Date: 2013-09-05
From: Stealth camp at Garfield Pond

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Brrr! It was COLD when I woke up but at least I stayed warm at night. Well, warm enough. I had some time of solitude in the morning after breakfast and left camp at 9:30 as the sun was coming out.At Mt Garfield I saw Midway packing up. She stealthed right there on the summit! I'm glad I stopped when I did last night, to avoid the $10 fee at the shelter and to be a bit warmer because the pond is a lower elevation that the shelter. I met a couple of SOBO (Southbound) guys who said that someone with a beard was ahead and was wondering where I was. And we both acknowledged that that meant nothing, since every guy out here has a beard! They said he had huge calf muscles, and I immediately knew they meant Chopper. It took me a bit less than 3 hours to hike the 3.5 miles to Galehead Hut where I ate lunch and dried out my tent on the metal railing. I also treated myself to fresh baked homemade chocolate chip cookies from the hut! I was surprised to not see any of my friends, but two SOBO ladies showed up at the Hut and once they identified me, they told me my friends were all quite a ways ahead. I figured I might not see any of them since I got such a late start, but that didn't bother me. I have become quite comfortable hiking my own hike.Perhaps it was because I had just eaten lunch, but the hike up South Twin Mountain seemed especially tiring and steep. At the summit, another young female hiker named Ridgerunner and I took photos of each other with Mt Washington in the distance, but we didn't dilly dally because it was so cold there. I heard that it was going to be 20 at night so I decided it would be a great night to try to get one of the two coveted work-for-stays at Zealand Falls Hut. This meant I would have to arrive after 4pm but before 6pm and hope that there would still be a spot left. So I went as fast as I could. As I got closer to the hut I met up with Chopper, who asked me why I didn't show up at the shelter the previous night. I explained what happened and he told me that I was the topic of conversation at the shelter for about half an hour, everyone wondering what happened to Poppins. It felt good to be liked--and missed--but it did kind of bother me that they were so worried. After all, hadn't I made it 1800 miles on my own already?As I approached the hut, I could hear a helicopter coming and going. I couldn't imagine what was going on. I figured someone was getting airlifted out, but when I arrived at the hut at 4:45 it turned out that the helicopter was just bringing another shipment of petroleum, which is done twice each season. Zealand Falls hut is small. I think only 30 guests were staying there that night. I was so relieved when the hut "croo" (all young women) agreed to give me a work-for-stay. As I waited for the guests to eat dinner, I sat outside, watching the sunset and snacking on Chex mix, and talked to the other thru-hiker who got a work-for-stay, Chuckwagon. He was a May-fly, a hiker who started in May and he was hiking mostly 20-30 miles each day. He got his name because he had the most elaborate "kitchen." For example, he could bake biscuits and pizza. But while his food sounded good, I would never in a million years carry the weight of his equipment. After the croo washed dishes--and after I finished off my bag of Chex mix--we (finally) got to eat dinner with the croo. After that we did our work, which was moving boxes from the croo's quarters, which was above the kitchen, to the storage room. And then Chuckwagon and I laid down under the dining room tables and went to bed.