Date: 2004-09-01
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: scattered clouds

White Patch, Mousebait, Keytone, Pop-Up, T-Bot, Regular Brian, Paparazzi, Chef, Ursa Minor, Blue, Swan and Cygnet. That's tonight's thru-hiker roll call. From Brown University in Rhode Island are about 15 girls out receiving some backpacking/camping experience and instruction, and a second group of college-age kids from I don¢t know where, but numbering about 10. I have no idea where they are all tenting but I¢m very glad we managed to secure our site before they arrived!My day began with a 6 a.m. shower at the hostel. The shower, laundry, and toilet facilities all are under a singular tarp outdoors in a roughed-in enclosure. How often does one have the opportunity to shower to the songs of the morning birds?Back in my tent I spent the next hour reviewing my choices of gear and clothing for traversing the White Mountains. I whittled out all extraneous pieces of paper, cut tags out of clothing, cut my bearbag rope in half and discarded any non-essentials. We forwarded two boxes; one to Crawford Notch, halfway through the Whites, and a second to Gorham at the end of the Whites. From that point on we will be in Maine and I will know if my gear and clothing choices were wise.So my bag was packed, complete with four days of food added. The moment of truth and possibly despair was upon me -- weighing the bag. I left Georgia at the beginning of April outfitted with cold weather gear; my bag weighed 31 pounds with no water and four days' worth of food. Here I go -- I lift it to the hook and hang it. Dare I look? I hold my breath, the numbers start going up: eight, twelve, seventeen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-three and six-tenths and it stops!! Woohoo -- 23.6 pounds is all. I'm so thrilled. Now I fill the water bladder and as figured it adds five pounds. My new bag has a 30-pound limit and I've managed to stay below it.Cygnet packs her bag (my old 5.5 pound Mystery Ranch) and again I hold my breath, as I desperately want her to carry a light load. It tops off at 18 pounds. Great. I wish I'd known she was coming; I'd have bought a second GoLite and shaved 3.5 pounds off that total for her. But 18 is more than acceptable -- she'll be fine.It took much longer than expected to move out. Post office, telephone calls, last e-mail check and tons of "see y'all up the trail" and thank-yous to our hosts, Pack Rat, Fat Chap, and Lion King, kept us there until 10:30. We set foot on the AT at 11:00.A rocky, muddy trail kept us alert all day long. Blue led the pack, Cygnet bounded along behind, Ursa kept a slower but steady pace as she cautiously negotiated some difficult terrain for her five foot stature, and Swan took up the caboose position, making certain the entire brood reached this destination safely. Cygnet made two stops to soak in the sunrays, which were warming the rocks. About 3:00 I passed Ursa and found Cygnet on one of her rocks. Together we had a quick lunch and moved on with Ursa when she arrived. At .2 mile from the shelter Cyg and I trucked into camp with Ursa right behind us, or so I thought. Somehow she had missed a turn and circled back a full mile. I finished setting up my tent thinking she was in the shelter. She wasn't there! I had just put my shoes back on and was heading back when she walked in - very upset with herself. None of us knows how or where the trail turned but I gave her permission to skip 1.8 miles of the AT up ahead since she walked that much of it twice today. She had a lousy day. A good night's rest after a hot supper and cheerful conversation with our fellow hikers should put us all in a fresh positive frame of mind by morning.It's cold! Cygnet has my fleece vest and winter jacket around her feet as her pad is only a three-quarter length. She inserted the fleece liner into her bag and should stay toasty warm now. I've my hat and silk thermalwear on; I'm warm too. 'Nite