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Aug
31 , 1983 Wednesday (264.6 mtg) From
Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal
I woke
this morning to a large bulge suspended over me, but thankfully
contained by my waterproof tarp. The rain had come last night as
I had suspected it would, and continued to fall softly around the
woods. The water had pooled in the tarp above me and provided the
bulge (get your mind out of the gutter). Lan was up and moving about
and preparing to leave even before I began to emerge from my blue,
NorthFace Cat's Meow, mummy style sleeping bag. I was sluggish this
morning as I knew I would have the unenviable task of packing up
in the rain. From my shelter under the tarp, I told her I would
see her later, and off she went. I ate my breakfast and then packed
up what I could under the protection of the tarp before shedding
the gallon or more of collected rain from the tarp. As the drizzle
continued to fall, there was nothing more to do but roll the tarp
up wet, and hope to dry it out later, so I shook off as much moisture
as I could and stuffed it into my pack.
Aided by the added moisture on the trail, I followed - sort of -
the tracks produced by Lan as she slopped down the trail until I
reached Dunn Notch Falls four miles later. The stream was overflowing
due to the additional rain, and I had to be ingenious and skillful
to find a way to cross the West Branch of the Ellis River. Although
not really what you would call a large river, the flow was quite
wide. I hopped from exposed rock to exposed rock and landed on the
other side without incident. Near the falls I discovered a pair
of socks and underwear hanging to dry. I looked around and saw
no one. As I continued on, I noticed the "tracks" I had
been following disappeared beyond the side trail to the falls. That
must have been Lan's underwear! Was I missing something?
Should I go back?
I continued on and began an ascent that would lead me to Surplus
Pond, and then on to Hall Mountain Lean-to. The trail from Surplus
Pond to Hall Mountain Lean-to involved an ascent of Wyman Mountain
before dropping down to the shelter on the adjacent mountain. At
the shelter, I found "the Maximus," Butch and Rob. I told
them about Lan, and they said that they had not seen her. I guess
those were her underwear! We waited and finally she arrived at the
shelter. She had gone down to the base of the falls as I was crossing
near the top. She did not say if she was naked or not. Max recounted
his story of how last night he had stayed at Surplus Pond on the
porch of a small cabin along the shore. In the morning he had just
built a small fire on the ground out front to burn his trash when
a car drove by and spotted his fire. The guy stopped and yelled
at him for starting the fire. Max explained to him about burning
rather than polluting, (or carrying extra weight) and the guy understood,
but requested that he leave anyway.
What is happening to my miles now? I stop after just 10.7 miles
and spend the rest of the day just lounging. I suppose it is because
the next shelter is nine miles farther along with a couple of real
nasty climbs in between. Winston had warned me about Moody Mountain
back when I spent some time with him at Lake of the Clouds. Of course
he had gone down what I would be going up, but he said it was a
killer. Life is good, what is the hurry? That afternoon I took a
blue blazed side trail from the shelter to a look out, but saw nothing
but the fog. No views today. I listened to the birds, and looked
for small mushrooms just popping up. I intended to watch one for
a while as it expanded and grew. I never found any small enough,
and the ones already up were just that - already up. I did see many
birds though.
Gonzo!
Appalachian Trail Journals ©1983
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