Date: 2008-07-22
From: Firewarden's Cabin, NH

To: Ore HIll Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

Silent nite....so quiet up @ 3,220 feet that I woke in the middle of the nite and could only hear the ringing of my own ears.The wind totally stopped, and I got hot actually. The BIRDS woke me up @ 5:09 a.m. Ticks me off, but I finished journaling (I often fall asleep doing it at nite and have to finish the next day), and I decided to get up around 6:15 a.m.It was foggy and extremely humid all nite, so I actually had to wring more water out of my totally soaked clothes. Man I miss being dry. I put on the good ole' wet, cold, stinky clothes again nonetheless.Everything has been wet since I left B.I.'s house, so everything gets dirty and muddy easier too. I try to take care of my gear and get the major grime off everything before packing it away. It always takes me longer to pack when everything's wet.I was off @ 8:00 a.m. Before I left, Milkshake was calling for her dog Monty. I'd seen him tearing down the trail about 5 minutes earlier. I told her, and she kept calling him. Finally he showed up all covered in pine needles and soaking wet. Who knows what he was chasing, but it was funny.The day started with a 3.5 mile descent to South Jacob's Brook. Oh..sleeping with my iPod in a pocket of my pants did the trick by the way. Unfortunately, my right earphone crapped out, so I only have 1 earphone. If it's not one thing it's the other huh?The descent wasn't too bad, but Jacob's Brook was beautiful. I sat and had a snack, and then had to choose to ford or rock hop. I chose rock hop, but had to go off trail, then down a steep embankment to get to the rocks I felt comfortable traversing. I made it though, but later found out Lizard went in..partially anyway.Next was a 3 mile climb up Mt. Cube.It was a long climb. Parts were much like NY again, with sheer smooth wet and slippery rock. Twice I thought I'd made it to the summit, just to turn a corner and realize I was still climbing.The second time I thought I was at the summit, it was this huge slab of open rock, and I got to the top and decided to stop for lunch. It was a little cool because I was sweaty and there was a breeze, but the sun came out for a bit, and I took my shoes off and just enjoyed the spectacular view. I was looking at the now tiny sliver of a firetower on top of Smarts Mtn., where I'd come from this morning. I'm always so amazed to see how far I've come across these mountains. I always think about the Rugby players in that movie\true story "Alive" and how those 2 men traversed the freakin Andes with totally inadequate gear and 1 of them made it to help. I at least have great gear and an actual trail to follow.It felt good to have a view though. So much of the mid-atlantic and even New England are viewless climbs where you get to the top and are (sometimes if you're lucky) rewarded with a little wooden sign saying "Blah Mtn. 2478 ft" and then you go down again.I was actually about 1 mile from the top, and while sitting there, Lizard & Salvage and Milkshake & Monty passed me. I felt dumb later..I was cheering them on saying, "You're almost there!" and then later I realized..they weren't. Whoops....So I finally DID make it to the top and met 4 people all from NH, Phyllis, Mitch, Beth, and Susan. They gave me their last chocolate chip cookie! I stood there and blabbed their ears off forever, and found out Mitch is the treasurer of the NH AMC. Super nice people that I really enjoyed talking with.It was about 2:18 p.m. now, and the sky was filled with puffy dark clouds with patches of blue sky. I sort of figured it wasn't going to storm today. I had 3 miles down to NH 25. I stopped @ Bradkett Brook for some water and then on the way down metday hikers Jon, Erin, and their 10 month old dog Tor. They are from Idaho and were visiting family. They gave me some M&M's! Talk about handouts today...it was the day for them! Thanks everyone!Almost to the road, I met a sobo, German Tourist, a woman from Germany who after completing the AT wil be a triple crowner. This means she hiked the CDT, PCT, and the AT. She was very interested in my hammock and was asking all sorts of questions.***Side note..to Ray J. from TX who pointed out I used a horrible cuss word in my 7.17 entry and said "tent". No I did not get a tent, that was just what the sobo I was talking to said, and I was relating that. My fellow hangers need not worry, I'm still true to the cause***Anyway, I've noticed sobo's are still asking how much something weighs when you talk gear. By now, nobo's...well, we don't give a crap anymore, we just carry what we need (or sometimes just want), and most of us don't even remember what things weigh..or at least I don't. I think for the purpose of figuring out your personal set-up, it's a good thing to weigh stuff and understand the whole concept, but once you've got your groove down...you carry what you personally need.I finally got to the road and had 1 more 2 mile climb up to Ore Hill Shelter. Parts were pretty flat, but right before te selter, it got steep again. I was pretty tired actually.I arrived around 5:40 p.m. and the skeeters were bad here. Lizard and Salvage were here too, and they pointed to the trail leading to water. Man, I wasn't sure about this water, it was hard to tell if the water was moving or not, but I had no choice. It was a spring but the tiny pool's bottom was 1\2 filled with leaves and crap was floating around. I had to dip the water out with the shallow lid of my canteen. It worked though, and I was able to verify the water was in motion.I got camp set up and made dinner. We all had a good talk about organized religion and how sometimes, it is its own worst enemy because righteous people actually turn other people off due to the way they behave. Seriously folks..I just don't believe this whole religion\life philosophy thing is rocket science. You can spend a lifetime studying and reading and immersing yourself in any belief system, but when it comes down to it, people need to be respectful not only of others, but also of themselves, and we need to take care of each other in a genuine and selfless way (meaning you do nice things for the sake of doing it, not because you expect some award or special recognition).I was chatty cathy again today, and this always slows me down obviously, but I can't stand always blowing past people and not enjoying them you know?So it's very windy tonight, but no rain yet. I'll be in Glencliff, NH tomorrow...the last stop before the Whites. I'm getting excited though. It's 70 degrees in hammock @ 10:15 p.m. Gotta sleep now.~Certain