Date: 2008-07-28
From: Hightop Hut

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

The brothers left and I had the shelter to myself. Later, a young couple only came up as far as the spring. Then the guy came up to check the register, chat, and left. On my way back to the trail, I stopped at the spring to top off my water. To my surprise and hers, the girl of the couple had her pants (both) off and was washing them. I turned around as she kept saying she was sorry and that she was washing her pants in a pot, not in the spring. I didn¢t care. I just wanted to top off my water.I took lots of pictures of flowers today. The new flowers included a light lavender flower with many thin narrow petals. I also found another light lavender flower with five petals that grew in clusters. I saw many Turk¢s Cap Lilies.I was not in a hurry this morning. I was in stroll mode. I put my body on autopilot and my brain on random. Later the hike got harder. It seemed like all uphill.Another way to know that bears are in the neighborhood is when you see rocks moved, shifted, or overturned. Some of the rocks are bigger and heavier than what a man can lift or move. The bears are looking for goodies under the rocks. I followed displaced rocks for a long time on the trail.Before I reached Lewis Mountain Campground, I followed a doe down the trail and kept taking her picture to find the best pose. (Work it, baby!)At the Lewis Mountain Campstore, there are Men and Ladies showers. It cost 4 quarters for 5 minutes. I went for the deluxe¢¦10 minutes. There is no warning when your 5 minutes is up. The water just shuts off and there you are with soap all over. The manager of the store even gave me a little bar of soap. That was really nice. I felt great after that shower.After I left Lewis Mountain, it was only 34 mile to Bearfence Hut. I saw a doe with two fawns next to the trail. More pictures. No surprise, I own a slow camera. There is a time lapse between pushing the button and when the camera takes the picture. I take the picture with the fawns looking at me. And when I look at my results, they are looking elsewhere.When I got to the hut, Ephron and Flash-something were there. I had met Ephron previously at the Dutch Haus. Flash is a southbounder. He shared with us info that there is a sketchy guy on the trail with a black dog. Things tend to go missing whenever this guy is around. Right after that, a guy with a black dog shows up. Yep, it¢s the guy we were just warned about. He wasn¢t a young guy. He mentioned his age at 41 but he looked as if he had a hard life. I never did get his name. He was full of stories of his adventures on the trail. He didn¢t give any destination. It just seems that he goes up or down the trail. At this time he was going southbound. (Whew.)Remember the young couple from this morning? They showed up. He had told me about a meteor shower tonight and they planned to tent up on the ridge. Sketchy Guy was roughly discipling his dog by grabbing the fur around its neck and getting in its face. Young Guy made a mild comment about getting better behavior from a dog when it is treated kindly. That was all it took. Sketchy Guy lost his temper and had a lot to say about other people¢s business punctuated with lots of cuss words. Young Guy tried to ignore him and proceeded to pack up his gear. Sketchy Guy wouldn¢t be ignored and demanded to be answered. Meanwhile Ephron, Flash, and I were making like deaf mutes and not doing anything to call attention to ourselves. Thankfully Young Couple left and Sketchy Guy went back to his tent for awhile. Well, that was certainly uncomfortable. That was a first ever for me. This is not how it is on the trail or in the shelters.Oh yeah, Flash helped me get my food bag on the bear pole.Sightings:Fresh coyote scat ¢ 2Bear scat ¢ 2Deer - 5