Date: 2005-08-24
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: light rain

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. Climb th mountains and get their god tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows int trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. -- John Muir I found this passage while I was taking refuge from the rain. I think jt says a lot. I could tell it wasn't going to be a good day from the minute I woke up. Franconia Ridge was socked in as well as the area around me. I ate, packed up and headed out. The trip down Moosilaukee was great. There was a nice waterfall and stream that I followed most of the way down. At one point I sat and watched the waterfall for awhile. Very peaceful. This was also a pretty steep downhill. At times I wondered where I was going to make my next foot placement in order to keep from tumbling down the mountain. I eventually made it to the road where I decided to go get a cup of coffee at the Lost River Gorge. I figured the rest of the group wouldn't be back to the trailhead till around ten. I had time to kill and it looked like the rain was coming. Sure enough, the rain started right after I got my coffee. Kokomo arrived shortly after I did and we sat there watching the rain while drinking our coffee. It let up a little but now it was one of those irritating kind of rains, the misty, penetrating, no matter what you do you're going to be wet rains. Close to ten it slacked off considerably and I decided to make my move. I said goodbye to Kokomo and headed for the trailhead. Just before the trail I saw Bag of Tricks. He hd just dropped the crew off and he said they had about a ten minute head start on me. I thanked him for everything and headed up the mountain. The climb was up Mt. Wolf was a four mile climb with a 1700 foot elevation change, some of it very steep. On the way I ran into Easty and Goosebump. We talked for awhile and I continued on. Eventually I caught up with the group. The weather was not good and it looked like it was going to get worse. A decision had to be made. The original plan called for going to the Kinsman Pond Campsite but that called for climbing the Kinsmans, a climb that would involve a rock scramble and some steep sections, none of which we wanted to do in the rain. The decision was made to only go the the Eliza Brook Shelter. This put us in very early, 2:30 or so, but we didn't mind. The rain had picked up again and we felt we had made the right decision. We all settled in and spent the afternoon doing what we did a few days ago when we stopped early, read, nap, eat, and talk. As the day progressed the rain got worse so we were doubly glad of our choice! Others came in, including a group of freshman Yale medical students out for an orientation outing. They were a good group but we couldn't believe how much weight they were packing! For many of them this was there first experience at backpacking. What a way to get introduced to it! It was an early night for bed because it was cool out. Not to mention, the days are getting shorter, which means hiker midnight comes earlier. The weather called for it to start clearing tomorrow and be good for the next couple of days. We will see.