Date: 2017-04-19
From: Stealth campsite on Craig Creek

To: Four Pines Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I actually slept till 6:30 this morning. I woke around 3:30, took me awhile but I fell back to sleep. Slept really hard and had very strange dreams. Felt nice getting some good sleep. I had to make a choice today on mileage between lugging water over the second mountain to camp or just hike a couple miles more and go to Four Pines Hiker Hostel. I am soooo happy I did not decide to lug water today. It was raining when I woke up, so packed my pack as much as possible inside my tent. I was lucky that there was a short pause in the rain to take down a very wet tent and to finish packing. I had some anxiety about the terrain today, because a comment on Guthook's app stated going north bound after Dragon's Tooth was a bit treacherous in the rain. The forecast was for rain. The first hump today was not as bad as I thought it would be. I did meet three hikers that I would hike with most of the day. Gigline, LG and Speck were my guardian angels today. They are all very strong experienced hikers that I enjoyed spending time with. Great people indeed!I saw the Audie Murphy Monument. Very cool. I didn't stay long since it was raining and I got chilled when I stopped for very long. However, I am much more acclimated to the weather this trip then 2009. I was cold most of that trip and have felt quite comfortable this time. My blood is much thicker living in Ohio then when I was living in Texas. Thank goodness.Speck thru-hiked a couple years ago and I asked her about the trail coming down off of Dragon's Tooth. She mentioned rebar steps, but said it wasn't that bad, not very long and actually a lot of fun. Coming down off of Brush Mountain, I hiked behind Gigline for awhile and talked with him. It was really nice to have someone to talk with for awhile. Going down was the only time I could keep up with these guys. I saw a spot today that I would have stayed and chilled for awhile if it was a sunny warm day. A little grassy meadow in the middle of nowhere surrounded with a grove of tulip trees with new leaves. Dogwood trees and a tree with small purple flowers were sprinkled within the grove. It was just one of those spots that just spoke to me. The second climb took me to the Dragons Tooth. I don't even know how to describe the trail thru this section. I was a bit behind the other 3 as they go uphill quicker then I do. I had to climb over this boulder and I had a heck of a time with it, but finally got over it. A short time after that boulder I caught up with LG who was taking a break and I stayed with them the rest of the day. The side trail to the Dragons Tooth was short and it would have looked really cool if it wasn't so foggy. Then we started down, over, up, around some serious rocks and boulders. It was like working our way thru a 3 dimensional maze. Some sections were so steep there was rebar steps provided to assist us. Several parts required me to sit down and just slide down a bit. The sliding down tore a hole in my rain cover. Oops. It wasn't raining at this time, but the rocks we're wet and slippery.   I thought it was challenging and glad to have some other hikers with me as I went thru that part. It took quite awhile and right when I thought it was over there more rocks and boulders in the way. I'm not doing justice on this section. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't lug extra water down off of Dragon's Tooth to camp at a dry site tonight!Oh and Speck said this is what New Hampshire is like, but instead of short sections it last all day. Hmph. I went by many potential spots for views today, but they were mostly fogged in. Only thing to do is say "wonderful view" to the wall of white and walk on. We finally made it to the road to the hostel and were picked up quickly and brought in. It is a very interesting place. I got a hot shower (no towels provided), a bed for the night (just a mattress, no sheets or covers) and have meet some more incredible hikers and one Scottish biker going across the US. Great fun.I talked with LG and Gigline about improving my attack of going up mountains. Currently, I take frequent short stops as I go up. Their advice was to just keep walking, take small steps and don't stop for short breaks. It's okay to slow down, just shorten the steps and keep going forward. The reason being that it takes a lot of different muscles to get up a mountain and takes a lot of energy to get those muscles to start moving. So just keep going and keep those muscles active. I will try this method. Completely worn out though and will hopefully be asleep soon.