Date: 2003-08-12
From: Bromley Mt.

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

The morning dawns clear and warm. Everyone else is gone by the time I get moving. The Trail is in pretty good shape considering all the rain and Mad Tom Notch comes and goes without incident. It's a moderately tough down and the day is heating up with that 100% humidity and gathering clouds once again, as I stop for lunch with about half of the Bromley Mt. bunch from last nite.I'm still lost in my own world (and a cheese and ham sandwich) when I hear these magic words "We are all going skinny-dipping at Griffith Lake, Texas Jack. Would you like to come along, too? It's only about 1/4 mile away." It's Skidmark and I could have kissed her! "Yes, I certainly would, Skidmark!" and I liked to have broke my leg getting all my spread-out-stuff back into my pack. Skinny-dipping! Now, I'm sorta ashamed to admit it, but I've never been skinny-dipping with anyone, ever, at all in my whole life, but the idea certainly had bumped around in the corners of my mind! I love the idea, but the opportunity had just never presented itself! And here it was at last, an invitation coming from a pretty lady, even if she did have a husband along. Well, there must have been at least 7 or 8 of us standing alongside Griffith Lake on that hot afternoon when it started to rain again. I told all of 'em that I was a nudist at heart, as I slipped out of my sweaty hiker togs. I went the "full monty" route, some of the others did, too. One girl just dropped her top, but Skidmark and Balloo had no trouble shedding it all. Normal as breathing. God bless her! God bless 'em all! I want you to know that when you're out on the Trail for four months, you sort of start to look forward to these sort of things. At least, I find that I do.I got my face-shaving razor out and tried to scrape the little hairs off my face without the aid of a mirror. Frodo (the dog) just splashed around the shallow end, but Billie-Boy went swimming around the deep end. I just washed off sweat and cares. What an afternoon! Skidmark was a lovely woman and I thanked her several times for her invitation. (A few days later, I saw Billie-Boy again and he told me, "Texas Jack, Skidmark told me you thanked her at least 5 times for inviting you to go swimming." I told him that "yes, I did, and if she was standing here in front of us, I'd still be thanking her". It is possible that I over-reacted, but it was a REAL humid afternoon.)So, finally, we all got dried off and loaded up and hiking again to Baker Peak where there were even more spectacular vistas to be seen. I was done for at Lost Pond Shelter, but everyone else hiked on to Lula Tye Shelter. I wasn't up to doing another 4 miles, so I just played "When the Saints Go Marching In" on my harp as Skidmark, Balloo, Frodo and the rest hiked off. As I finished the last chorus, I heard a faint "thank you, Texas Jack" in the distance, and, except for Billie-Boy a few days later, that's the last I ever saw of them."I had some friends, but they hiked on me" was the refrain from a song around the campfire. Guess that's so in real life, too, all too often. That nite at Lost Pond Shelter, it thundered and flashed, but no rain. I was the only one there that nite.