gooch mountain shelter to lance creek restoration area

miles: 8.2

woke to high clouds. did not sleep well in the shelter. everyone snored, and sleeping pads sound like potato chip bags when anyone rolls over. none of these things was loud enough to bother me, but i still couldn’t sleep. i wonder if i had evening tea too late.

during breakfast one of the shelter dwellers went to put in his boots and discovered that it was full of egg noodles. last night another camper’s entire dinner hit the deck just as she was ready to eat, but it was on the other side of the sheltered area. she didn’t clean it up as she should have . . . lots of speculation abounded, until i suggested that perhaps a mouse had collected them all and stored them in the boot. it might sound far fetched, but many years ago i left home for an extended period of time after an ice storm took out power for 10 days. when i came back one of my boots was full of nuts. additionally, the hiker’s boot was dry, and the noodles cooked. i’m thinking of seeing if he’ll take the trail name “mouse pantry”.

packed up and headed out just as the last clouds moved out from above. a beautiful morning to hike. the trail even started drying out a bit. it’s been quite muddy due to the recent rains.

the plan for the day was to call maggie and see how she was doing on her drive home. this requires some logistics as i had to warm my phone, charge it, and then keep it warm so i didn’t destroy what little battery i have on the call. once i hit the ridge of ramrock mountain i had pretty good signal and was able to check in. all well. parental departure went without a hitch. she stayed with friends the night before and was skipping the planned family stop and was pushing for home. apparently the dogs are done with pickup truck living.

a quick 4.8 miles and i was at woody gap. trail magic! in the packed parking lot,two young girls were sitting in the back of a mini van. in addition to various sweets and oranges, they had set up a hand washing station and had tons of wipes. i did both before selecting some of their wares. it sounds like one of their family is hiking the trail this year and was at woody gap, though i didn’t know who.

woody gap was packed with cars and people, so maybe at the least, pandemic might get folks outdoors. got an email from a friend with a poem about the times that included a line about how smog in some cities is gone and folks can hear birds singing for the first time in i don’t know how long. the real question is will the collective memory remember, or will we go back to business as usual when it’s past.

just past woody gap i hiked into the blood mountain wilderness and up to cedar ledges.

another 3.4 miles and i reached the lance creek restoration area campsite. i stopped here today because the next few campsites require bear canisters. it’s one of the only sections on the trail that does. if i continued on today i’d have to go another 7.4 miles to neel’s gap and then stay in the hostel. i’m trying to keep my miles low as everything i read says going too hard at the beginning leads to certain injury.

on that front i’m feeling great. my pack weight is allowing me to do miles at a very comfortable pace. every day i tend to leave late and then by lunch pass everyone that left before me. today three women left before sunup, and i caught up to them right at lance creek. i set up my tent and it was hours before the folks from the shelter started trickling in. the only thing i’m keeping an eye on is the soles of my feet. maceration comes on very quickly when the trail is so wet.

had a lot of time today to chat with folks as everyone had a short day. “mouse pantry” has accepted his trail name. another fellow accepted the name “roadhouse” for his impressive mullet that he cut for the trail. i say impressive because he has poncherelli level black hair.