So glad I stayed in the shelter last night. It rained hard throughout
the night and into the early morning. Although I was able to stay dry,
the wet atmosphere made me move very slow and I didn't leave the
shelter until probably 9 or so. When I left it was still sprinkling a
bit, but that wore off by the time I hit Saddleback.
The climb up to it wasn't all that bad, although I had to take a few
breaks along the way to check my phone and make sure my blog post was
sent. When I did summit the mountain it was much to foggy to see
anything, although I can say with 99% certainty that the view from up
there on a clear day would be phenomenal. From Saddleback it was a
moderately steep decent then a moderately steep ascent to The Horn,
only 1.7 miles away. Again I'm sure it would have nice views on a
decent day, but that wasn't the case for me. Climbing down from there
was extremely steep, worst of the day by far, and then a very hard
climb up to Saddleback Junior. Hitting 3 peaks back to back to back
was exhausting, and it was only about 7.5 miles for the day. Today was
actually one of the hardest I've had in a while. I think it was a
combination of poor weather, difficult terrain, and wet slippery trail
that made it feel so long.
I made it to Poplar Ridge Lean-to at 2:30. I stopped in for a rest and
to eat some snacks. Whippersnap was also there, he had passed me going
over Saddleback, so I talked to him about the terrain for the day thus
far. From Poplar I had another steep descent, which finally ended
after 2.7 miles at Orbeton Stream. It would be a great spot to spend
an afternoon in good weather. Maybe some other time. It wasn't too bad
from the stream, a gentle sloping uphill for the most part, that is
until I came to the hardest mile of the day. Lone Mountain. A sneaky
little mountain, one I hadn't anticipated, and so after I had finally
reached the top I cursed that mountain to the heavens.
Lone Mountain to Spaulding Mountain Lean-to, the shelter I was aiming
for, was a leisurely 2 miles, a pleasant way to end my difficult day.
I arrived around 7, Whippersnap was already here, as well as a
sectioner named Whistler who started down in Harpers this year.
Ichabod came soon after, then two SOBOs, and to my surprise The
Crusher after them. So we have 7 now here in the shelter. A bit
crowded, but it's all wet outside so I don't think anyone wanted to
deal with that. Not sure if it's supposed to rain tonight, but there
are lingering signs of the rain from last night. Anyway, I'm very
tired and will be trying to get to bed here shortly. Stratton tomorrow!
Total miles: 1977.8
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