low gap shelter to cheese factory

nice easy day today. the weather was dry and breezy. the trail out of camp was a beautiful, gentle incline for a few miles, and it was very easy going. nico had tried to get a hostel for tomorrow night, when we’re to get 2” of rain, but sadly all the hostels were already full. instead we decided on two low mileage days to let feet and legs take a little break. both nico and i have some hot spots on the soles of our feet from hiking with wet feet that we’re hoping to heal.

i spent almost all day in walking meditation. when conversation came up it was generally brief and i was able to return to it quickly. i focused on the soles of my feet paying close attention to every footfall. with the easy trail it was fairly easy to maintain.

lunch was had at blue mountain shelter, where in 2020 noodle slime got her name. i also had to deal with some financial b.s. apparently my real estate tax payment was a week late. (either i fat fingered it, the bank sent it late, or the post office took forever to deliver it) in any case, despite only having three payments left on my mortgage the mortgage company is freaking out about a $6 tax surcharge. i now have to jump through hoops for them to prove i’ve paid it. i jave to add here that i don’t have escrow because at the beginning of my mortgage they screwed it up so many times i wrested it from them. the lady at my town hall told me someone else in town almost lost their house in a similar situation where he owed 53 cents, and apparently he walked into her office, threw it at her and left. yikes. so that’s fun to deal with in the middle of the woods 2000 miles from home. thankfully in three months i’ll never have to deal with a mortgage ever again. yay!

we arrived at the cheese factory camp site, which is apparently where formerly a dairy existed, though there isn’t anything that would belie that fact at the site. there were a few folks already at the site, andrew, sunny and her dog mya (a.k.a. side up), cosmic pickle, blue from france, and a few others.

we chatted over dinner and talk went to hanging bear bags. most had never done it, so we had a good time all doing it, and for perhaps the first time ever, all the bear hangs wrre pretty good! much better than the typical hang that hits you in the face as you hike along the trail (and consequently is essentially a bear feeder)

i retired early and put up some posts (i’m way behind already) and then had a good nights sleep.