Date: 2016-05-29
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

By the time everyone went to bed last night, there were multiple snores. I had a hard time sleeping. Bugs were all over me. I almost packed up my stuff and tented, but I didn't want to disturb anyone. I got eaten alive by mosquitos. Also, my feet were so achy last night. I woke up at 4am and couldn't fall back asleep. I came outside and looked at the stars for a little bit and went to the bathroom. I stretched my legs and tried to ease the pain. I tried to go back to sleep, and I may have for a little bit, but I was up again at 5 am. It was really nice out at that hour. Practically every bird sings their morning songs at 5am. There were so many chirps and tweets. It was really lovely. I stretched again and waited for day light to start breaking. Then I slowly gathered my stuff, one by one, out of the shelter and I cooked my breakfast on the picnic table outside. Eventually, I asked Alice if she wanted to get up, and she did. (The night before we discussed getting an earlier start on our days bc it was getting so hot and Jack has a thick fur coat.)Alice and I got a head start from the group and we really enjoyed our morning walk. The only bad part about morning hiking is the hundreds of spiderwebs and silk worm strings you walk through. Once you're mummified, you don't even bother wiping the webs off anymore. We came to our first pretty view, and the man that was sitting there enjoying it, told us we were looking at The Pinnacle view straight across from us. I felt so far away, I can't believe we just hiked that mountain the day before. Even though we didn't actually do Pinnacle, we still hiked all over that whole mountain and it's really cool to see all your hard work right there in front of your face. It's a really good way to feel proud of one's accomplishments. Our group stopped at the Allentown Hiking Club shelter and discovered there was a restaurant on the way to our next shelter, so we decided to stop there for food and drinks. I had no choice anyway, I had to stop for lunch since I was quickly running out of food.About a mile away from the restaurant, I was drained of all energy. I needed food so badly. It was so hard to hike on an empty stomach, with no energy, and foot pains, and my back and shoulders aching. It was a long mile. Right when I got to the restaurant, I did my usual routine. I couldn't take my shoes, socks and pack off fast enough. Man my feet stink so bad. Baloo smelled me right when I walked inside the bar. You'd think out here you could let go of the self-consciousness about how badly you smell, because everyone here does, but nope! There's degrees of smelliness out here and I used to rag on Fiber for smelling so bad, well, I'm right up there with him now! I had to go straight to the bathroom to soap up my legs and feet just to feel comfortable enough to sit at the bar next to my, also stinky, friends. The food at this place was way overpriced, but it was all super delicious. I got an appetizer with fried wontons, Cajun shrimp, and something else. It was amazing wontons and probably the best shrimp I've ever had! Next I got my kids ham and cheese. It was a way bigger portion than I expected and I got fries, which the other guys had to pay extra for fries or they got chips. I was so lucky! Not to mention, the 2 blue moons with orange slices were just what I needed. While we were at the restaurant, the boys were craving cigarettes and they were also working hard to get me a ride to the gas station to resupply. The owner was no help, but a hiker overheard the boys and offered to take me down the street to get to town. I couldn't believe it! I was incredibly grateful for his kindness. He waited for me to get all my food and everything. He was really nice and understanding. My first hitchhiking experience was a success! At the gas station, I bought 3 days worth of food and spent $75!! I definitely made the right decision to buy my food in advance and have it shipped. Yes, there's been mishaps with the shipping, but when I get my boxes, it's worth it. Now I have food till the next town, I won't starve, and things were beginning to look up. We all still had a ways to go before reaching our final destination. Hitting the trail, each step closer to the much anticipated "Knife's Edge" rock climb. It was a scary ridge line rock path that went straight down on both sides. It was a bit scary at the time, but looking back, not so bad. The whole group was together and we "woooed" out loud when we walked across the ridge. It was a small moment compared to what's to come.After knifes edge, we came to a blue blaze on top of a bunch of rocks. We all dropped out packs and decided to climb up on top. It was a really pretty view and we got another group shot together. This time with Alice and Jack Our shelter was roughly 2.5 more miles after Knifes Edge, but it was full of rocks. Boulder hopping. Sore feet. It hurt really bad. Not just me, but Alice too. It was good to know I wasn't the only wuss in excruciating pain for once. We made it through together. Then we went down to get much needed water from the stream. Of course it was waaay far down hill. I was slipping in my flip flops, we had to use our headlamps to see at this point. Alice and I sat and talked while we slowly filled our waters. When we got back to the top, we did funny yoga stretches. Of course the boys loved it, but my body loved it more. My favorite was laying with my knees at my ears. Ah it was perfect. I'm pretty sure I was too tired to eat dinner this night. We all crammed in tight into Bake Oven Knob Shelter. 6 people and 1 dog. It was the tightest squeeze in a shelter thus far for me. Thankfully, it was with all my favorite people. Apparently people had seen snakes, a bear, mice, and a porcupine at this shelter on previous nights. The porcupine is a fan of gnawing on the shelter wood all night lol. Guess we got lucky and the rain kept all the critters away from us. I slept snug as a bug. Happy to be off my feet.Follow my SNOG for daily updates and pics. Snapchat username: saylind.vettloRemember who you are.