Date: 2014-08-23
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Ethan Pond Trail Campsite
Miles today: 10.0

The night was not as noisy as I had feared. Evidently the whole Tufts contingent departed for the shelter because of condensation under their tarps. They thought the problem was non-waterproof tarps, but I explained that it was condensation from all of their breaths and that if it had not been rainy and humid, it would not have been as bad. I was reluctant to get up and pee for fear of disturbing people, so I did wake at 5 and decided to do a quick pack up of the things in the tent without making a racket with the trash compactor bag pack liner and take it all down the path to do breakfast and pack. I left the tent up until after breakfast. The rain fly was wet on both sides, but I did't want to try to dry it -- the family and my platform mates were still asleep -- so I packed it wet.I left the campsite at 7:35 and was on the trail at 7:50. I planned to go at least as far as the Zealand Falls Hut, so it promised to be a long day. The trail the rest of the way down Garfield was challenging, and it took about 3 hours to do the 2.7 miles to the Galehead Hut. On the way, I met Dude, who lives in Raleigh, and he slowed down to walk and talk with me. He is generally pretty speedy, doing 20+ miles a day, but even he has been slowed down by the Whites. He has done the PCT, and he did an AT thru-hike in 2006. He said he started this one intending to do a section, but he just kept going. He was hoping for coffee at the Galehead Hut, and I was hoping for leftovers.When I got to Galehead, he had gotten his coffee, and he had given Journeymen, who was nearly out of food, bread and peanut butter. I did get the last of the oatmeal (cold), and the hut croo member got me some raisins. I sat outside with the others to eat.Just after the hut, the .8 mile climb up South Twin Mountain (4902 feet) began. I remembered it from a hike Lee and I did -- a seemingly endless, but not technically difficult, climb almost straight up a rocky trail. I got to the top a little after noon, ate a sandwich, chatted with some weekend peak baggers, and tried checking for messages from Lee. Today was the bishop election in El Salvador. No service on top, but right after starting down, the phone dinged. Lee wrote that she had come in second, and that the local candidate for whom the whole process seemed set up had won. I have mixed feelings. I was not looking forward to the upheaval in our lives had she won, but I do feel bad for her. She really put herself out there in a challenging situation, and she did feel called to the ministry. I did manage to send a text, but the next one I tried did not go through, and I think the photo I sent is still in the phone.   From South Twin, the trail led over Mt. Guyot, which I remember doing with Lee on a crisp and pretty September day and even earlier (maybe 1972) with Peter Brown when the mountain was in a thick, cold cloud. On the way, I met a SOBO couple, T-bone and Pork Chop, and on top, two other SOBO guys, one named Rodeo.One of the weekend hikers, who had been at the Garfield Shelter with his daughter last night, told me that there are plenty of stealth sites after the Zealand Falls Hut. I decided to head there for the night. I did find the stealth site, but it was not by the river as I had expected. However, I prowled around and found a small spring. Camped near it. My rain fly was wet on both sides from the previous night, so I hung it from a line first and put it on the tent after I ate. Left the vestibule open for the night.