Date: 2004-06-16
From: Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec

To: Mashipacong Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: clear sky

the sunrise over the pond was great this morning. i did not want to leave this place. the importance of being in vernon on friday kept popping into my head. oh, i'd love to zero here. damn schedules.i met sauerkraut early in the day. his story of where he was last night was entertaining. he tried sleeping in the fire tower a few mile back. the big electrical storm changed his mind and he set up his tarp below the tower. the storm was whipping rain everywhere, so he didn't bother with his sleeping bag... he slept in his rain gear. yes, he got real wet.kinloch and sauerkraut stayed at gren anderson shelter. i pushed to mashipacong shelter, six point something miles away. the guidebook said there was no water and some signs posted earlier in the day said that there may be water available at the parking area .2 north on the AT.i'm not a trusting soul yet, so i sherpa'd my own four quarts there. i walked to the parking area and there were plenty of gallon jugs for thru hikers. oh, well.there was an ungodly amount of ticks today. attention, attention new jersey. weed whackers and saws needed on your trails. way overgrown. at 9pm i jumped in bed and wrote down a few notes for journaling. i was too tired to do it tonight. i walked longer today because i wanted to make tomorrow shorter. the weather might be rainy tomorrow, so i wanted to get in my walking time when it is dry. ("dry" doesn't really exist when you're hiking in 80+ degree weather. i guess what i mean is my shoes will stay dryer if i hike in the sun vs. rain. dry shoes and socks rule. who cares about anything else?)the mosquitoes were out so i wrapped myself in my silk liner and put on my head net. i felt a sense of pride as i could hear the fittle luckers trying to get to my ears but having no luck. it did not take long for my body to start overheating in the liner; it was still about 78*. i tossed and turned, trying to move the trapped air around while keeping the seal between the liner and head net secured. this worked a little bit but i was not getting more than a few moments sleep. then, my hand jumped. a mosquito had gotten me through the liner. minutes later, another got me on the leg. bastard!now it's 10:30, i'm hot, sweaty, listening to the whiny critters circle my ears, and getting bitten -- time for plan B. my mind, which i criticize as being the most useless, out-of-the-moment part of myself during the hiking day, now had the task of fixing this problem. it responded immediately. grabbing my headlamp to survey the roof of the shelter, plan B was in motion. my (non-freestanding) tent has loops sewn into the top so i can hang it instead of using my poles to set it up. i opened my pack and got out my tent and nylon rope. oh, this is going to be good. out loud i teased the flying blood suckers - see if you can get me now! i strung the tent up using the loops and held the corners out with some gear and rocks. it really didn't take up much more room than i was using before. i put the pad and liner inside and sealed up the netted door. sweet! no bugs!i had much too much fire rolling through me to go to sleep, so i wrote this last part of the journal entry. (the first part was written the following day.) i'm getting tired now, so i'll call it a night.