Date: 2005-07-22
From: Mt. Algo Lean-to

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 17.3

8:48pm - Friends in Low PlacesI slept in this morning, until 7am. I don't know when the last time was that I didn't wake up with the birds. I haven't been sleeping very well lately, but last night was an exception. I was out cold the whole night, sleeping like a baby.I packed up and headed to Kent for breakfast, stopping at the Carake Restaurant for chocolate chip pancakes. It was typical diner fare - decent food at a reasonable price. I had two packages waiting at the PO; I forwarded my stove onto Cheshire and opened the one from Mom. It had my usual resupply items (journal pages, contact solution, etc) and also a few goodies - cookies and brownies. I added these to my food bag and topped it off at the local IGA market. A phone call to Precision Camera Repair on my way out of town was promising and frustrating. This time they're replacing the lense and not just recalibrating it (good), but they just placed the parts order with Sony this morning and it may take 2-6 weeks to arrive (bad).And then it was back to hiking. Lots of climbing, interspersed with a five mile stretch by a river, with a good mile or so along a gravel road. I ended the day by hiking several miles with Wilderness Bob. He was planning to meet his wife in West Cornwall and go home for the weekend. I served as the pace setter and, despite the day's oppressive heat, got us to the necessary road crossing at 6pm. We found a cooler of trail magic soda waiting. I continued towards the next shelter as Bob started the process of hitching to town. I sat down at the first rock I reached and drank the soda. I'd been sweating tons all afternoon; the soda tasted great.I reached the Swamp Brook Shelter at half past six and was a bit surprised to find I had it all to myself. I took a quick sponge bath and started spreading out dinner, but stopped short when I looked up at the sky. Something was moving in, and quickly too. I hurriedly set up my tent and resumed eating. When the rains kicked in, I moved into the shelter to finish my meal.Boy did it ever pour! The amount of water being dumped was unbelievable. I pitied anyone unfortunate enough to be caught out in it. At that moment one of those unfortunates arrived - Vapors!Seeing Vapors was uplifting and puzzling. I was glad to see him since I hadn't seen him since Waynesboro. I've noticed in the registers that he was just ahead of me; in fact, he had been at the shelter where I had lunch a few hours before me. I thought there might be an outside chance that he'd be at Pine Swamp Brook tonight if he took a short day. What was confusing me, though, was how I arrived before him - after all, he was hours ahead of me earlier in the day and there was nowhere to get off. As it turned out, he took a slight detour at a highway. The trail went straight across it; he followed white reflectors for a few miles until he reached the base of the mountain. He realized his error and had to climb the mountain a second time. While he was off wandering, I had slid on by.We swapped stories for a bit, but when the rains subsided I moved to my tent. I'm afraid the mosquitos may be a bit much otherwise. I guess I'll find out how wise this gambit truly is in the morning. If another downpour strikes so hard that the ground can't absorb the water fast enough, I may be sleeping in a lake. Time will tell.