Date: 2003-06-04
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Mother Nature gave us all a little bit of hope this morning when we were cooking breakfast. The sun showed its face and we got all excited, then it went back into the clouds and began raining again. I¢m feeling a little sluggish today and was the last one to leave camp but I did catch up to the gang a few miles up the trail. It was nice hiking by myself until I came across an old house just off the trail. Now you have to imagine¢¦. it¢s misty and the sky is really gray and you are in the middle of the woods. Got that? Now picture the scene from the end of the Blair Witch Project where they are in an old abandoned house. I swear this house was from that movie. It was very creepy. I did take a picture of it and the whole time I was telling myself not to think about that movie (because it really scared me). So once I saw this house I wanted to be hiking with people again. I caught up to Viking, Smokey and the Bandit in a cow pasture. I think we crossed over 4 stiles before coming to a road where we took a very short break. Right before the 3rd stile it got super muddy, then it became a marsh before turning back to more mud. There was really no way to get around it easily so I just plowed right on through. I love my gaters for keeping the mud our of my boots. After going through another couple of pastures I got to see Keffer Oak, which I believe is the fattest tree on the AT, something like 18 feet around. After that the trail turned super muddy climbing up the mountain. I really don¢t mind the mud except for when I¢m climbing up. You take one step and slide back two, take a step and slide back two. This is why I don¢t like it on the up hills. The sun did eventually come back out and when we came upon a rock outcropping, Smokey, Bandit, their friend Jim and I took a two-hour break while we tried to dry out some. Then T-bird and Gravy came and hung out with us for a while and about 10 minutes after they left, Gus, Twigs, Nemo, and a couple of others joined us. The day was going great until we left those rocks. The trail follows the ridge line and takes you across these huge slabs of rock that are at such angles that I swear I thought I was going to slide off the mountain. Now, I¢m sure on a nice hot sunny day this could be done with no problem but you see it¢s been raining so when you¢ve been walking in mud your boots get a little slick and add wet rocks to the equation and you get a challenging situation. I did not like that one bit. The whole time I was thinking ¢who would put a trail across rocks you can¢t walk on?¢. Made it into camp before 7:00 and set up my very wet tent, hoping it would dry our quickly so I could put my sleeping bag in which is also a bit damp. With this wind it didn¢t take too long to dry. EVERYTHING STINKS! It¢s a combination of clothes not being washed and a damp, mildewy smell. My feet were a bit waterlogged today and now I have some pretty bad blisters. UG. Also, whatever it is I¢ve been fighting off is now starting to show it¢s face. I woke up sweating last night, I can¢t breathe, and I have a sore throat. There¢s quite a crowd here tonight: T-bird, Nemo, Gravy, Moose Crunch, Gus, Twigs, Smokey, Bandit, their friend Jim, Chuck, and 4 others whose names I¢m not sure of. Time to retire to the smelly sleeping bag.