Date: 2015-08-11
From: Stealth Camp North of Trescott Rd

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

Well, I had ambitious plans today but they got drowned.I think the last time I got rained on like happened today, was the day I hiked to Duncannon. That was 500 miles ago, so I can't complain. And, it didn't start raining until after I had packed up, so I really can't complain.But I kinda do wanna! To begin with, the rain was just a sprinkle and it actually stayed that way for a while. I wasn't really getting wet, except when I had to walk through a very narrow path in a wildflower meadow and all the plants brushed up against me.After an hour or so though, the rain started in earnest and by the time I got to Moose Mountain shelter, it was raining hard. I decided to take a tea break to warm up, and found Cruise Control and Tortis in the shelter and Shimmy under his tarp. It was 9:20 and none of them had made it out into the rain yet. I put on my heavier hiking shirt and later my puffy and had tea and potato chips. I think today was one of those days when the temperature was highest at 7 am. My short sleeve shirt was soaked and I knew this one would get soaked also, but at least it was warmer. I left right at 10 and decided I would hike to the next shelter, another 5.7 miles and see how things were going. My original plan called for 18 miles but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be cold and wet for that long.The next section was fairly challenging, with a steep climb that led to a view. Anybody who would like to see pictures of Holt Ledge should check out Yoda's blog entry for August 5, as I only saw the trees below and a lot of cloud. The rain was now coming down even harder and once I finished the climb, I wasn't working hard enough to stay warm.The downhill to Trapper John shelter was steep with lots of roots, so I also didn't want to try to go too fast for fear of slipping or falling. Most of my other falls (6 total I think) have been in this kind of weather. I was getting pretty chilled even in my warmer shirt and was determined to have a lunch at the shelter no matter what. What better reason to eat Ramen noodles, really?This shelter is .3 off the trail which normally would mean I'd skip it, but today wasn't that normal. What was odd and annoying was that the side trail to the shelter was also white blazed, rather than the customary blue. Very confusing.When I got here, there were three people here: Ole Skool who I had met before, Uncle Dean and David who is from Manchester NH and hiking the trail from Hanover to Mt. Washington. I changed into dry clothes (soooooo nice!) and made tea, then ramen and later more tea. Uncle Dean left when the rain slowed down and when it actually did stop, I thought about doing so as well. Then I checked where the next shelter was, which turned out to be at 3200 ft. Decision made, I was staying put! Later still, two more Nobo's, Catman and Weeble Wobble, showed as well. They're tenting and built a fire. Cruise Control just got here after waiting out the rain (smart girl) and the four of us are here in the shelter. Yep, I am staying in the shelter, for the fourth time this hike. I also discovered that the weird foreign sounding voices I heard pass my tent around 9:30 last night were actually Catman and Weeble Wobble listening to a Harry Potter audiobook! Aha!I don't have any idea what is going to happen tomorrow, except that the weather is supposed to be better than today. Either way, it will start with me putting on really wet clothes. Joy.Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?