I would like to be able to say that having 8 people in a 6 person shelter makes for a warm night. Maybe if it were an enclosed shelter, but there are very few of those along the AT. It was cold. And noisy. As Bear said, he woke up at one point in the night and heard a snoring wave sweeping from one of the shelter to the other. We will no longer think GCN is a loud snorer. The General blew him away with his Aussie traveling partner coming in a close second. GCN barely qualified for honorable mention (and I was lying right next to him with him snoring right into my ear). Hollywood would have died.
It was very hard to get going this morning. I made coffee for us to drink while we were in bed, but the minute it was gone, Bunny and I packed up as quickly as possible just so we could get moving to generate some body heat. I even skipped the privy so I could get moving while Bunny insisted she had to use it. For a switch, I was the first out of the shelter today.
We had 9 miles to go to meet Poet for our food drop at Kokadjo Road. Originally, we had planned to meet him at 11, but had pushed it back to 2 as of yesterday. When I left the shelter, we made plans to all catch up with each other at the next shelter in 4 miles in the hope of warmth by then. If I went fast, I might be able to get my privy time made up before everyone caught up with me.
The trail was all downhill. I had sent my thick gloves home back in VA leaving me with just a thin pair of liners. These were not enough to keep my hands warm even hiking fast. I kept switching hands into my pockets to try to warm them up. This was the coldest I’ve been since the Smokies. Although I’m not ready to be done with the AT, I am ready to be done with the cold. I can’t imagine finishing in late October if it’s already this cold on the 5th.
I know I was traveling faster than 3 mph. The trail was a very pleasant dirt track which made it possible for me to even run at times to try to get warm. As I was moving fast, I noticed the trail narrowing. I crossed a bridge over a stream and them climbed over a couple of downed trees. A few minutes later, there was no trail. I tried bushwhacking forward getting a little panicked. Here I was all by myself without a map or any navigation aide. If I got off the trail, no one would know. I was moving too fast and being stupid. Where had I lost the trail? Climbing downed trees are always a clue. Trail crews usually block old sections of trail with by placing brush piles at the junction but, sometimes, just a tree or two is all they have time for. I retraced my steps to the last known location and found the switchback I’d missed just before climbing over the first tree.
I made it the rest of the way down to the shelter without incident. Imagine being in a desert and an oasis appears in front of you a day after you’ve run out of water. That’s the feeling of joy I felt when the pit privy materialized in front of me. I can delay nature but I can’t prevent it from making its wishes known. I dropped my pack on the side of the trail and took up residence. A few minutes later I heard Bear as he passed and said he was heading to the shelter. By the time I’d finished dropping my excess weight and got to the shelter, the whole tramily was there snacking. I tried offering some chocolate to everyone. It was resoundingly turned down. I ate another bag of M&Ms completely guilt free. Timing can be everything.
I was last leaving the shelter now because I had to get water. We all agreed to meet at Cujo Road for simplicity. Simplicity because none of us could remember the road name or how to pronounce it if we did remember it. We just had a little bump between us and it. The day was turning out to be very nice. We had blue skies and great fall colors. We all got to the peak of Little Board,an Mountain together. We were doing great on time so we stopped for a snack break. We also called ahead to Whitehouse Landing to make reservations for tomorrow night. This is an old logging camp where they come pick you up in a boat to carry you across the lake to the camp. I’ve read about this in several books and I insisted that we had to stay here.
We decided it was every man for himself to get to Cujo Road from here. The important thing was to make sure at least one of us was present when Poet arrived. Bear took off like a bat out of hell, but GCN and I weren’t that far behind. We were all at the road eating our last bit of food when Poet showed up with our food, sodas, extra batteries, and his two kids. They went for a walk down to Crawford Pond while we repacked our food and got our garbage together. Poet and Hippie Chick home school their kids which gives them a lot of flexibility. They run Shaw’s from a June 1 to October 15 every year and then travel to Florida for the winter. They try to take some hiking vacations in the non-thru-hiking season. I think Poet teaches a bit in the winter, but they pretty much make enough money in their 4 1/2 months of 24 hour days to pay the bills for the rest of the year. The trips up to this food drop are really about the only free time either one of them gets.
Now that the pressure was off and we’d made our food pickup, we just walked together as a group. A beautiful day hiking with new friends, telling stories, singing, and laughing. This was an ideal afternoon on the trail. We made the 3 miles to the next shelter in less than an hour. This was the AT rewarding us for all the pain we’ve gone through to make it this far. We had originally planned to stop here at Cooper Brook Fall Lean-to as an alternative leaving us about a 15 mile walk for tomorrow. Seeing as how we were all feeling good and excited about nearing the end, we decided to push on and try our luck finding some camping around Jo-Mary Road.
The next 4 miles flew by and it was still light out when we arrived. The sun was getting lower, a chill was coming back into the air, and with all the great campsites just before the road, we called it a day. We had time to get all the work done and still wander along Copper Brook looking for a moose. Bunny said she really wanted to see a moose in spite of what she had said a couple days ago. I reminded her of what it would take for us to see a moose. She said she knew what that meant and she didn’t care what it took; she wanted to see a moose and we’re running out of time. “You’re my husband and you need to make it happen.” I shed a tear for Chip but she did what she has so often done on this trip—she slapped me and told me it’s time to man up. “Happy wife equals happy life!” I’m sorry Good Chip Norris.
EFG