Weather reports mean absolutely nothing when you’re in the mountains. We checked the forecast before leaving town yesterday which said chance of rain approaching 0 by early afternoon with sunny and clear the next ten days. Today would have been one of those 10 days and not only did we not see any sun, but it drizzled most of the day.
Bunny and I didn’t set an alarm thinking we would hear Someday and Wea moving around which would wake us up. Since it had rained most of the night, I was sleeping pretty solid. I did hear Someday banging pots just like my grandfather used to do when we were down at the cabin. He’d wake up at 5 and want breakfast but didn’t want to “wake” us up. Instead, he’d inevitably knock a stack of pots and pans off the counter. Everyone knew his tricks and would lie still pretending to still be asleep. We always wondered what would be next.
I did hear the pot jingling so I rolled over and started the coffee for my bride. I decided to make a special treat this morning: cafe mocha and fresh pastries from scratch…trail style. That translates to hot chocolate with instant coffee and a new package of strawberry pop tarts. It’s still breakfast in bed made with love. When I looked out the tent to see what Someday and Wea were up to, they were almost completely packed up. It was already past 8!
We hurried up and got going in record time for us. They hit the trail at 8:30 and I was ready (that includes folding up the tent and packing it away) but Bunny still had business to attend to. Unless her hair gets 100 strokes before she puts on her buff, she feels unclean. Even with Bunny’s delay tactics, we were only 15 minutes later leaving.
They were waiting not too far down the trail for us to catch up. Part of the reason they got out before us is that they didn’t eat or dig holes. I guess they don’t feel comfortable enough to evacuate bowels around strangers. On the AT last year, we were aware of everyone’s morning routines including “double barrel Sassy.” It was usually after she emptied the first round that we started getting up. We had a great group routine.
The four of us walked together for a while until Bunny and I fell behind because we were taking so many pictures. Someday drew a message in the trail for us with an arrow…pica. Bunny has been complaining about the lack of wildlife along the trail, so we were happy to even have rodent sightings. Today, we not only bagged a pica, but a chipmunk, and a marmot as well. We’re still hoping for some larger mammals like elk or bear, but we’ll take what we get.
As we rounded a bend and came upon a rocky stream crossing, we saw a familiar looking person sitting uphill eating. I saw he was wearing an AT hat so I thought I’d go talk to him. What happened can be filed under “it’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.” I asked when he hiked the AT. He said last year. Then we both said “what’s your trail name? You look familiar.” As soon as he said his name, I remembered meeting him, but couldn’t remember where. He figured that out first. It was Bear Magnet whom we had met at Whitehouse Landing and then again in Millinocket after we summitted Katahdin. He is thru-hiking the PCT as a sobo having just started on June 20. His chances of finishing are much better than ours.
We did eventually catch up with Dan and Fancy Pants at Lava Rock Spring. They had only gone a little over a mile past where we camped last night before they stopped. They said they were dragging today because they hadn’t slept well last night. They just didn’t realize how cold it could get at 6000’ in July and tossed and turned until they put on more clothes. We discussed our plans about where we were going to camp in another 4 miles. They thought they would probably push on past us again.
Someday and Wea decided to take off their boots and soak their feet downstream from the spring. The spring is actually a lava tube channeling snow melt from above us on Mt Adams. They did get in the water, Someday even knelt in it to gets his some cold therapy. I got us some drinking water and know the temperature wasn’t much above freezing.
We all agreed where we were going to camp and pushed on. We were just a little ahead. The rain was on again/off again the rest of the way. Just before we got to our camping spot, we ran into the Canucks (Dan and Fancy Pants) eating supper under a dry tree. They are very disciplined about their bear practices so they don’t eat in their camp and hang bear bags every night. We cook in our tent and sleep with our food by our heads.
We got great spots in the trees just as the rain picked up from a drizzle to actual rain. Bunny and I set up ASAP and then I headed for water. It looked like another night of cooking and eating in the tent. As I was heading for water, a sobo came in looking for tent space. She said there were 3 others coming. There was enough room for all of us under the trees. I got the water and jumped in the tent where I hope to stay until the rain stops. We’re trying to eat non-bear-friendly foods.
EFG