Date: 2015-09-11
From: Poplar Ridge Lean To

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: broken clouds

Oh- my insomnia is back with a vengeance. The rain continued all night long and when I got up at 6, it was still going strong. I dangled my legs in the anti porcupine space in the shelter while I cooked up some coffee and oatmeal. One by one my shelter mates got up and we all stared at the dismal weather. We all had to talk ourselves into hiking in the cold rain. Slider was the first out, and Grey Goat and I were next. Grey Goat entertained me with his interesting opinions on lots of different topics, and we talked about how this trail was changing us. Is it changing us? We won't know until we get back to our homes and routines.The trail started with a pretty long descent, very steep in places and rocky. The rain continued and I was very careful not to fall. Which meant sliding on my butt, getting wet and muddy. At the bottom of the descent was Orbeton Stream, swollen and rushing fast, and the only way across was a rock hop. My short legs had a few stretches, but I made it across by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin. Another hiker wasn't so lucky. She slipped on a large rock with a narrow ridge to balance on and landed with a painful sounding thunk, top half of her body and hip on the rock, legs in the water. She had a hard time standing up with the water rushing and the weight of her pack, but when an orange dislodged from her pack, her arm shot out like a lighning bolt to reclaim it from the current. I was impressed with her reflexes AND her priorities! She made it up and slogged out of the water, a good humored smile on her face. All of us on the shore watched with admiration. Hikers are tough!After the creek, I headed up Lone and Spaulding Mountains. Big climbs, but I hiked with good energy. The rain finally stopped, but a cold fog remained. I decided not to take the side trail to summit Spaulding. No view. I was very surprised later in the hike to discover a near death spiral of a descent. Urg. A nearly vertical rock climb down and then a tight turn on a foot width gravel ledge that bordered a 30 foot drop. BonBon don't do narrow gravel paths next to certain death drop offs, so I skirted it, gripping the rocks like a squid..After the bonus points descent, I was rewarded with an almost view. The clouds were blowing away in big billows, revealing the mountains they had been hiding from me all day. I paused a while to enjoy the show. I am riveted by cloud activity, especially when I am standing in them.The rest of the hike was not hard, but slow going with roots and rocks. I passed up the first campsite and as usual, the last mile is the longest so I thought I must have missed the side trail to my destination campsite. I sat on the trail filtering water from a small stream in case I needed to stealth camp. Slider and Grey Goat got there and told me the campsite "was right around here somewhere" We found it. Hauling Oats beat us there because she hikes like the wind! I set up my tent and cooked dinner. Cyndi Loppera and crew hiked in a little later. It got cold fast tonight and I was very happy to crawl into my tent! Tomorrow I hike to Stratton, where Katwalk has already arrived. Looking forward to finishing up this hike with her! I do miss D.No and C.Shell, and they flew home today.