Date: 2008-08-04
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Hexacube Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: light rain

New Hampshire is Melting!Moose Mountain Shelter to Hexacube Shelter I slept on the hard floor of the shelter again. Doug is sending me his sleeping pad and I can¢t wait. With all of this rain I have been using the shelters instead of getting my hammock all wet and having to break it down and carry a wet tent for days. Last night while I was hanging my bear bag I got the line stuck way up in a tree and I had to climb up there on this wet, mossy tree that I wasn¢t sure could actually hold my weight. I was a little worried about the hernia but I couldn¢t lose my bear line and I tried everything to get it down. The rock I tied to the line got miraculously stuck in a fork of branches. I couldn¢t believe it except that it was just another thing to make the day a little worse. I managed to get up there and get it down but it was treacherous going. I think I popped a stitch or two but I¢ll be alright. I tossed and turned a little on the cold, hard floor but I¢m getting used to it. Rain was splattering on the shelter roof all night and it sounded like someone dropping pebbles on a tin roof. That surely didn¢t help anyone sleep. I got up and ate all of my Pop-Tarts and got on the trail by 10 or so. The climb was treacherous as usual. The skies kept threatening; but, it never really rained. It got sunny for a second or two and then it kept getting colder and colder. I thought Vermont was bad, it has nothing on New Hampshire in terms of mud and muck. Sometimes I can¢t believe it; the trail is horrible. You find yourself foolishly trying to balance on these slippery, wobbling logs that are in the middle of deep mud fields or foolishly trying to skirt them by walking on the crumbling sides of the trail that have you inevitably sliding right back in to the deep bogs. This has been the case for a month but now the bogs last for hundreds and hundreds of yards and you just can¢t escape getting mud all over everything. The climb up to Smarts Mountain was rough. There was a cool looking fire tower up there though and I wanted to get some good views on film since it wasn¢t all foggy for a change. IT was windy and cold up top but the fire tower¢s windows were intact and it was cool to be up there with the wind howling and views of all the surrounding mountains. I was thinking of calling it a day at the Fire Warden¢s Cabin but it was only like 10 miles when I got there and saw a whole bunch of girl scouts or explorers or something. They were taking up the whole cabin and I was standing there in my soaking wet underwear when it occurred to me that it probably would be prudent for Mister F. Gentle Spirit to sleep elsewhere tonight. I had planned on making the next shelter anyway but I was damn hungry and out of water but I singed the register and kept moving. It was going to be a good haul to the shelter and I was starting to chafe pretty badly. It was another five miles and I was seriously thinking of going Au Naturale but I was worried about running in to more girl scouts. We weren¢t in Vermont anymore. By the time I got to the Hexacube Shelter, I was seriously chafed in my nether regions; another side effect of being wet for 48 hours straight. Site, Bandai, Newt, Butters, Hard Rock and some SoBos were there but it was a huge shelter. I spent a while getting washed up and applying a ton of Neosporin to the affected locations and cooked dinner in the dark. I felt sick for a little while and I thought I might pass out for a minute. I lay down for a minute before I resumed eating my Ramen and Salmon. I am almost totally out of food and I have a good hike ahead tomorrow. It¢s going to be a rough one. I¢m going to have to eat a lot of blueberries or something. I¢m even out of GORP which NEVER happens. At least I¢ll be really light tomorrow and I¢ll be able to move quickly up the hills. The next section after tomorrow is going to be very rough. Mount Moosilauke is a 3800 foot climb which then goes back down to 1900 feet in only 9 miles. This will be the first test to see if I can handle a tough climb with the hernia.David AKA ¢Mister F. Gentle Spirit¢ Website http://www.wbafinc.org Photos: http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproofVideos: http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1