Date: 2014-07-14
From: trapper john shelter

To: nh 25
Miles today: 22.2

I downgraded my already low standards this morning when i ate two packets of pop tarts for breakfast. Really? This is what its come to? Anyway i got on the trail just after 7 and headed for smarts mtn. This was the biggest climb for a while and seemed to be a warm-up for whats to come. It was 2200' incline that was a good test of my legs. The first thousand feet lead me to a lookout where i could see the summit with the fire tower on top. Holy jesus, i gotta get all the way up there? Sometimes its better to not know. The next thousand feet was steep and ended up with some climby sections. I was thrilled to see the tower and quickly took a stop. I left my pack on a rock and propped up my shirt on my hiking poles to dry as i clumb the tower to view the world. Its impossible to convey the beauty in some of these places, mountains for miles with ponds and lakes snuggled down in the valleys, blue blue sky with perfect puffy clouds floating by. Its what this is all about for me. Sometimes i wonder why i do this but when these opportunities come along all i say is, 'this is what its all about'. Sometimes i say it out loud even though nobody is near. After the tower i checked out the shelter and looked for the spring that was supposed to be close by. I took a little trail that lead down to the privy, wrong trail, but i did chuckle to find moose poo next to the privy. How did the moose know? I found the spring down a different trail and loaded up with water. I put on my packback and skipped north looking for maine. After a lonh four mile down i got ready for the next big hill. Hill/mtns are gonna be a way of life for a while, no such thing as flat for the foreseeable future. The next was mt cube, a 1500' climb. I will be honest, it was rough, i was tired. This was a rocky hill with a new kind of rock. I dont know what it is but its slippery and luckily wet, not the best combo. I slipped countless times and at one piint frustration kicked in. I stopped cold, took a breath, told myself to take it easy, take my time, dont break myself. I neared the top and unfortunately saw my first trail moose. He was not alive. He had passed a long time ago and was now just skeleton. Sad but its nature, it probably fed many little animals and scroungers. I got to the summit to view the views and look back to smarts to see the tower and how far i had come today, crazy. The top was mostly open to see for days except for tomorrows mt, mt moosilaukee. I hung my shirt on a tree and took a little nap in the sun. This was the only good thing about these new smooth rocks, they were nice to lay on. I rested for a half hour before grabbing a snack and moving on. Cornwall and cowboy showed up just as i was leaving. They were going to camp where i had initially intended to but my new plan was to make a few more miles to shorten my hike tomorrow. My ma was coming up for a visit so i was meeting her between 3 and 4. As fast as i was moving today i would need as much time as i could get tomorrow. I still had to go over ore hill. It was a thousand ft hill but not steep. This made for a ton of climb for the day, ooof. By the time i got to the top, and my original camp spot, i had had enough. However i knew 3more miles would make tomorrows walk more manageable. I pushed on hoping for a good stealth camp near rt 25c. I have noticed most streams and rd crossings have little tent spots that are not marked on my guide, i hoped this would be the same, it was. I found a cute flat area covered with pine needles like a carpet. Perfect. I gathered water from the stream then washed myself and clothes in the creek. I hung clothes on the kine then cooked up some nasty noodles. I can not cook noodles in my cook pot and dont know why but i wont try again. I got the calories in my belly and was getting ready to turn in when the boys showed up. Cowboy and cornwall came over and set up too. There was no water at the last tent area so they decided to move on too. I chatted for a bit about the day, they were tired too, rough day. I told them i would be quiet in the morning as i usually left before them and turned in for the night. I was really glad to be getting a zero after the climb over moosilaukee, legs need a break. Glad for the perfect weather tonight, no rain.