Date: 2015-05-30
From: Before Little Rock Pond

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 26.0

Thanks for the sound of rushing water coming from the two creeks, I slept really well last night.Bird and I rolled out a little bit late this morning, mostly due to staying up so late. The trail began by slightly climbing up to a very popular overnighting location. We followed a creek up to a shelter and camping area. There were lots of folks up at the scenic lake camping for the night.As we walked, the humidity soared. It was nasty.... The insects swarmed and pestered us for the duration of the day. Clouds of biting flies and mosquitoes orbited our heads in an effort to get an easy dinner.The forest canopy shielded much of the sun, but also blocked out the wind which further worsened the situation. Today, we had some tougher climbs. The overall size of the climbs have been increasing gradually over the last few days. Heavy vegetation in some areas encroached on the trail, making it difficult to avoid the poison ivy and tick-infested grasses.Along this section, a few really nice stretches were wonderful. Some of these stretches were filled with mature pine forests and open understories.   Soft, fragrant pine needles provided a perfect tread for our weary feet.The trail progressed and found its way to a nice overlook with a rock cairn garden. Basically, folks built dozens of creative rock cairns all over some massive boulders. It was really cool!It was here that Bird and I looked out and realized that we were high in the mountains. With the rain obscuring the views coupled with the tree leaves, we couldn't see out of our immediate area for quite a while.The afternoon came and we were still walking. During a descent, an awesome, steel gorge appeared. It was rugged and vertical. One could look at the bare borders of the river and envision how powerful and high the waters can get. There was a suspension bridge strung high over the gorge. As I walked over, I could see people swimming and riding the eddies down below.The day was now getting late and Bird and I had one last climb. It was a big climb for the very end of the day--3,000 feet up. This is when we really noticed that the bugs were worse....or maybe it was just because we were walking slower.The daylight began fading and I could see storm clouds coming in from the horizon. Some sections were extremely narrow trails that were full of deep roots and next to big drop offs. Other parts were dense pine forests that seemed to rob our last little bits of light from us.As the sun officially set (although the storm clouds had already blacked it out), I got to a backcountry ski shelter on top of the mountain. It was called Cooper Lodge. This lodge was the dirtiest, nastiest, most-ghetto shelter that I had ever seen. Garbage was strewn about all over the floor, graffiti painting, and other examples of vandalism were some of the stand out features. It did have a nice water source (a piped spring) which I really appreciated. It was flowing well, very cold, and close to the shelter. I filled my water vessels and got back to the "shelter" as the rains and lightning began.It was a massive electrical storm!! Especially as we were on top of the mountain, this was truly a "best seat in the house" for the storm. Flash after flash, deafening boom after clap, we watched the whole thing from inside this dilapidated, once-beautiful shelter.As Bird and I tried to eat dinner, mice began appearing.... And appearing.... And appearing. They were nasty little vermin. One actually went right next to Bird and started eating the very crackers he was currently eating. Then, another one appeared on the picnic table at my pot.I couldn't take it anymore. I started playing "Whack a Mole" with my shoe. I got one. It made Bird overjoyed. I mean, really, really overjoyed!! Little bastards.As this was happening, the rains were getting harder. This meant that the shelter was also leaking worse and worse. That was a very bad thing. As I climbed up into the bunk, I felt my sleeping bag. It was soaked. Not only did the roof leak, it really looked like someone had drilled several holes in the roof to cause said-leaks. As more and more rain leaked in, I was forced to sleep against the wall. That is always a bad move with mice. Mice, of course, like to run along the edge of the walls and whatnot. That is why I got to wake up by one mouse running over my head. I would sleep with my head inside my sleeping bag for the rest of the night..