Moose Mountain Shelter

I jumped on the free Orange Route bus into Hanover at 7:30 and made sure to get a few errands done. I got a haircut (I decided to stay with the buzz cut), searched fruitlessly for a replacement belt buckle (although I did figure out an alternative to the duct tape I have been using since day 1.... I am now using a couple pieces of rope and a caribeener), got an everything bagel with cream cheese (ah... yeah!), did some email, bought season football tickets, and resupplied before heading out on the trail again. I was kind of lost resupplying at the Co-op and I am afraid I didn't plan well. In the end, I pretty much just grabbed some stuff and took off. I was on the trail before noon and headed up to Moose Mountain.

Today's hike was actually pretty easy. Maybe even the easiest 10 miles of the trip so far. The climb was gradual and the weather was cool. I have started to run into a lot of other NOBO-ers and it is fun to see the culture that develops as people catch up on each others stories and hear how friends in front or behind are doing. I can see how a lot of solid friendships are formed on the trail. So far I haven't stayed in the same shelter with the same people for 2 days but I can still see how it would happen. There is a pretty big group in the shelter tonight. There is one SOBO named Joel and three NOBO who seem to know each other really well. There is also a guy named Ben who is trying to section hike NH but he seemed to be in really rough shape on the hike up. I hope he does well.

Anyway, all in all, a pretty straightforward, uneventful day. It is just fun to be back out and as much as I liked being in a motel, I like better being out here in the woods with some company.



An example of trail magic. This one had bottles of ice cold water as well as Little Debbie snack cakes.

I am thinking of Anne a lot today because of how sick the bots have been. She is very supportive and totally cool for letting me go but when things like this happen, I feel bad that she is dealing with so much on her own.

Trail Names - Clothesline (from Cincinati, OH, UofTenn), Blazing Socks, Joel (not a trail name... he also did the PCT in '06), Cranky Pete

Vocab - "bounce" - sending some of your gear forward to another town to pick it up later, "flip-flop" - change from NOBO to SOBO or vice versa. This is usually done to avoid weather at the other end late/early in the season, "friendly" - pretty straightforward. It is a home, business, or individual who are friendly and otherwise help out hikers.

Mileage - 11 miles on the AT