Hiked today: 14.8 (but really at least 18)
Hiked total: 379.0
To katahdin: 1799.3
After 4 packets of oatmeal and 2 pop tarts, Andy and I left CC. We very much enjoyed staying with her and Andy said if there was a guitar and a big dog, he may not have left! We got back to the trail and hiked on. It was snowy but not terrible at first. It was actually so nice out we were in our tshirts - a much welcomed change. The first 10 miles were pretty strenuous, we got up to 6,200 feet, but we were in high spirits. After roan Mt (the high point) we got to this really cool point where we could actually see the path for nearly a mile. It was a day hiker spot because the 'trail' was gravel, but it was a nice change in pace.
That is where things got frustrating. We hiked the path and went through some terrible slush/snow that was knee high and a pain to walk through on a 10 inch path. We hiked up for about half an hour and looked at roan to see we were about even with it - a problem being we don't break 6,000 feet again. So we hiked back down through the slush and finally found the trail which goes around the dark side of the mt, I.e. No sun to melt the snow. We were in the snow again, slipping and sliding and falling. The only good part of that section was we met our first thru-hiker since the 2nd day, Stallion. He is south bounding which means he is less than 400 miles from finishing. He started late Oct. And went through winter. He seemed nice, but we quickly split ways and continue on. at one point in the slush, Andy slipped and got really angry at the conditions - I let him steam ahead to brood.
We finally got to where our shelter was. We've heard a lot about it because its a barn used in the revolutionary war which was converted into a shelter. Its .3 miles off the trail but well worth it. So we went on, and on, and on. We missed the turn and went down the revolutionary war path. Eventually we got to the road which leads us to the shelter, but we were far from it. We did at least an extra mile and passed where we were SUPPOSED to meet the road.
So we got here, finally, and it is really cool. We are upstairs and basically contained in 4 walls. Its very open in terms of space between the wood, but its still nice.
Hopefully tomorrow will be less snowy. The terrain is supposed to be getting flatter until Damascus.
via BB
