Date: 2008-04-22
From: puncbowl shelter

To: seeley-woodworth shelter
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, it rained all night again last night, and the weather didn't look much better upon waking up. Oh well, onward.Some ups and downs for a bit while we gradually made our way down the mountain. We had to cross another river so that means we lose all our elevation.While going down, we saw a tree fall in the forest. It did make a sound.We saw Pedlar Dam in the distance, and the book said we crossed it so we got a little excited. We ended up not, but it is just a small dam in the middle of nowhere. Couldn't even see any people or cars at the dam.Crossed the river below the dam on a wooden foot suspension bridge. Not as big as the one by Trent's, but impressive none the less.Onward and upward. The trail wound past the dam's lake for a while before meandering along some streams. They seem to dislike bridges on this portion of the trail but I got creative and made it across.We came to an area that used to be a share cropping area until the 20's when the USFS bought them out. There was little left besides 2 chimneys and lots of rock walls. Some history plaques along the way.Arrived at a shelter and made use of the privy. Ate my last snack and filled up on water for the coming climb.The climb was about 2600 feet. It was big and long and had lots of false summits. To top it off the wind and fog and rain rolled in. Tons of fun. There were also some extremely steep sections that had us making lots of cynical remarks. We couldn't even discern the top of the hill and missed it when we got there because there were so many false summits. Stopped in the lee of a large rock to have lunch sheltered from the wind.Quick lunch and onward. Came to a shelter junction at about mile 15. We needed water and the next shelter was 10 miles away, but we decided that the .6 miles to the shelter was too far. Let me put it like this: we didn't feel like walking the .6 miles to the shelter so we decided to walk another 10 to the next one. Ahh, the logic of the AT.The next 2 hills were balds. We got to the top and enjoyed fantastic 360 degree views of....fog. Could see 50-100 feet most of the day. Throw in the wind and rain and you have a winner of a day.Trudged onward, tunnel vision thanks to the raingear.The weather was all over the place again. Well, most of the day it sucked, cold rainy, windy, foggy. Saw a little blue in there briefly just to make us hot in our raingear, then back to the rain when we took it off. One of those days.Rolling ups and downs the rest of the day. We were really beat when we got to the shelter. Actually for the last 5 miles or so. Odd, must have been all the climbing or something. Total of 7200 feet of climbing today. And 25 miles of trail. That will do it.Very happy when we got to the shelter. Had a full liter of noodles and still very hungry. Had an extra granola bar. Still very hungry. Hummus dipped into his emergency rations. Soon Toddy and I followed. Still very hungry. Oh well, the life of a thru-hiker. Tired, beat, hungry, wet gear. Another wonderful day on the Appalachian Trail.Only on the AT do you despise the rain, wind, snow, sleet, clouds, and sun.Or, as Hummus put it:Only on the AT do you despise all weather.