Date: 2005-05-27
From: Niday Shelter

To: 1st road to cataba
Miles today: 16.6

so we all slept in and did not get out of the shelter til around 11. when I left Moose was still in his sleeping bag and said he refused to go past the next shelter because he was tired. So he was planning a 10 mile day almost. We were all going bigger so we made plans to meet him in town in a couple days. I made it about 5 minutes before I stopped to change into my old shoes, and my feet felt much better, my new ones are good, but I am not used to them yet. We started the day with a huge 1300 foot climb. this kicked our butt since we were so tired from yesterday. Squid and I took several breaks on the initial climb and time drug by. It seemed like we were hiking a decent pace, but we were getting no where. we finally caught Piker and Mileage at the road crossing at trout creek. We were all exhausted so we went big on the lunch to power us over the next nasty climb. I ate while soaking my feet in the stream which made me feel 100% better. We left there at 3:30 having done only 8 miles or so, which fely like a full day. the start of the climb was nice and we were full of energy but as it kept going up our strength went down. cove mountain had no become the mountain that would never end. It was full of false summits and huge rocks. every time we thought we were at the top we would go down and them back up. this pattern was really getting old and I was becomming more frustrated as time went by. We had vowed to all meen at dragons tooth lookout. we ran into some SOBO hikers who said we were an hour from there when we thought we should be much closer. we finally made it and the tooth was awesome. It was two huge boulders that sat like a big wall. squid and I climbed up to the top of the rocks and snapped a few pictures but had to rush out of there because we were not making good time and needed to get to the road and to the store before it closed. as soon as we left there the trail changed dramatically. It turned nto huge rocks that made climbing next to impossiable with tired bodies and large packs. We took our time but it seemed like we were moving in slow motion. the mountain itself was beautiful, probably the most beautiful one yet, but I could not enjoyit because I was beat. All of the mountain laurels were in bloom and made for a great hike. I made it to the road to find a note on a post from a couple offering to let hikers stay at their house. This sounded good since this was our goal. So we walked to the store and tried to call but got no answer. We all got food, I ate a bag of chips and most of a large pizza and washed it down with a half gallon of chocolate milk. Mileage tried to call the couple again and this time she got an answer and they said they would be down to pick us up, and they could take them into the post office in the morning. Everything works itself out out here. They showed up a little after dark and brought us to their house. His name is Briarpatch, he hiked the trail in 2001. He and Mandy put us up and let us do laundry and showers. He gave us a few beers, and made us feel right at home. this was one of the best places we have been yet. It had the feel of home, without mom. we stayed up ate enjoying the comforts of a house that we don't get on the trail.