Congdon Shelter

Pop must have not slept very well because when he woke up he complained about having been cold all night. He slept in a hammock about 20 yds from the shelter. On top of it from 10:00pm - 5:00am there were a bunch of kids having an ATV rally or something about 1/2 mile from the shelter. It only kept me up for a few minutes but I think Pop and Connie were kept up a little longer. The only thing that kept me up was the little mouse that kept going in and out of my pack. He did pretty well for himself as I discovered a hole in the trail mix bag this morning.

I let Pop sleep in a bit and by 8:00am we were on the trail. Much to Pop's dismay we began another 2 miles of more or less up. I think it discouraged him pretty badly and he was soon talking about hiking out and leaving the trail at VT-9. I can tell he is physically tired but this morning he showed mental fatigue as well. In the end we decided to do a shorter day and stop at Congdon Shelter. At one point he wanted me to call patrol and tell them there was a hiker in distress. I told him we weren't at that point yet. I gave him a rice krispie treat and some water and that seemed to help. I also think he gained a mental edge one he realized VT-9 would be his exit point. I have decided not to try and change his mind. I don't want him to feel more guilty than he already does. I don't feel like I pushed him at all but I think it was a little too much for him.

One very cool thing we saw during the hike was a beaver dam. It was probably 75 ft long and we were actually hiking beneath the level of the water. Pretty amazing. Those beavers make for pretty good engineers.
The hike was pretty muddy most of the day today and we covered about 7 miles. When we got to camp I noticed that Connie had signed the register and was moving onto the next hill. We made it to Congdon Shelter around 1:30-2:00pm and Pop immediately crashed which was good for him.
There was another guy sleeping there when we got there. He was a character. When he finally woke up he had a joint and then he began thinking about how many miles he was going to do tonight. Around 5:00pm he packed up, smoked another joint and headed out with a plan to hike 20 miles arriving around 2:00am! He had been hiking since Georgia (4 1/2 months), he had also run out of $ so his dad was sending food and $ every 100 miles. Pretty funny guy. Turns out he used to live in Leander, TX. He also had been robbed in Juarez and has successfully hitchiked from El Paso to the Grand Canyon and back!

We passed the time making a fire, playing cards (rummy..... I won 370 to 170) and talking a little. I am disappointed that Pop is hiking out but I also look forward to covering some more territory. Mostly I hope he doesn't feel bad. I actually think he could go on but I don't think he would win the on going mental battle.

Anyway, I have 14 miles scheduled tomorrow and most of it is up so I am trying to turn in early and get up early too.

Found!
- A camera (not sure what to do with it though)

Appendix:
- I also met a guy from Connecticut who used to manage the apartments just behind NI! Small world.