So close...

Day 112 - 8/10/10
Had another glorious morning packing up my wet tent. Slowed me down of
course, so I didn't leave the campsite until close to 8. Not even 30
seconds into my hike I came to an opening with some flat rocks and
since the sun was out I unpacked all my wet gear and dried it out. I
wasn't going to carry the extra weight of a soaked tent two days in a
row. Because I did this I really didn't start until closer to 9, which
isn't what I had in mind but at least my tent wasn't so heavy.

I climbed upward and over Mt. Moriah, the last 4000-footer of the
Whites, and then down down down to Rattle River Shelter where I took
my first break. I met a SOBO girl there and we talked about how she's
just getting into the Whites. She seemed a little concerned about
finding alternative places to camp so I gave her a few suggestions for
stealthing. I left there around 12:30 and was at route 2 by one.
That's where Mom and I put the trail magic. Now you all know. There
wasn't any sodas left, but there was still 1 orange, so I ate that and
also refilled my water with a big gallon jug she had left in the
cooler. She'll be picking it up tonight, so no need to worry about
leaving it as trash. We're responsible trail magicians.

From route 2 there was a bit of road walking, then a steep climb up
Mt. Hayes. Along the way I came across several hikers, Ichabod was
one, another was Landfill who I just met today, and both were looking
miserable. I guess a bunch of others have gotten sick too, so there's
something going around. I hope I don't get it. I'm surprised they were
able to hike with the way they were looking. After Hayes came Cascade
Mountain, another tough climb, and the whole time I was contemplating
whether I would stop at the campsite on the other side or not. When I
came to where the trail turned off to it I saw a bunch of packs,
everyone was down by the site getting water, and for some reason
seeing how many people were there motivated me to push for the next
shelter (Gentian Pond), another 4.9 miles. I filled up on water as
well, had a short snack break, then was on my way. It wasn't very hard
elevation-wise, I had gotten most of that out of the way earlier in
the day, but what was hard to deal with was the torrential rainstorm I
got caught in. Soaked me, my pack, my boots, and everything else to
the bone. Plus there was some threatening thunderclaps going off
around me the whole time. After an hour or maybe a little less it had
cleared, so I hiked the last mile and a half really wet, but at least
not getting any wetter.

I finally made it around 7:30 and quickly tried to get all my wet
clothes off. Two others were here, a father and son out for 5 days.
Really nice and friendly. They talked with us as we (The Crusher,
Ichabod, & Fynias are also here) cleaned up and made dinner. After I
set up my sleep spot in the shelter I hopped in and started writing
this up. I'm very happy I made it this far, there were several times
today I didn't think I'd make it, but I did. It puts me just shy of 5
miles to the border. Tomorrow is a new state...the last one.

Total miles: 1893