Date: 2015-07-18
From: Stratton

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up around 6. I had my usual oats, as well as my left over cereal and chocolate milk from yesterday. I got the shuttle at 7. Just before leaving, I looked outside to see rain. It looked miserable. Smasher said that it's supposed to rain for the next two weeks, or at least until Wednesday. It actually rained on and off all day, mostly light showers. The morning started off fine, just cold and wet. The trail was a bit slippery but mostly flat for the first couple miles. I met a lot of people heading south, I think they were out just for the weekend. I had a few big climbs today, made even better because of how slippery the rocks were and because of how poor the views were. I could see nothing at the tops except the fog being blown past by the wind. The trail here is generally well maintained, with a good amount of built stone steps that make it a little easier to go up the steep parts. Of course there are also plenty of sections that are just rocky climbs or extremely thick and obtrusive roots.I had started hiking with the mistaken assumption that today would be easy, as BigBen had told me. He lied. It took me a long time to get anywhere, because I had to pick my way through incredibly slippery rocks and roots. I slid along a few times, but managed not to fall. About 10, I stopped at one of the free campsites to use the privy. This is a popular area so there are quite a few camping spots. The privy was a bit uncomfortable as the wind kept blowing up the toilet seat. I met the caretaker afterwards, and she told me that she works up there from May-October. I definitely wouldn't want her job on a day like this. Several times I had to go into the alpine zone. This was a bit hellish in the bad weather, as I was being blown all over the place. Later, I had a brief moment of extremely heavy sideways rain. By the time I had stopped to put my rain gear on, I was soaked. I kept my rain gear on anyway, so that my clothes beneath could dry and I could be protected from the chilling wind. By 12, I had only done about 8 miles. I sat in the porch of a locked caretakers cabin and ate my lunch, still dripping a bit from the rain. I still had a long way to go, and the trail didn't get any easier, though the weather stayed fine- thick clouds, no rain. I slipped about on the rocks some more and dipped my foot into a puddle when it had finally seemed dry. The trail seemed to go on forever. Just endless little rocky stumbles and annoying knee high climbs and slippery roots. And of course plenty of moose poop. Eventually I got to the lean to at 4pm. I had only covered about 15 miles. I hate days like this. I decided to stop here, since I was feeling hungry (but not exhausted). To my surprise, the shelter was already jammed full. The group of Brightside2, Rolling Thunder, Seeker, etc were already here. Apparently they just did 10 miles today. It's a bit annoying that they're going to be on the same sort of schedule as me now, since their group just completely takes over shelters. They're also loud.As a result, I'm in my sad, gross tent. It does actually smell slightly better than last time. I'm hoping against the odds that there won't be any rain and it can dry out tonight. I'm also hoping this because there are a bunch of rivers that I need to ford in the coming days that could be dangerous if it rains too much. The privy at this shelter is notable. It is like a little house, with a real door, glass windows and even a curtain over one of the windows. For whatever reason, it also has two toilet seats. Dinner today is "cheesy cheddar" which is the name of my pasta side. I haven't tried this one, and I thought I might as well since I'm planning to never ever eat them ever again after this trip. My lunch was pepperoni slices in hamburger buns which is also something I don't want to eat when I return to the real world. It just looks so miserable. Post dinner review: pasta tasted like pasta, but absorbed absolutely none of the cheesey flavouring it was surrounded by. Instead it tasted plain.