Date: 2014-08-13
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: overcast clouds

So after planning on doing around 11 I end up doing around 21 - it will all make sense later on but a new plan is forming in my mind!Woke up early to check the weather and it was not raining so I rolled out quickly - hoping to beat the rain today! It was a foggy and overcast kinda day so I didn't end up with many views over the first several features - Barren Ledges and Barren Mountain. The only things I did see were Naked Ninja's and Dr. Zoom's tents on the Barren Ledges and the remnants of an old fire tower on Barren Mountain - making it not really a barren mountain.Even after a lot of rest yesterday afternoon I was still sluggish going up hills throughout the morning - I am just not feeling it so far climbing upwards and it was so frustrating that I didn't even think of aiming past the first shelter. It was one of those feelings of "Get there and rest" - the lack of views and overcast skies didn't help the mood either.Today covered a lot of the mountain remaining on the trail and in the 100 Mile Wilderness - several were just numbered mountains and some had real names. I imagine the names for the numbered mountains came like this:"Hey Paul let's take a break here.""Good thinking Carl...this is the fourth mountain we've climbed today.""You know Paul...that would make a great name for this mountain!"A little silly but hey I was thinking of Star Wars parodies all morning so why not?!Crossed the first ever marked bog on the trail - Fourth Mountain Bog. It even is complete with a sign telling you to walk on the board bridges instead of the plant life...not sure they needed the sign to tell us that. Kind of a "duh" moment - who wants to walk through a mud bog anyways?!The fog finally cleared up near Third Mountain and I actually had some views to look at - much nicer than gray mist! Saw an expansive lake down below and the remaining mountains before the Chairback Gap Lean-to - such awesome scenery! And now it is on to lunch - getting pretty hungry here!Lots of familiar faces at the shelter! Throughout my rest there I sat and chatted with Pyro, Rosie, Zachsquatch, Cape, DFI, Naked Ninja, and Dr. Zoom. I didn't expect to see so many people today! Everyone was moving on and Naked Ninja and Dr. Zoom were talking about doing Gulf Hagas and I sat there trying to decide what to do.Suddenly I felt motivated to keep hiking on - I think it was the break combined with the lunch and everyone's excitement of being in the wilderness pumped me up! So I decided to walk to Gulf Hagas trail and see what weather was doing at that time - if it is raining I will keep on going to the shelter.Even with adding the additional miles I still played the weather right today - I made it to shelter without getting caught in a downpour! Sometimes you got to know when to hold them...After the last mountains the trail became nicer going down - forded yet another river without difficulty and then the trail became real nice! Most likely the trail club made it easier for all the day hikers that go up to Gulf Hagas - not complaining about that though! It was sprinkling a little and I talked with some day hikers who had just come out of Gulf Hagas - they said there were some rock scrambles and it was going to get slippery so I decided to put it on my To Do list for another time. I did walk on the trail a little bit to visit Screw Auger Falls - it was a nice taste of the "Grand Canyon of the East"!With the rain increasing slightly and dinnertime growing ever nearer I started up the trail and was making great time to shelter - the trail was decent and the rain motivated me to walk a little faster! I can't believe that I am still hiking quickly considering how much I was dragging this morning - seems that only the hills are really taking it out of me and not the rest of the hiking.Anyways on my adventure to the shelter I had an unexpected encounter with two moose - a big moose and its little calf! I glimpsed them through the woods up ahead on the trail but they smelled or heard me first and took off running. Luckily the big moose didn't think I was threatening or else I would have been in trouble - it was a big boy! After that unique encounter I arrived at the shelter and it was a full house. It was occupied by Rosie, Hass, DFI, High Loon, Cape, Pyro, and Zachsquatch but no room for little old me. Being an engineer I got creative and managed to hang up my hammock near the shelter entrance without blocking everyone in - great to be under a solid roof! Lots of talking and chatting while the rain slowly continued and it was a good night to be inside.I do wonder where the Swiss got off to though...they had planned to make it this far but I didn't see them after this morning. Hope they are staying dry tonight!