Date: 2012-06-26
From: Manchester Center

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

My feet were feeling much better after two days of taking it easy.   They didn¢t complain at all when I shoved them into the boots. Since I had packed almost everything the night before and had settled the bill with Frank, I was able to make an early departure. The house was completely still when I left.After a quick stop to grab a geocache, I headed back to Mrs. Murphy¢s Donuts where I had eaten on Saturday. They opened early, which was a big plus as I could get my morning fix. In addition, Frank had told me that was a great place to get a hitch up to the Trail. After I finished my breakfast I went outside to the bench where I had left my pack. Sure enough, I had just settled it on my shoulders, hadn¢t even gotten the hip belt buckled or gotten out to the road, and a nice gentleman, lately from Colorado, offered me a ride. He dropped me off in the parking lot, and I started off.Fortunately for me, the weather was much cooler than it had been last week. It felt great to be out walking. That hadn¢t been the case when the temperatures had been unpleasantly hot. Most of the bugs had disappeared, too. I had the feeling it would be a wonderful day.I huffed and puffed my way up Bromley Mountain. I had been warned that it would be tough, but really, I didn¢t find it that bad. By then the clouds had closed in and the top was shrouded in fog. Strange shapes appeared: heavy construction equipment, and was that a ski lift station there, looking more like an alien spacecraft edges indistinct and blurry? With no view on the top, and I just kept on going.The Trail brought me down to Mad Tom Notch Road where there is a hand pump. I took a snack break and a good drink, topping off my water bottle, and then headed on. It soon started sprinkling, and I was glad I already had the cover on my pack. By the time I got to Peru Peak Shelter the rain was picking up, or rather, coming down. I was only damp when I arrived, but if I¢d been out much longer I would have been soaked. The wind blew and it felt chilly. The rain pants and jacket made a nice addition to my ensemble, but I still felt that a hot lunch would be appropriate as I waited for the rain to stop.While my water heated more hikers arrived, section hikers, day hikers and thru hikers. Some stayed and some went on. Some, like me, were just stopping for a break, and others said they were done for the day. Gracious! A full shelter is something I haven¢t seen much of this year, starting early as I did. Even more hikers arrived looking for space to spread out. Since my lunchtime was over it was time to move on.The rain had let up slightly, but shortly after I resumed walking, so did the steady rain. The trail beside Griffith Lake was muddy and mucky and completely under water in some places. I began to think about that TV show I¢ve seen a few times: Wipeout. If someone had added a few swinging branches, a slide whistle sound effect, and some eclectic percussion sounds I could have done an audition for the show. A little cheesy commentary would have completed the gag. I already have a nickname; just think of the silly puns that could be made with material like Rockett and Second Stage to work with!The slippery rocks and logs were bad enough. Add in plenty of standing water and muck for a landing zone and what more could you want? Oh, yeah. Slippery seesaws or tippy teeter-totters.   The boards on the puncheons were very slick. I discovered that taking big steps on them was a little like ice skating, and I was no better at it than I am at ice skating. So I started taking little bitty steps in order to keep my feet underneath me. Then came the real fun. It turned out that some of the puncheons were floating or partially floating, causing them to act a bit like teeter-totters. I would step on one end, causing that end to sink, raising the other end. Creeping forward I would reach the balance point and the puncheon would level out. After I would take a few more steps, the puncheon would suddenly pitch forward, leaving me slipping downward, wondering how long it would be until I would take some spectacular pratfall into the water and mud. At least I knew I would have a squishy landing.Eventually I reached a place where the step to the next puncheon was just too great for me to make in a controlled fashion. The next puncheon was unstable, bobbing when I poked at it with my trekking pole, and the one I was on was tipping down enough that my boots would be completely under water if I continued forward. Luckily I notice tracks to the side that showed me that other hikers had made the leap to the side, just off the Trail, to higher ground. With all the rain from today and the past few days some of the boot prints, even on the highest and best drained part were a few inches deep. Would the force of the jump cause my back foot to simply slip? How deep in mud would I be if I jumped (or fell) short? Would my feet and legs be stuck? I pictured myself having to wait until someone came along to pull me out like a quicksand victim.I stood in the pouring rain, looking for other options. Not finding any, I let out a timid ¢Yeehaw¢ and clumsily took the leap. Those with longer, stronger, more, hmmmm, bendable legs would not have had much trouble, but my lead foot just cleared the standing water and I teetered on the edge, wavering between a step forward to drier ground and pitching backward, pulled down into the muck by my pack. With an extra boost from my trekking pole I clawed my way through the branches to follow the other boot prints.The rain continued and the wind picked up, but I was just thankful the insects were smart enough to stay out of the rain, even if I wasn¢t. The temperatures remained cool.   Ahh. So much better than last week.A southbound hiker had strongly suggested that I take the bad weather trail near the summit of Baker Peak. He¢d encountered strong winds and wet, slippery rocks. I took his advice, blue-blazed the summit, and headed on down to Lost Pond Shelter.There I found Shackles and Richard looking warm and dry while I was thoroughly soaked and chilling down. The two gentlemen assured me that they, too, snore and told me I didn¢t need to bother tenting in the rain.I fetched water from the stream, had another hot meal, talked with Shackles and Richard, and then changed into dry clothes and dove into my sleeping bag. I found that I was shivering. After a few minutes I warmed up and fell right to sleep.