the lookout shelter to thistle hill shelter
04 July 2022 — 2 min read
i slept well in the lookout. the temperature dropped and it was just the four of us, kick, maestro, magz, and me in a shelter that could fit 15 people.
i woke sometime around 06:00, but lounged briefly before getting going. breakfast was had on the sunny front porch. magz and i packed up and were on trail at 07:45, a pretty slow start, but nice and relaxing.
the morning was pretty relaxed, but magz was struggling a bit with the miles from yesterday. we kept a medium pace and the four of us ended up at a road that had a farm stand a short walk away at the same time. we walked the road and discovered that the farm stand was closed. there were a couple of picnic tables off to one side in the shade, so we stopped for a snack. while we were chatting the owner showed up to water some plants and asked if we wanted to buy anything. we did, and she opened the store for us. i got a pint of ice cream, and magz got a lot of snacks.
we ate our snacks and were back on trail for some ups and downs. magz was struggling a bit more, mostly on the uphills, but she kept going strong. we reached a stream and found maestro hanging out and stopped for a snack. kick arrived a bit later having stopped to make a phone call. we sat again and ate and chatted.
there were 4 miles to go, beginning with a pretty steep .5 mile climb. magz put on some kate bush and motored up it. i was impressed! it was the only big climb of the day and she crushed it! from there it was just keeping going for another few miles to the shelter. magz’ legs started hurting badly just shy of the shelter, but she kept going and we arrived right around 17:00.
i was surprised when magz opted in to sleeping in the shelter, and then stayed when another hiker outside our group also set up. i went to get water and bathe, and when i came back kick had set up a bug net over magz, he, and me. he was carrying the bug net because he was the super super super loser of the card game with bugs, lyric, and rocket at the lookout last night.
some images from today:
