Today we walked from route 9 to Goddard shelter , the humidity and heat was almost unbearable. We scuffed our feet along the trail leaving our footprints in the muddy soil. We meet lots of eclectic folks that travel the long trail. One thing we noticed is we are built differently then most on the trail. They are slimmer and have longer legs and not to mention a lot younger ( most were) we also saw many young ladies as couples and singles with dogs trailing along .
Arrived at Goddard shelter after a 16.5 km hike . The last 1/2 km was very difficult, large stepping stones that required high deliberate steps not to mention it felt like it was straight up. Anita hated me at this point of the hike , but fell back in love once I built her a shelter and let her sit on an air mattress. Yes today she was easy to please. It’s the simple things I suppose .We made camp with our z packs tents , boiled water and cooked a gourmet chicken mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy . We have a coffee and a tea to close out the day. We were treated to a lightning show as we snuggled together with our side door open. Bernard picked picked a nice spot to set up. He was the same as always no changes. I think he even enjoyed himself a little.
Good night .
Next morning
Woke to coffee being made in our little jet boil stove , as there was plenty of water we decided to eat our oatmeal before leaving , this would be another thing learned on the trail . Everyday there is something new to learn! After breakfast we packed up and hit the trail. A quick but steep climb to the fire tower to warm our bodies the a happy pace to kid gore shelter. I say a happy pace but the truth is it is work . I know I talked about the heat but it was and is the main issue as we go along. We sweat more drink more and walk slower , it would seem that the trail sets the pace! Mother Nature will let you know how fast to go.
We talked about a lot of foolishness as the kilometres fell behind us. It’s funny what comes to mind or what each person talks about when there’s nothing else going on. Do we miss tv ? Not at all , really no time for something that wastes our time . We now eat hike eat sleep and repeat. Quite a change for all of us! We again met some characters along the way , Ross told me this would happen ,
We went through one section that felt like a rain forest, hot humid , it was that bad we started to look for monkeys... of course none were found .. the rest of the trail toady was like life , plenty of ups and downs . The final assent the the shelter was again hard uphill that slowed our progress but with a destination in mind we didn’t stop , the truth is we could have, needs water and a rest and this was available at the shelter. The story brook shelter was a welcome sight. We cooled off , set up tents and prepared supper . We had a pasta with bacon and a sloppy joe sauce . Hmmm doesn’t sound great but turned out fantastic! No flies and it seem to cool down . Finally bed time . Bern snugged in his tent as me and my bride tucked in ours as we listened to the the other hikers talk until bed time which started at 8:32 pm the quite .
Good night
Woke the next morning around 5:30 I felt that I had a nice sleep, started the water for coffee while I waited for the others to wake. The crowd at the shelter were stirring as well. Our coffee was served while the oatmeal was prepared. After that we did the regular morning routine eat , pack up and hit the trail. Last nights shelter or camping spot was about half way the mountain this meant we would have to climb up to the summit first thing in the morning . This was the most rocky area we encountered thus far . Took it slow to get to the top , what a great warm up ..LOL
After the top we focused on eating up miles . Kicking up mud as we travelled through the trail working our way out to the pick up point. Passed a few other hikers but didn’t spend much time talking as well were on the move. Crossed a lovely bridge that built over a gently flowing river. The sound of the water was tranquil as we paused for a break and enjoyed the moment.
We moved at a quick pace inching closer to the road , our trail legs were beginning to form. Not really calf’s were sore but other than that not in bad shape.
A welcome pick up with cold drinks and hand baked cookies. We hopped in the car but had to keep the windows down , we actually smelled like hikers . We picked up our cars and hit a motel room for the night.
We ate at rail car diner , turkey supper and some had meatloaf, the pies looked amazing . Tucked in for a early night.
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