Date: 2003-09-03
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to (930')

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to (1950ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ) 
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: broken clouds

Aloha! Ahhh¢¦. What¢s a girl to do? It¢s always a little disappointing when you find out that the ¢almost perfect¢ campsite isn¢t nearly as perfect as you originally thought. That would be the case for last night¢s site. I knew there was a slope involved when I pitched my tent but thought I had worked it all out nicely in between the sloping parts. Uh¢¦ nope. I¢m a right-side sleeper and it just so happened that that was the side that would allow me to slide right up against the front face of my tent. That or roll me over and put my face in the ground like a stomach sleeper. Such fun! Grrrr¢¦.Besides the slipping and sliding sleeping (say that fast three times) my day began by watching Gutsy unload her food. Yep, she dumped food this morning. Not really knowing exactly what to expect in the 100-Mile Wilderness and heeding the signs at, supposedly, both ends, she packed in a ten-day supply of food. Ugh! Four days weighs a ton to me so I can only imagine how much ten day¢s worth weighs. Personally, I don¢t believe she eats enough out here (that may be just because she doesn¢t eat nearly the almost embarrassing amount that I do) so that¢s not the area where I would have recommended cutting weight. But then again¢¦ she didn¢t ask me either. She¢s a smart gal so I¢m sure she knows what she¢s doing. Walkabout and Carrot Slayer are certainly happy with her decision as they scoop up her ¢must go¢s¢!Our first stops on our journey north today were at the Barren Slide (1990¢) and the Barren Ledges (1980¢). Here we ago again. Stop me if you¢ve heard this before but¢¦ awesome views! I realize it¢s needless for me to say but the hike obviously went UP to get to these wonderful views. UP a little over a 1000¢ in a mile. You know, I¢m beginning to see a pattern here ¢ I go UP! Anyway, both the Slide and Ledges overlook Lake Onawa from the tops of huge rock slabs. I would have hated being anywhere near when these suckers slid down the mountain. Whew! Gutsy and I spent our first break enjoying the view, the rocks and the gorgeous day we started with. It really was lovely and nice to share it with Gutsy once again.From there it was off to the top of Barren Mountain (2672¢) and the fire tower vista. Well, I didn¢t actually climb the tower since it was missing half the floor and I wasn¢t real comfortable with the part remaining but I did enjoy another break beneath it. We found Coffee sitting and enjoying a snack upon our arrival.   Again, stop me here but¢¦ gorgeous views everywhere! After finally mustering the strength needed to move on, we crossed Fourth Mountain (2383¢) and Third Mountain (2065¢). There¢s nothing really particular to mention about these mountains except that they were irritating to go UP and down and their names - Fourth and Third Mountain? How original! We have yet to find Second, First or possibly Fifth Mountain. I¢m guessing whomever got to name these two was not the most imaginative person in the world. That or was obsessed with counting things! Today was intentionally a short day due to my plans for tomorrow¢s projected 17-mile hike. Note, I said projected. Alas, how does that expression go again? ¢The best laid plans of mice, men and long distance hikers¢¦¢ (Something like that.) Well, there has been a mutiny and Old Corpus has taken the reins! A logistics counsel meeting was held and it was determined that everyone was quite tired and that I may have been a bit overzealous in my mileage planning for this part of the trip. (Wimps!) Now I don¢t actually recall anyone complaining when I suggested our 15-miler of yesterday, the ten-miler of today and the 17-miler of tomorrow. Nope, don¢t recall anyone complaining. I will admit that there were faces with looks of anguish but that¢s beside the point.   No one actually said no. (Silly people!) We have since scaled back the projected mileage until the terrain flattens out and is easier to handle. (If ever.) It has been rather exhausting the past two days - rocks, roots and roller coasters. This should hopefully help everyone¢¦ to include me.   I could go on of course but I think not. I like these people and, excluding the point that I¢m also tired, that¢s reason enough for me stay. Great folks make for great hiking and greater campsites. (But we¢re not going to tell them that are we?) Tomorrow¢s 17+-mile day has just become a 9.9-mile day. (Shhhhh¢¦ wimps! Thank goodness!)The only other thing to mention is my campfire dinner. Another big thank you goes out to Pizazz for providing Coffee and me with another tasty dinner of lemon-pepper linguini with sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and pine nuts. Yummm! Since we both are using alcohol stoves (ahhh¢¦ my trail son Ben!) it takes more fuel to cook this meal than either of us like to use so Coffee has made a lovely cooking fire and I¢m feeling quite the pioneer woman cooking over the hot coals and such. As a matter of fact, I do believe it¢s ready. As much as I love you¢¦ food comes first. I¢ll close now and we¢ll chat again tomorrow. With but 9.9 miles to do, we should have plenty of chatting time! (Wimps! But I love ¢em!) See ya later!Blood, Sweat and Tears: same-sameAches and Pains: I believe I¢m at the point that you can just go with the knowledge that my knees hate me unless I state otherwise. Maybe they won¢t hate me as much if we don¢t dwell on them. Maybe?Moans and Groans: No Cabernet for my lovely linguini¢¦waah!Critter count: 1x Black-Back Woodpecker (I spent approximately ten minutes watching this woodpecker only because it was so different looking. According to Coffee, supposedly this is a rare occurrence/sighting. Pretty cool!)Countdown: 88.5 miles