Date: 2016-04-23
From: standing induan shelter

To: long branch shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 12- April 23, 2016This morning we woke up at 6:15am and were able to get out on the trail by 7:15. We had a long day planned to make up for our nearo yesterday. 16.2 miles from standing Indian shelter to our destination of long branch shelter. The day was absolutely beautiful, perfect temperature and clear skies. As we set out towards the top of standing Indian mountain, we came across stunning views of the surrounding mountains where clouds below us passed between them. The climb was super easy and gradual making it easy to enjoy the morning. 8 miles in and at about 10:15am, we arrived at the shelter we were aiming for yesterday. There were still people drying their soaked tents and clothes from pressing on in the storm. We ate some trail mix and stretched, then got back out on the trail. Making great time, we continued towards Albert mountain, the tough climb for the day. Though it was short, it was hand over hand climbing up boulders. Along the way were many tunnels of beautiful twisting rhododendron trees. It felt like I was in a fairytale or some woodsy novel setting. The runoff from the rain created waterfalls and running springs along the sides of the trail and crossing it. At one point, Mike needed to do some foot maintenance so we pulled off into another small trail. It opened up to a spectacular view of endless mountains. Closer to Albert mountain, we were pretty high up and we came to a narrow point in the trail where one side was a solid rock face and the other side was a steep cliff with an even grander view. Me, being afraid of heights, got slightly dizzy for a moment before deciding I needed to take some photos. We carefully stepped through the the slippery wet rocks that lined the trail on the cliffs edge to continue on. When we reached the base of Albert mountain, we saw josh and Ali and we all headed up for the climb. There were many steep log steps followed by putting out trekking poles down to climb up boulders all the way to the top. We reached the top where a tall fire tower stood overlooking the best view of the day. This also marks our 100 mile point on the trail! I can't believe we've gone over 100 miles already! Mike climbed to the top of the tower but I could only get to the second tier of the steps. The rickety old metal swayed in the wind and the height was terrifying to me. A friend named hazel who was already there for lunch took some pictures for us and we headed down the mountain. The rest of the 3 miles to the shelter were easy gradual downhill. We arrived at about 2:45pm. The water source at the shelter was a stream that had beautiful little coves that looked like how someone would set up a mossy terrarium. We played around in those coves and searched for neat things in the small pools of water. I found multiple newts and a small crayfish! In one of the pools, I was poking around with a stick and moved a leaf which accidentally set the pool into a spiral like a toilet bowl flushing. Water started flowing out but was refilled by new water. It was fun. The rest of the day we ate and set up camp as usual.