Date: 2016-07-08
From: Pete's Spring

To: Consultation Mt
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: light rain

During the night I noticed a light moving through the forest. After watching it for a bit I could tell that it was a hiker coming up the trail using a headlamp. I looked at my watch. 3:15 am. Weird¢¦ Must be someone who¢s trying to stay cooler by night hiking, I thought. In the morning I noticed a few more hikers who had camped and asked if anyone knew about the night hiker.¢Yea, it was me¢ said Bigfoot, a NOBO that I had met during my stay the night before on Mt Greylock. ¢I was in a bar and a lady offered to let me stay in a spare room at her house.¢ he explained. ¢Everything was going fine until she started swearing loudly at herself a bunch, then she overflowed the bathtub. The neighbor in the unit below called the police and then the landlord showed up. I had enough and decided to head to the woods for rest of the night.¢The trail was friendlier today and my foot let me know about it by feeling better than it has the last two days. I stopped to rest mid day, noticed that I had coverage so I talked with both my wife and my dad. I explained how I¢ve been feeling somewhat worn down lately and received good encouragement from both of them. I met a NOBO named Uncle Bob whose boot were so worn out that I had to take a photo of them. He tells me that he's going to get a new pair at the next town. He's from Germany, hikes with a pack that looks every bit of 60 to 65 pounds and told me that he has a minus 28 degree sleeping bag and a 4 seasons storm proof tent. I'm not sure why he needs this type of gear during the summer on the AT but I've learned that every hiker is "hiking their own hike". I felt stronger and more energetic going up the hills this afternoon for the first time since getting back from my trip to my daughter¢s wedding. While crossing a powerline I noticed a nice breeze and decided to try and dry out my shirt. I stuck my hiking poles in the ground, took my shirt off and wrung a fair amount of sweat out onto the ground. Then I hung my shirt on the poles so the breeze would blow through my shirt and hopefully dry it out. I removed my knee brace so that my tights could also dry out in the breeze. After 30 minutes I put everything back on and headed North. My clothes weren¢t completely dried out but I felt much cooler and more comfortable than I did when I arrived soaking wet and hot. I¢ve been reading Slipknot and Rabbit¢s journals since they are ahead of me and I can get an idea of what to expect on the trail. Rabbit mentioned a perfect stealth campsite on top of Consultation Mt, just about the right distance for my hike today. Just as I arrived it started to sprinkle so I quickly put up my tent and brought all my gear inside. While waiting to see what the rain was going to do I blew up my air mattress and laid down for a moment with my boots still on. It was only 5 pm and I still had to cook dinner and to hang my bear bag. I fell asleep almost immediately and rested for about an hour before realizing that I had dozed off. The rain had stopped so I got out and made my old standby, lentils and mashed potatoes. I discovered that I¢m still quite tired of eating lentils. I¢m going to try bringing food for dinner that doesn¢t need to be cooked so that I can leave my cook stove, fuel, and cook pot behind. I¢ve heard other hikers say that as they got closer to Maine they carried less and less gear. At this point anything that¢s not absolutely critical is just extra weight. I put up my bear bag and turned in for the night even though it¢s still light out. The thunderstorms and rain are coming down outside and I¢m warm and dry. This turned out to be a great campsite although I never did find the spring that both Rabbit and Awol¢s book mentioned.