There is almost no water on the AT in this area right now, luckily there are loads of Trail Angels (I’ll address this more thoroughly in a later post). Apparently, there is a couple who the trail guide describes as “hiker friendly ice cream shop owners” who have a faucet outside their business that hikers may use at anytime to get water. We were basically out of water between us so Jason took a rest with the packs and I decided to go get water and if possible, was going to work in a quick wash as well. I meandered down the path, crested a hill and this is what I saw…what is not in the photo is the line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot…and, BTW, we met a local photojournalist right after collecting water who told us the cows that produce the milk that makes the ice cream are in the pasture at the bottom of the valley…so you can eat, what we heard, was fantastic ice cream and take in this gorgeous view and give thanks to the cows at the same time!
Oh, in case you were wondering, I opted not to bathe in front of a few hundred people…although I’m sure it would have made great dinner table conversation for many families if I had:-)