August 6

I barely slept last night. It had nothing to do with sleeping in the shelter. I really had to go pee, but it was pouring. I waited until 10 and went out anyway. Then I had trouble because my knee hurt. I would get in a position that wasn't bad and fall asleep, but would wake up after a while in pain. No position was perfect. I finally gave up sleeping at 5 something and just lay there eating granola in bed until the rest of the shelter woke up at 7.

Today started out like day #2. I did tell you how wet it was on day #2 didn't I? The trail was mud bogs except for the times it turned into a creek. Beth was really dragging until lunch #2 at Porcupine Lookout. She discovered the coffee candy. Then she took off and I had trouble keeping up. Lunch #3 was on Lost Pond Mountain, and Lunch #4 just before the big push up to Goddard Shelter. It was our longest day yet - 8.4 miles with some hard trail. We were tired.

I was surprised to see Push and Shove here. I figured they would have gone on, but they saw the storm coming and claimed a corner of the shelter.

Our luck was holding again this afternoon. With the storm rolling in we hiked a little faster at the end. It was raining, but not pouring and the thunder was booming in the distance. Just as we started to climb the stairs to the shelter the rain really let down. HARD. Worse even than yesterday's rains. And then it got harder. WOW! We weren't dry since it had been raining on us before, but at least we missed the deluge.

Once we claimed our spots in the shelter, we ate lunch #5 which consisted of dried mangos, cheddar cheese and crackers. Yum. Dried mangos have really been one of my favorites this trip.

In half an hour I was still hungry and Beth was looking exhausted so I figured I would start working on dinner. The zip stove is a nice little gadget, but not so nice with this rain. The wood is so wet even the inside is wet. To keep it going in this weather I had to keep the burn chamber very full. The wte wood cools off the fire so much. If I let it go down at all, it isn't hot enough to relight the wet wood. I got the stove started by cheating. I used the napkin and wax from the cheese. This was enough to start it, but I let the fire get too low and it went out. ACK! So off to start the fire again with sopping wet sticks. Persistence pays off and I got the first back. I would add another stick at least once a minute to keep it going. In not too long it was time to eat tortellini.

Beth and I polished them off in no time. It was only 4:50, but Beth was tired and wanted to go to bed. I had her do the dishes, brush her teeth and wash her face first. Then she was off to bed. I'm wiped out too. Even writing in the journal is an effort.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, Gray Jay, Right On and Brown Dog came dragging in. They were so happy to see the shelter. They had to hike in that sheeting rain. I have no clue as to how they even see while they walked, but they made it.

Others in the shelter are AWOL, Jerry Springer, Odwalla and a few others.

This evening was pleasant. The blue sky came out and we almost had a bright sunset. I really like the group of gals in the shelter. We chatted on and off. At about 7 Beth got her second wind and "woke up". She seemed quite happy and was giggling over the littlest thing. Now she is thinking that an 8 mile day would be good for tomorrow.

Two thru-hikers from Seth Warner rolled in late and we were all settled in around 9:30.