Date: 2006-09-10
From: Ore Hill, NH

To: south of Smarts Mtn, NH
Miles today: 17.2

I slept really well last night. I always seem to get my best sleep in my tent. I went to sleep last night at 8:30pm and didn't wake up until 4am, then went back to sleep until about 7am. I woke up to a squirrel scolding me for being in his space. :-))) Oh no, what have I done?? I don't have any coffee. :-((( I want coffee, but all I've got is Jolt Caffeine Gum....ooooh nooooo!!! I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, then drank that trail magic Coke. I didn't drink it last night because I thought I might need it this morning. I also had a couple pieces of Jolt Gum. It's cool out this morning and I was being very slow to get started. I didn't get packed up and walking until 8:10am. My tent was soaking wet from all the rain we had last night when I packed it up. I walked through a pine forest and had a heavy pine cone almost hit me in the head. I stopped and looked around and another one fell. There was a squirrel that was way up in the top of the pine tree and dropping pine cones. I guess he'll come down later and eat some. The sun popped out at 9am and the sky was nice and blue. At 9:13am, a falling leaf hit me. I'm resisting getting started on the leaf catching game because I had two people last year (I don't want to mention any names) who did unbelievably well with the number of leaves they claimed to have caught. eArThworm and Liteshoe emailed me the numbers of leaves they claimed to have caught. I let them count their unverified leaves even though I'm pretty sure they were....not playing fair. Oh, I decided to mention their names anyway. :-))) I came up to four nobo's who were sitting down by a stream, so I sat down and talked to them. Their names were HighTech, Stoker, Fred and Walker Texas Ranger. I've run into Walker Texas Ranger a couple of years out here. The first time was last year at Abol Bridge in Maine. We talked about 15 minutes before I walked on. They all seemed real happy when I told them they have picked the best time of year to go through the next 400 miles. They said everyone has been telling them they won't make it to Katahdin in time, but all they have to do is 100 miles a week and they won't have any problems. I got up to the summit of Mt Cube at 11:40am and spread out my wet tent, Poncho, shoes and socks to let then all dry in the sun while I ate lunch. It had turned to partly cloudy and was nice and cool with beautiful views. I could see more leaf color change up there at that higher elevation. I packed all my dry stuff up and started walking again at 12:20pm. I ran into a nobo by the name of Locomotive Joe about 30 minutes later. I saw two garter snakes that really seemed interested in each other. I stuck my hiking pole near them and they looked at me like; hey bud, get moving, we're busy here. I left them alone and walked on. :-))) I stopped and talked to Nor'easter, a section hiker, then I stopped and talked to about 8 day hikers. The day hikers said they were glad to get to talk to me because all the other hikers they've seen today pretty much flew by them without saying anything. I stopped and got water at the brook next to the side trail to Hexacuba Shelter and sat down and ate a snack before walking on. I ran into a nobo by the name of Mash near the bottom of Mt Cube and we talked for about 10 minutes. I started climbing Smarts Mtn and ran into a guy that looked familiar. His name is El Diablo, but when I saw him earlier this year at Woods Hole Hostel, he was going by the name of Jaguar. I got to the Fire Warden Cabin on top of Smarts Mtn and went down and got water from the spring, then went and climbed the fire tower. Dan and The Pro From Dover were up there looking around. I had met The Pro From Dover before at Trail Days when he was walking around with Hippie Longstockings. I ate dinner up in the tower. The two nobo's left and I stayed and ate chicken breast meat with peanut butter on bread. I stayed a while longer enjoying the views, but wanted to walk a little more today, so I headed down Smarts Mtn. I ran into a nobo by the name of Tooco about half way down the mountain. I kept walking and found a flat spot near the bottom of the mountain and set up my tent. My heal was better today. It still hurt some, but I think cutting the small hole in my insole might have helped. I did stop to stretch it out a lot today.