It's about 7:30 at Logan Brook Shelter. Light rain on the metal roof. We mixed up two dehydrated dinners and it would up tasting like some kind of delicious lasagna-casserole. We got here early, maybe 2, but decided to stay since we're about to hit our first true mountainous area, White Cap and three other peaks. There aren't a lot of options for shelters up there, and it's about 7.2 miles to the next lean-to, and we'll hit that tomorrow. Hoping for good weather, in that it's pretty steep terrain. Honestly, though, we made it 3 miles up Katahdin in totally shitty weather, way more elevation gain, and we did okay. I'm sure it will be fine! The fords so far haven't been a big deal, and I was nervous about those at first. We forded the east branch of the Pleasant River today, challenging but not too bad. Knee-deep, cold water, maybe 40 feet across, moving but not too rapidly. My favorite part of today's hike, I think, was the view from Little Boardman mountain, which we climbed early on. 1980', but with a nice summit view of the mountains we will be climbing in the next 2 days. The woods were muggy and buggy today, and we wore lots of Deet and our headnets for some of the time. To finish the day, we climbed up the shoulder of White Cap mountain, at about 2406' where our shelter is. So, tomorrow is a 1200 foot climb in 1.4 miles, first thing. That's pretty steep! But hope the footing is good. I imagine it might be like going up one of the Hancocks [in the White Mountains] which I've done in winter and summer, so we'll sell. I'll report back. So now we're just chilling in the lean-to with 2 other Southbounders, Sam - a kid half my age and twice my height, who's out here before he decides where to go to collge, and is quiet and obviously very smart. Also, Cosmonaut, a chatty ex-Army guy who, instead of a sleeping bag, has constructed a system of emergency space-blankets, and for which he apologized in advance for the loud, crinkly noise it makes. He says he'll swap it out in Monson for a normal sleeping bag. We are definitely getting stronger, we're putting back 8, 10, 11 mile days with ease. After our 16 miles that wiped us out, we've been cautious about going too big. Food is looking good. We've been sleeping a lot, stretching a lot, and eating a lot. My handwriting is improving! I'm becoming comfortable in the woods, my anxiety is way better. There is no time or energy to be depressed, even if one could be in the endless string of beautiful places The Trail leads us through. Also, lots of moose and bear poop. Everywhere.
Been out here a week! Not crazy... yet.
Found new bootlaces for my broken ones, new package in the shelter! [The Trail provides...]
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