Date: 2004-05-14
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Friday, May 14, 7:20a ¢ puttin¢ on some bandages and eating some dirt bars. The bees are awake.Bryant Ridge Shelter, 11a ¢ I¢m resting my feet, treating some water, and macking on wasabi peas and Cow Pals string cheese. This place is a palace! Perched above a stream, with a fire ring, a covered porch, steps, two bars, a picnic bench on the porch, and two levels of sleeping platforms. If I could fulfill my cheeseburger desire I¢d be set.One thing about Stumblebum: he¢s not a big talker, so last night was pretty quiet. To amuse myself I read through my journal What struck me was, getting the same sets of blisters from wearing shoes on the downhills, as well as setting smaller goals, like 12, 13 mile days then as I adjust, busting out with the bigger days, instead of starting with 16-20 mile days off the bat. I think I¢m being a little hard on myself this year, expecting to hike like I¢ve hiked all year, instead of sitting on my butt.Thunder Hill Shelter, 5p ¢ made it! 17.2 miles today (see what I mean?), and the thousand-foot climb over Apple Orchard Mountain I was dreading turned out to be really nice: graded trail, and the rain stopped, and as I came into the bald on top of the mountain, the sun came out and lit up the big white ball of an FAA tower. Ah, wilderness! After that it was an easy mile and a half through The Guillotine and meadows to the shelter. Where I found Doug sitting at the picnic table, looking mellow. He asked me, ¢Do you get excited easily?¢ and while that might in other circumstances be an unforgivable pick-up line, I played the straight man and lied, ¢Not usually.¢ He then indicated I should take a look around, and what should I see but a styrofoam 7-11 cooler in the corner of the shelter, loaded with beer and cokes on ice! Thank you Jesus! Is there any happier sound than the clink-pop-fizz of a popped top of cold carbonated beverage?I sat down to peruse the register while I sipped my Bud. Stairmaster, who I¢m starting to think of as Flyin¢ Brian II ¢ and who started at Bobblet¢s today! ¢ zoomed through to Matt¢s Creek shelter, apparently because he isn¢t here and Doug didn¢t see him. Crazy.(Okay, at Cornelius Creek shelter, after FBII and Doug had left, I looked in the corner of the shelter and there on a pile of inspirational Christian pamphlets were six trail bars. I had already eaten a Twix and a granola bar, but I ate the two Nutri-grain bars and snagged three of the Nature Valley bars. I left the icky fruit-n-nut granola bar. Oink, oink! And now I¢m rewarded with cold beer and soda. Life isn¢t fair, but today it¢s on my side and that¢s okay with me.)Oy! A group of motley boy teens just came bumbling up, making for the shelter when they saw me. Whoops! Guess you won¢t be lighting your farts in the shelter tonight. There looks to be a dozen of them, and their leaders are checking out the camping possibilities. I hope they don¢t discover the cooler!Here¢s a little poem from the register courtesy of Heald and Dogwonder:Ode to Little DebbieOh Lil Debbie you are so yummyI hold you tight and keep you safe from miceBut you do so much more for meYour cakes and pies help meI climb for you, I love you