Scarecrow, Oreo and 15 miles to chicken and beer!

Early morning at mile 79 greeted us with wet, dewey tents and smiles from our new friends, "Scarecrow" and his awesome service dog "Oreo".

After shaking and packing our wet tents, we stepped on the trail hoping to accomplish at least 10 miles for the day. That's the moment we met Mosey, a 61 yr old woman from NJ,
owner of Mosey's Hostel at AT mile marker 1338.1 in High Top State Park, NJ. Mosey completed the AT in 2015 and is set to complete the FNST with the class of 2020.

We are grateful to all FT volunteers who coordinate and replenish the water caches we have found so far in our journey. This one is at mile 79.6. Clean water is such a gift!

NewBear, Scarecrow and Oreo walk.

We continued our walk saying goodbye to Mosey and enjoyed Scarecrow and Oreo's company for the rest of the day.

Rose Shirley, aka "Scarecrow" is a former Navy mechanic and hairdresser extraordineire. He set out to complete a 10 year hiking journey with his lovable service dog, "Oreo" on May 1st 2019. Since then they have hiked over 1500 miles including from Seattle to White Hall Montana on The Great American Rail Trail. They then switched to float a kayak on the Lewis and Clark trail (aka the Missouri River Trail)  until they were snowed out Nov. 1st in Montana. At this point "Scarecrow" decided to store his kayak and head for Florida to complete the FNST. They arrived at Fort Lauderdale via GreyHound Dec. 10th and walked to the trail head at Oasis Nature Center. Scarecrow has a wealth of knowledge and stories to share with his company. Oreo's unquestionable love and loyalty for him is moving and their partnership is absolutely amazing.

Scarecrow tales care of Oreo's paws.

"Two palms campground" at MM 81.7

Scarecrow wants to become a triple crown holder (having completed the AT, PCT  and CDT) with his dog Oreo, as well as complete the previously mentioned trails.

Multiple memorials adorn the trail around MM 86.4, immortalizing those who missed a tight curve and met their end in the depths of the canal.

After crossing the canal bridge, a cache at MM 86.4 have us a sight of relief while hiking on 85 degree weather. ❤️

After hiking 5 miles in the heat, I decided to call my sister and set up a little "Trail Magic" for us. She gladly took hold of the idea and went running with it.

We pushed ourselves hard today. A
 lunch, NewBear set a personal goal to hit our meeting place as soon as possible. With the idea of "beer and chicken" at the end of the day, NewBear hiked an impressive amount of almost seven miles in only 2 hours!

Unfortunately my hip was hurting too much after 12 miles and I did not see myself able to complete the last 3 without hurting myself further. With NewBear already at our destination, Scarecrow and Oero stayed with me every step of the way, patiently and encouragingly making sure I made it to the next intersection. Once there, Scarecrow asked a fisherman to give us a ride for the last 3 miles of out trek. 

Scarecrow, Oreo and I share a ride.
Sitting down, looking at the clouds of dust raise after the fisherman's truck, I realize how long 3 miles are when you are not in the right condition to hike them.

Walking along Miami canal road towards John Stretch Park. Lake Harbor.

After setting our tents at the designated area of John Stretch park, we eagerly waited for the food to arrive. My sister and her friend were greeted with smiles, hugs and enough appetite to make me forget about taking photos of the feast they brought us: Rotisery chicken, pita bread, guacamole, 2 types of humus, fresh broccoli and cauliflower, apples, beer, wine, juice, chicken wings, peanut butter, chocolate bars, energy gum, bread, coleslaw, potato salad, monster drinks... All to be devoured by 3 hikers within an hour or two of serving.

"Kindest Trail Angel Award" goes to my sister and her friend for driving an hour (one way) to feed three hungry hikers and a hard working pup! ❤️

What a great night after a hard day!