Sleep was questionable at best last night as the Frye Notch Shelter lived up to our fears that it was the Blair Witch Shelter. Playing the part of the witch was a moose that taunted us for the better part of the night. The moose kept passing by the shelter while belting out a bleating grunt of sorts with a lip farting sound at the end, which, I assume, was especially for the ladies. Perhaps it was confused by Brad’s trail beard.
When the moose wasn’t keeping us awake, the mice scurrying around the lean-to were. At one point one ran across my sleeping bag and over my shoulder. That was extra special. And then it rained. Thankfully there were no leaks in the roof, but for the rest of the night whenever there was a gust of wind the droplets off the trees hit the tin roof as if the witch were throwing rocks at it.
As for the hiking, we probably couldn’t have planned a better second day back on the trail. We did 10.5 miles of mostly gradual climb up Wyman Mountain. It’s eight thirty now and we’re already settled in for bed at the Hall Mountain Shelter. Against our better judgement we’re giving the lean-to another go, mostly because we’ve got a big day in store tomorrow and we want to save the tent packing time in the morning.
Scoresheet on falls: nobody fell today, but the Russian judge has ruled that my spill during the initial stage of our hike should count, so we’re knotted up at two. Then again, Brad doesn’t really know the Russian judge decided this, so depending on who falls first tomorrow, the Russian judge may have a change of heart.
This photo is for my son, he loves water falls.
We look like this a lot.
This was our water source. If you close your right eye ever so slightly and tilt your head to the left, you can almost see the diphtheria doing backstrokes.
The sign to here from the camp read “Scenic lookout 100 yards.” What it should have said was, “The last thing you need, a 100 yard vertical climb straight up. P.S. If you plan on making a phone call, this is the only place you’ll get reception.” I forgot my phone the first time.