Water water everywhere, but not falling from the sky

Wednesday June 6, 2017

Kay Wood Shelter 16 miles

Total mileage 542.6

I spent the last couple of days at a hotel avoiding some bad weather. Yesterday was a very yucky rainy day with a HIGH of only 49 degrees. So I was glad to be inside.

While I was at the hotel, SOULFLOWER had a friend come and visit her. His name is BILLY GOAT and is a pretty famous hiker. There was a recent article about him in Backpacker Magazine. He is also a triple crowner (has hiked all 3 long trails) and has hiked over 48,000 trail miles. He is hoping to hike 50,000 before he turns 80 which is only 18 months away. He treated us to an awesome lunch. Thank you BILLY GOAT!

The rest of our time was spent relaxing and making upcoming plans for the days ahead. As we were trying to plan out our trip through the white mountains and make reservations for the huts that are above tree line we found out that the huts we wanted to stay at are all booked up. So I will have some long days in the whites trying to make it from shelter to shelter over very hard terrain. I’ll admit that I am nervous about this. I’m going to be saying some prayers for nice weather!

We left the hotel at 6 am and headed back to the trail. The temperature was in the mid to upper 40’s and overcast. The trail was a river! Shortly after starting my shoes and socks were soaked. The trail was over grown to, so my gloves were wet and I was Cold. Things just got worse from there. All the glory and beauty of the trail could not console me.

I stopped at the next shelter for an early lunch at 10:30 am. Shortly after leaving there I was crossing a bog area on a fallen tree and slipped of the tree trunk and ended up in the muddy bog on my backside with the weight of my pack holding me down.  I looked like a beatle on its back with limbs flailing all around trying to get back on my feet. I’m sure it was a funny sight to see but when it happens to you it’s not so funny!

After mostly cleaning up in a stream and rinsing all the mud off my gloves and wringing them out I hung them on my pack to dry. Later I noticed I was missing a glove. I was pretty bummed about it. They were my favorite running gloves.

Oh but that’s not it! The day ends up being really nice and the sun comes out and my socks and shoes start to dry out, but then I end up slipping in the water again getting my socks and shoes wet again.

That’s when I call Jim and tell him about my horrible day and he makes things all better by just talking to me. Thank you, Babydoll! I love you.