Beef stick bingo”! With three decks of cards, you apparently can play bingo! I must be a lucky guy, because I won three times! Beef sticks and a variety of snacks. I’m not a hoarder of wealth, so I shared them with the others.

The snacks weren’t the biggest prize though. Small Bites has oozing wounds on the top of his shoulders, probably because his pack isn’t working right for him. Forrest Gump, being the ridiculously amazing guy that he is, gifted Small Bites a brand spanking new backpack! It’s the same brand and model as the one I have got. That’s a great pack.

It’s hard to describe how amazing the generosity of people is out here. Money or value isn’t on people’s mind, there is just a shared sense of helping each other out. It’s simply phenomenal. It really restores your faith in people.