July 1
Today was freezing, in our opinions.
Not a warm welcome to July.
We were both too cold to get water, but were quite thirsty. I eventually psyched myself up and made the daring run to the stream. I returned to the tent, but was in no hurry to go anywhere. I lounged around until 10.
I finally got inspired to hike out. I hit the trail at 11. I blazed through the first two miles in less than an hour. I was quite impressed with myself. I did the next three miles in two hours. I had high hopes of making it to the lean-to by four. After crossing the river, I had a little less than three miles to go. I only had 1,400 feet to climb, so I thought it would be a breeze. Apparently I was supposed to climb all of that in the last mile.
I finally got to the lean-to at 4:30, which was acceptable. I then had to wait on Matt, so he can put up his supertent, and I can attempt to thaw out.
After writing a few updates, I sat by the fire and tried to keep warm. I listened to the Northbounders talk. They seemed deep in conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt. Around 6, they both headed to bed. She set up her tent, and he went inside his hammock, which he had set up inside the lean-to.
At around seven, Alpine (Princess Brat's boyfriend) came running up. He had run up the entire mountain. He took a look at the dude in the hammock and was pissed. He had wanted to sleep in the lean-to, but didn't want to share it with a selfish bastard. He decided to set up his tent, and put it in the spot I had been eyeing. A couple minutes later, Princess came running up. She was excited because she made a great time up the mountain. She was being all loud, and started talking crap about the guy in the hammock.
Matt eventually showed up. He set up his tent in a mediocre spot, that would leave us in puddles at the bottom of the tent. The men then went to grab wood for the fire. Alpine came back with a tree. He then decided to split the wood by leveraging it between two other trees. It was not a quiet process. The girl Northbounder did not like this, and ended up moving her tent. We didn't feel bad, because it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.
The fire was spectacular and kept everyone warm. Matt and I made pizzas for dinner. Princess took detailed notes, and looks forward to making our ghetto pizza in the future. She went to bed first, and I stayed around the fire listening to Alpine and Matt talk.
Alpine is the most badass person I have ever met. He was an army ranger, special forces, airborne. He teaches mountaineering and ice climbing. Has climbed all sorts of crazy mountains. He works at Neal's Gap (the first stop northbound on the trail. The trail actually goes through the building) during the thru hike season for free gear, because he wants to set up his own wilderness school. He's thru hiked a couple of times.
After get bored listening to the girls talking, I went to bed, but got very little sleep, since it was so cold. The side near the wall was freezing, while the other half of my body was lukewarm.
Not a warm welcome to July.
We were both too cold to get water, but were quite thirsty. I eventually psyched myself up and made the daring run to the stream. I returned to the tent, but was in no hurry to go anywhere. I lounged around until 10.
I finally got inspired to hike out. I hit the trail at 11. I blazed through the first two miles in less than an hour. I was quite impressed with myself. I did the next three miles in two hours. I had high hopes of making it to the lean-to by four. After crossing the river, I had a little less than three miles to go. I only had 1,400 feet to climb, so I thought it would be a breeze. Apparently I was supposed to climb all of that in the last mile.
I finally got to the lean-to at 4:30, which was acceptable. I then had to wait on Matt, so he can put up his supertent, and I can attempt to thaw out.
After writing a few updates, I sat by the fire and tried to keep warm. I listened to the Northbounders talk. They seemed deep in conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt. Around 6, they both headed to bed. She set up her tent, and he went inside his hammock, which he had set up inside the lean-to.
At around seven, Alpine (Princess Brat's boyfriend) came running up. He had run up the entire mountain. He took a look at the dude in the hammock and was pissed. He had wanted to sleep in the lean-to, but didn't want to share it with a selfish bastard. He decided to set up his tent, and put it in the spot I had been eyeing. A couple minutes later, Princess came running up. She was excited because she made a great time up the mountain. She was being all loud, and started talking crap about the guy in the hammock.
Matt eventually showed up. He set up his tent in a mediocre spot, that would leave us in puddles at the bottom of the tent. The men then went to grab wood for the fire. Alpine came back with a tree. He then decided to split the wood by leveraging it between two other trees. It was not a quiet process. The girl Northbounder did not like this, and ended up moving her tent. We didn't feel bad, because it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.
The fire was spectacular and kept everyone warm. Matt and I made pizzas for dinner. Princess took detailed notes, and looks forward to making our ghetto pizza in the future. She went to bed first, and I stayed around the fire listening to Alpine and Matt talk.
Alpine is the most badass person I have ever met. He was an army ranger, special forces, airborne. He teaches mountaineering and ice climbing. Has climbed all sorts of crazy mountains. He works at Neal's Gap (the first stop northbound on the trail. The trail actually goes through the building) during the thru hike season for free gear, because he wants to set up his own wilderness school. He's thru hiked a couple of times.
After get bored listening to the girls talking, I went to bed, but got very little sleep, since it was so cold. The side near the wall was freezing, while the other half of my body was lukewarm.
