Date: 2016-08-05
From: VT 140 and Wallingford

To: Peru Peak Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

Up at 5:45 and removed the bedding and put on new sheets as per the rules of the hostel. Worked on my blog for a while before breakfast at 7:30 served down at the deli next door. Breakfast of eggs, rice with diced tomatoes, and a bran English muffin with peanut butter and honey. I was hungry and had two helpings. Breakfast was fun since there were about 20-25 hikers and we were all sitting together. Nice light discussion between the hikers stuffing ourselves. Talking to Bright Eyes I learned that she lives in the same neighborhood that I do in West Seattle. I was taking my time getting ready to head out and got a call from the shuttle that was going to pick me up. They were 10-15 minutes away and I had to rush to finish packing my new backpack. The shuttle arrived at 9 or so and I was off on a 25 minute ride to the trail head. The hike started with a 3 mile climb up White Rocks Mtn and I noticed that my new pack wasn't as comfortable as my old Gregory. I fiddled with the adjustment straps to make it more comfortable, but it seemed as though it was digging into my lower back. I tried to ignore it. Along the top of White Rocks Mtn, there were two stacked cairn forests that were beautiful and were day hike destinations for locals. Met a group of 50 and 60 year old's and had a nice conversation for 15 minutes or so. The grade going up wasn't bad and it was followed by a 7 mile rolling down to Big Branch Shelter. This was an easy walk and I was lost in thought about projects that I would be working on next year. I'm planning on gutting one of our rental houses for a major remodel including a few additions to the house along with changes to the roof line. The forest I was walking through was a beautiful mix of maples, sycamore, birch and pines. It was a sunny day and a beautiful day to hike. I stopped for lunch at Big Branch shelter and talked to a troop of Girl Scouts there. Taking off my pack, I realized that in my haste at the hostel, I failed to buckle up a strap that goes up and over the top of my pack. The plastic buckle had been pressed up against the small of my back and had created a welt and open sore. Foolish of me since this would go on to plague me on an ongoing basis. Leaving the shelter I met a dad and his son out for a day hike. I was the first thru hiker they had met and took photos of themselves with me. I was honored. After the shelter there is a 3 1/2 mile climb up Baker Peak for 1300'. On my way up I met two separate guys with really large and overstuffed packs. The first was carrying 65 lbs and was training to take his 3 young daughters out for a weekend camping trip. He was carrying everything he would need for that trip. The second guy was had been picking up Psilocybin mushrooms. He said he was carrying 15 lbs of them at the moment and had been burying them near parking lots along the trail with the plan of going back to pick them up later. The far point of Baker Peak was a rocky ledge with a nice view and I took a break there, ate some nuts, finished my Nuun and now had jut 2 1/2 miles to Peru Peak shelter. There were a lot of trail gremlins on the way down and I kept stumbling along the way. My hiking boots were good and dry at this point, but I noticed that the insoles for my left boot was starting to fall apart and that shoe was getting uncomfortable at the end of each day. At Griffith Lake, .5-.75 before the shelter the walk was mostly board walk and nice. I got into the shelter at 6, pulled 3 1/2 quarts or water for dinner and breakfast and made Thai Curry for dinner, my favorite of the freeze dried dinners I carry. Peru Peak is a $5 pay shelter, and there was a fun group there including a number of thru hikers and Vermont Long Trail hikers. Lively and fun.