Date: 2013-08-01
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: Cooper Lodge Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: broken clouds

The sound of the stream ten feet from my tent woke me up just past 6am. I pulled the commitment plug on my air mattress and within seconds I was on hard ground, so I put everything outside and took my tent down, then started loading my pack. I grabbed my food bag and went to the shelter to eat. I asked Cash if he'd mind if I went ahead and started hiking and he said he didn¢t mind. So off I go straight up the mountain to Beacon Hill where I checked my phone for service and called my sweetie. Cash shows up and joins me and I go ahead and call the lodge with a hot tub and there are no rooms for Friday night - well I'll be a son of a xxxxx! When will I ever sit in a hot tub again? I still have to go there because that¢s where I¢ve sent my bounce box with my old boots and another package is coming from home - I'll figure something out! Today is turning into an uphill, all day event. We came up to a sign warning us of flood damage caused by Hurricane Irene back in 2011. They have a detour around it but I like a challenge and I'm a bit hard headed, plus the 500 miles to go sign is there, so Cash and I go the old way. The trail was worn down just like the rest of them, so a lot of hikers are taking it. We crossed one stream, no problem, then we couldn't find the trail. It took about five minutes and we were back on it. I've got new shoes and I'm still learning what and how to step on things without busting my xxx. Well I learned that just because the sun is out and that rock is slightly slanted, doesn't mean my foot will stick to it. If it wasn't for those soft rocks that I landed on and that tree that stopped me from rolling down the hill, I might have landed in the stream down below! I eventually pulled myself up, walked off the pain and hiked on. (I can hear my brother laughing!) Soon after that I came across a big pile of moose poop - I'm getting closer to seeing one.I reached the spot where the bridge was washed away and rock hopped my way across, where Cash and K Fox were standing. I told them I needed water and they headed on to the next shelter. I ended up eating and drinking a quart of Gatorade next to the stream. The Governor Clement Shelter is only half a mile away so I started hiking and the sky's turned dark, but I made it. Cash was eating and K Fox was setting up her tent. It¢s only one o'clock and the sun came back out, so Cash and I decided to go to the next shelter, 4.3 miles away. K Fox said it was going to rain and about an hour into it, it did start to rain, but the forest is so thick up here, I didn't get wet until about half way up. The winds picked up and so did the rain. I was soaked and cold. I gave myself one hour to reach the shelter or I would have to put my tent up. I could see my breath. It¢s a good thing I reached Cooper Lodge Shelter because there was no place to put up my tent - it was that steep and a very dense forest.The shelter has a door and five windows and only one of them has a shutter over it. There are four of us here. Emily, she's doing Vermont before heading back to Yale. There is also a south bounder, Puck, who carries a hockey stick for a hiking pole, Cash and me. The roof leaks everywhere so I've got about a thirty inch wide spot out of about a six foot spot that's not wet - at the moment!Today's climb was the highest since Clingman¢s Dome in NC, roughly 4000 feet, and this reminds me of winter hiking when everyone was in their sleeping bags at five o'clock. Another glorious day on the AT!