Date: 2009-07-01
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: haze

I really wanted to sleep more after getting to bed so late and having restless sleep, but I knew that in order to do 20 miles, I would have to get up. So, I rose out of bed at 7, ate some breakfast, and packed up the still wet contents of my pack. I headed out at 8:15, heard the ¢Caw-Caw¢ call of one of the twins in the main lodge, stopped in to say "hi" to the group, and then went on my way. After I passed the first pond, I lost the trail. There seemed to be three options of paths to take and I could not find a white blaze anywhere! I went down one path and decided the neon greenish yellow blazes were not right. So I turned back and tried the second one. That wasn¢t it either. The third choice looked too overgrown to possibly be the AT, so I went back to the first one. Then, I slipped on a wet rock and I fell down on my left side as my pack pulled me over. I stayed on the ground for awhile, waiting for the onset of pain. I didn¢t know what damage had been done. Slowly, I got up, and figured I was okay. I had scraped the palm of my hand and bruised and cut my leg, but nothing seemed structurally damaged.    I turned back and headed once again toward the last white blaze that I had seen. Then, I saw Veggie Steve happily walking toward me- from the overgrown path! He was slackpacking south and seemed to be in a much better mood than when I last saw him.    I leap-frogged with the MD3 girls for most of the day. Both Snooze and Das Boots also fell that day. The cut on my leg stung all day, but I never took the time to dig out my antibiotic ointment or try to clean it. I wanted to see what Crater Lake was about, but ended up not finding it. I only saw a sign for Hemlock Pond. The day started out cool and overcast, but gradually turned hazy. I started feeling more and more tired. By the afternoon, the sun was burning down. I stopped to take a break on some rocks and eat a snack.       Both the MD3 girls and I stopped in at the Brink Road Shelter, 0.2 miles off the trail, for a break, but this turned out to be a mistake! It was incredibly mosquito infested! Vagrant was inside his tent- in the shelter! Snooze couldn¢t wait to be given some insect repellant, which one of the other girls was carrying. I went off to collect some water and joined them at the picnic table to read through the registry, all the while swatting off the mosquitoes. If New Jersey was this bad, what was Massachusetts going to be like? I started picking off some mud on my leg and felt something sticky! I looked down to see that it was a tick crawling up my leg- my second one! I picked it of and tried to step on it. As I made my way back to the AT, I saw my favorite bird on the trail- a beautiful scarlet tanager. I took a moment to try to take its picture.   I made my way down to a busy road- US 206- and looked down at the businesses. What¢s this? A coffee sign? I walked over to the nearby store offering sandwiches and snacks, but found it closed. However, there was a steakhouse a couple of doors down. Hot and tired, I made my way over to it. I asked if they had ice cream there and ended up ordering a grilled chicken sandwich, brownie sundae and coffee. I figured the time spent here was worth it as the calories and caffeine would help me finish off the last few miles of the day, and I wouldn¢t have to take any time in camp to cook and eat. I filled up my water bottles as the MD3 girls came in and had their dinner and found my way back to the trail. I had a 550 foot climb up to a firetower, where I wished to spend the night, but the attic part was locked, and I didn¢t see any good trees for my hammock in the area. I tried to take in as much of the views as possible and continued the last mile to the shelter, where I found a multitude of tents set up. I found a spot for my hammock, set it up, and as darkness set in, went down to the shelter to see who was there. I found Hellbender¢s note to me in the registry, which made me happy, and then went back to retreat inside my hammock for the night.