Date: 2008-01-11
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Little Dam Lake
Miles today: 7.0

Well the rain had set in last night as I hit the sack. I woke up a few times getting used to the new sleeping bag. This is my first down bag all my others have been synthetic bags. While this is really light and warm it does get more cold spots in it than the more evenly placed fill in my other bags. When I did weak up you could here the rain and the wind howl outside. I was not looking forward to the prospect of hiking in the cold rain all day tomorrow so I sunk deeper in my bag and tried to get back to sleep.When I woke up in the AM I found that the edge of my tarp was not pulled low enough on the side that the wind was coming from and so the bottom of the hammock was damp. I was able to shake most of the water off the trap before packing up for the day in a brief stop in the rain. I always seem to be one of the last ones to leave camp and this day was no different and everyone left and I was still packing up the last of my gear and trying stretch out my hamstrings that have been tight. I have been doing some physical therapy for my back the past few weeks and one of the areas that they have been telling me that I need to work on is my flexibility. I think that I hit the trail about 15 min after everyone else.I met up with the group at the foot of Fitzgerald Falls a 25-foot waterfall that the rail goes up the side of. This would have been a real nightmare if we still had all the ice and snow that we had on the ground up to a few days ago. The trail up to the falls was pretty much walking up the streambed. I think that I had to cross it at least three times to the foot of the falls and as many times as that after the falls. In one case you actually walk up the streambed and in higher water this would have been completely underwater. The rain had come again and so it was cold and wet as I caught up the group.Word was that in 3.2 miles from here there is a road and half a mile down the road to the left was a deli with hot food out of the rain. Didn¢t need to have too much discussion on this type of thing on a day like this. We headed out and the trail climbed up from the falls up to the top of Mombasha Point. The top I am sure would have great views but today it was foggy and raining so there was no reason to stop at the top for anything more than to drink some water and catch your breath. It seemed like a really long 3 miles to the road. As I was getting close the trail does one of those great big bends where while you cant see the trail you can swear that you almost just did a full circle for no reason. I met the group again by the road and we waited for two who where behind me so that we would do the road walk together. It really began to come down heavier while we stood there. I am not sure what the temps were that day but I would expect that they were high 30¢s at best. We did the road walk and when we were maybe 200 yards from the deli a car pulled up and told us that the deli had closed up about 2 weeks ago. This was such a blow to moral I can¢t even tell you. I had been thinking about hot deli food for the better part of an hour and a half. Now we have to walk back uphill the half mile to the trail and figure out what to do for a lunch stop. The trail on the other side of the road from where we came off the trail is like the polar opposite from the other side. When we got off we had been walking through an open field. When we got back on the trail the side we had to walk was directly on top of an old stone wall about 3 feet wide and full of rocks. Man fate is cruel. I decided to push on with two others and just push for the shelter that is about 2 miles from where we were. The trail goes up two really steep sections. During this time at one overlook the rain actually even had a bit of ice in it so it was getting chiller. I was wet to the core by this point. The trail at one point goes up a steep section on the side of Buchanan Mt. Now when I say steep I mean you are looking up a cliff and halfway up you see a white blaze. When you first see it you think that someone must have put that up as a joke until you see the ones leading up to this one. To add to the fun halfway up is a blow down that you have crawl under. At the top I was able to stop and return calls as I had cell reception and as I did the others caught up. We were half a mile from where we were going to stop for the night. As I stood up on the high point I could see the ridge to the east that is in Harriman State Park. To the west I saw blue sky. The rain had stopped and the sun was being to come out. What a great finish to the day. We had a great campsite. My hot dinner and dry clothes did a lot for my outlook on things.Daily miles 8 Grand Total 284.2