Day 12: 8/22/17

Whaaat?? We actually got a view today. It was actually a peek at a view. Another day of straight ups and straight downs. Still pretty much in the green tunnel. Hiking this trail has been like bushwacking today. The spruce limbs have covered the trail in many places and you have to push them aside to get through or just let them hit you in the face. One positive is that we have a little hint of a spruce smell now which is an enormous improvement as far as our funk goes. Day 7 with no bath—just imagine. We’ve sweated every day. We’ve used deet almost every day. We’ve tromped through mud almost all day everyday. We’ve worn the same clothes and even socks everyday. It’s gonna take quite a scrub or two to get clean.

So we’ve been trying to outrun a thunderstorm all day. I fell again today. Again, I’m fine–it just made me mad. We managed to find a spot to stealth camp. We’re just off in the woods, kind of in a low spot so we put a few logs at the bottom of the hill in front of our tents and we dug a little trench in front of the logs hoping to keep some of the water out. We quickly cooked, ate, hung bags and ducked in just as the rain started. It started as a gentle rain with a little wind and soon turned into a full fledged storm with wind, rain, thunder and lightning. My tent is covered with leaves that have blown up and stuck to it. Will be a fun morning tomorrow cleaning it up. Happily, we have quite a climb (hoping for a view) and then after about 11.5 miles, we’ll hitchhike into Waitsfield where we’ll pick up another resupply. We’ll also spend the night there and get to shower—yay!!!! I’m so excited to get a hot meal, a shower, and a bed. We’re exhausted.