Date: 2005-07-08
From: Outside Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Weather: 50's in the morning 70's afternoonLocation: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-toPeople: Dewd, Webb, Fat Agnes, Gene, 2 large groups of campers Mileage: 11.7 Animals: 3 moose!Today was officially my earliest day of hiking. I woke up this morning at about 5:30 to the sounds of the campers packing their stuff up. I couldn't get back to sleep so I woke up at about 6 and started packing up. I got a bit of trail magic as I was leaving though which was amazing. The counselor of the campers left us a bag of 20 snickers bars, which are my favorite. I later came to find out that the snickers were intended for the boys but taken away as punishment for a late start. I lucked out huge, I packed out 9 bars after dispensing them to other hikers and eating a couple. Added to the 5 I already had and I was sitting pretty. I left the shelter at about 6:50 and made it 11.7 miles by 10:40. I thought I was moving fast so I could claim the lean-to for ourselves. I found out that the 2 groups were going to tent anyway so it was pretty unecessary. It was worth it in my opinion though because of the 3 moose sightings I had. The 1st was at about 7:45 when I saw the bull moose. I was hauling down the trail when suddenly I heard a loud splash to my left. I stopped and looked but saw nothing. Then I spotted some movement through the trees and ducked down low to see below them. There in a pond was a huge bull moose with a large rack walking in a pond that went up to its chest. It stopped and looked back and kept moving, very cool though. About an hour later was when I spotted the other 2. I walked up to Mountain View Pond and stopped to get a picture of the scenic view of the still water. I heard some rustling in the bushes about 10 feet ahead of me and thought some hikers may be coming my way. Through the bushes I saw a large brown object followed by a smaller brown object. I took my pack off and grabbed my camera to run up the trail. As I did I just saw the tail end of a cow and calf running away from me. I didn't get a picture of either but still happy I got to see them. I have been hanging out at this shelter all day since I got here. Most shelters I would probably be bored senseless, but this one has a great swimming hole and a small waterfall. When I got in this morning I was burning up and immediately jumped in the creek to cool off. It felt great and even better when I laid out on the rocks to dry off. I then napped for about an hour and just listened to the soothing sound of the waterfall. Everybody else rolled in at about 2 after sleeping in awhile. I am extremely tired right now and it's not even 7 yet. I'll definitely catch up on the lost sleep tonight. I'm about out of food, half of it is snickers bars. We're going to reprovision at the White House Landing tomorrow and hopefully get a famous 1lb burger. I hadn't really planned to stop there before the wilderness, but plans change. The wilderness is not nearly secluded as I anticipated. I passed a couple walking yesterday who had no packs and I asked how they got here. They looked at me funny and told me, "We walked about 200 yards from our car." It may have been a 100 mile wilderness 5-10 years ago but it is far from it now! I now welcome the idea of a huge burger and a hot shower. I'm falling asleep as I type... I'm out."There is no sincerer love than the love of food"-George Bernard Shaw