Date: 2018-05-31
From: Rice field shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning I felt lazy from the hike yesterday. People had already started to get ready by 6:30 am. I was not in that group. I eventually got up by 7:30 and started the packing ritual. I deflated my air mattress while laying on it, changed into hiking clothes, stuffed the pack with my sleeping bag and sleeping clothes, threw the remaining things in my pack, then took down the tent. It usually takes me 30 minutes to do but some days slower or faster depending on my sleep. For breakfast I went to a rock ledge overlooking the valley below. I ate oatmeal, coffee, and poptarts for breakfast. Poncho, Bandito, Chill, Two Crows, and Kamikaze headed out. I hung around with Pumpkin Spice and we headed out together.  The trail was mostly a rollar coaster of large ups and downs. There was also a 10 mile stretch without water that I was not excited about. 2 miles down the path a guy came running down the trail saying that he saw a panther in the woods. He said it had long legs and a puffy tail. People have said there haven't been panthers in the area for a long time. He also mentioned there were forest rangers asking questions about the pipeline protest along the trail. We noticed that the guy was also pretty high and could have mistaken a bear as a panther. Usually you'll only see a large cat when it's ready to attack you. A little further down the trail I ran into Halfway and Lost and found they were making good progress slack packing.  We talked for a little bit then they were on their way. I hope I ran into them again. There was another large group of people coming down the trail. They had been helping out a protestor who had climbed a tree and was holding up construction of the pipeline. They mentioned that he was living in the tree but it seemed like he was only there since yesterday. A little further we saw police tape but no tree dweller in sight. We pushed on then saw a ranger pulling a cart behind him with a huge chainsaw. Kamikaze asked him what he was doing with it and said he was cutting firewood... Further down the trail we met a group of Canadians who gave us chocolate. I gladly accepted free food. There was an older gentleman who looked like Rambo. He was in all black and had a black bandana around his forehead. Maybe he was sneaking through the woods and that really high hiker thought he was a panther. I'll never know.  The 10 mile drought stretch was broken by a stream then the pine swamp shelter. The shelter had been closed to overnight use because trees had been falling in the area. The gypsy moth had been killing trees in the area causing them to fall at an alarming rate. I ate lunch there and listened for any cracking noises. I made a wrap of spam, cheddar cheese, snack mix, avocado, and a taco Bell hot sauce packet. Pumpkin Spice had packed out lunch meat. Something I'll need to consider for future resupplies. We heard that the ground was headed another 7 miles to a bald to camp for the night. I wasn't sure about a 20 mile day with all this food weight. I hiked another 4 miles to the next shelter. It was mostly mud and uphill. When I arrived Kamikaze was setting up camp and Pumpkin Spice was eating his dinner. Pumpkin was going to head out after dinner and do those 4 miles to the bald. I found a slanted site and setup camp. I didn't want to setup in the dark for the 4th time tonight. At the shelter we played the card game bullshit and I made a knorr select pasta side for dinner. Theo snuggled up next to an Australian hiker. Apparently he could feel the common bound. Night rolled in and everyone went to bed.Tonight I'm trying to keep my feet from slipping to the bottom of my tent.