Date: 2008-07-09
From: Horns pond lean to

To: Pierce Pond Lean to
Miles today: 27.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Up early as usual. Had Pop tarts because honestly I'm tired of cooking. It was another climb out of Horns Pond. I barely notice I'm climbing anymore. I seem to be off in my own little world, thinking of the end of my trip. About two miles into my day I look down and notice my cell phone was missing. My heart sunk. I look back to see if it just fell. No Sign. I walked back a little ways, hoping to see it laying on the ground. No luck. I make the decision to go all the way back to the shelter, not thinking to let the guys know. No sign of the phone all the way back to the shelter. I gave my Info to the Caretaker and headed north once more in a last ditch effort. 2 miles later I'm back were I started and no phone. I felt mental beat up and hiking wasn't as fun as it used to be. So I put on my hiking face and cranked out the mile to catch up to T-Bear and Yeti.At Bigelow Mtn I came across a group of young girls. Actually I came across a lot of groups today. They asked me to take there picture. I said "No problem". Then I was on my way. The Bigelows have such great views. I'm sure glad I didn't lose my camera. In my haste I forgot to get water at the last source and now I'm out. Next water source is Little Bigelow Lean to. I'm tried to get there before I start feeling dehydrated. I got to the Lean to and I was so happy to see water. I loaded up on water and planned to drink most of it while having lunch at the Lean to. As I walked up to the Shelter I see T-Bear and Yeti having lunch. I'm glad to see them. I wasn't sure I would catch up to them. I took them my story and they said they were happy to see that I was alive. For lunch I had two snicker with peanut butter. Before we left I made sure I had enough water and tried not to think about my phone. We had 17 miles to finish out the day but the terrain was relatively less hilly.(Never say flat). We got to Long Fall Dam Road were the old 2000 mi mark was and took some pictures. I could feel the rain coming in and we were nowhere near the shelter. After a few minutes in the rain I remember my camera was out so I stopped to put it away. Being wet sucks. When we got to the next shelter the rain stopped. Go figure. The Shelter was full but it didn't matter we were pushing on to the next shelter. The rain started up again and 10 miles to go. There was a lot of lightning this time. We just kept our head down and pushed through it. We just splashed through the Appalachian River aka the AT until we got to Pierce Pond Lean to.When we rolled up there were SoBos in the shelter already. Wet tired and hungry I just wanted the day to end. We weren't that talkative with the Sobos. They had so much energy. I can tell they just started 7 days ago. They told us about the Pierce Pond Camp breakfast. We had to make reservations tonight to have breakfast tomorrow so Yeti walked the few tenth of a mile to do that. We ordered the 12 pancake, sausage and egg breakfast tomorrow. Dinner was go tonight. I added sharp cheddar cheese to my rice and I love it. I hung up my wet clothes and slipped into my sleeping bag. I can hear the bugs buzzing around. I just pulled my liner up over my head and drifted off to sleep.We meet 4 SoBos. Swing, Juicebox, Von Frick and Warraghiyagey. They were in such a different state of mind that we couldn't relate.