Date: 2005-07-23
From: South Wilcox Lean-To

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Hopeful:   Things can change so much in one day! Today was LOVELY. The storm made for a huge break in the humidty and we walked with cool temps and a strong breeze all day. In fact, when we would re-enter the forest after crossing a road or a field, for a moment it would feel like walking into an air conditioned room. The hemlock forests of Massachusetts have soft floors due to pine needles, and they are dark and dense. That's why it must have seemed especially scary to the hikers who were caught in the storm last night. It became very dark, well before sundown, and the winds were strong. We saw fresh trees and branches that had blown down all along the trail. We were thankful that we weren't caught walking while the storm was happening, but instead were safely in the shelter last night. He already mentioned our escape in yesterday's journal, but I do have to finish the story of the mosquito saga. When the Muppets and Thumper arrived, we took down the tent to make room, went to sleep with high hopes that the bugs wouldn't be that bad. Well, at about 9 PM, Birdy and Hemlock left to put up their tent to avoid the buzzing. Still, we endured. At 11:45 PM, I rolled over and swatted my last one. Enough! I'm pretty sure that Red Wing was doing just fine, but he sweetly got up and we put up the tent. In fact, he gets the husband of the year award for putting up the tent three times in one night (outside, then inside, then outside again). He takes good care of me, especially considering that my low bug and poison ivy tolerance is something that he unknowingly married into.   This all should emphasize our relief today, when the breeze tended to keep the bugs away. We also were able to borrow Thumper's bug repellent, since ours is running low. We'll have to resupply in Dalton, MA tomorrow. We again had a relatively late start at 8:45 AM (sometimes it's hard to break a routine once we've gotton into it), but with the cooler temps it didn't matter quite as much. There were several moments along the way that I opened up my arms wide to the view and the breeze and said, "This is when it's easy to love the AT!"      The day was completely different in terms of weather, but also in terms of other hikers. We saw day hikers (after all, it's Saturday), we saw section hikers (Singer and Doobiedoobiedo), we saw Gray Walrus (a northbound friend we met back in PA, we saw southbound thru hikers on their way to Georgia (the first of the season), and when we arrived at the cabin we saw many more. It's a full house! The cabin is a popular spot for good reason. It's on goose pond, a glacial lake with clear water. We "bathed" by taking a swim and then cooked dinner in the small kitchen with a propane stove (no electicity), and relaxed and chatted on the porch. A different caretaker stays at the cabin each week. The upstairs is full of bunks and Red Wing has one next to a screen window overlooking the lake. We didn't take a canoe ride, but could have. We also didn't use the hammocks, but they look comfy. Red Wing spent some time this evening around the fire with some hikers, enjoying the mix of north and southbound crews. I had a nice long talk with Thumper at the table inside. She's someone we met back at Bear's Den when I had poison ivy and never thought we'd see again. I love how the Trail can unexpectedly weave people back together again (she had taken a week off so that we had time to catch up. Tonight the moon is just about full, and overall I realize that the mental difficulty of my day has lots to do with high or low humidity!