Sprout Day 113 (Monday, July 18th, 2016)

Last night we stealth camped a few miles from Zealand Falls Hut. We woke up early and headed to Zealand Falls Hut to see if they had some leftover breakfast. We hiked down and were offered scrambled eggs. The people who work at the AMC Huts give thru hikers all leftovers. This saves them from packing it down with the trash. They have to pack in and pack out everything from the hut!

After we ate our eggs the staff offered leftover food from dinner last night. It was perfect and so much good food. We had salad, turkey, gravy, soup, quinoa, stuffed shells, and some blueberry muffins! They just asked that we help them do dishes and sweep the floor in return for the food. Great deal!!

Bubbles hiking out of camp this morning

Mountains in the distance

Bubbles at an overlook

Breakfast at Zealand Falls Hut

Bubbles cleaning up at Zealand Falls Hut

Sign at Zealand Falls Hut

Whiskers wearing one of the packs which are used to hike in fresh supplies and hike out trash!!

We hiked by Thoreau Falls which was an awesome short side trail. I took pictures and videos of the falls because it was so beautiful. Being that close and seeing where the water was going was amazing.

Bubbles and I at Thoreau Falls

We ended the day on Webster’s Cliffs. It was a steep hike up to the cliff but the view was breathtaking once you got to the top. We got to watch a storm roll in from the mountains off in the distance. We had enough time to make dinner and have everything inside the tent before the rain hit. Once the rain hit it was raining hard with thunder and lightening. The wind was blowing hard too. We sat in our tent eating some Mountain House Chili Mac and Lasagna. We stayed dry with only a few small drips! Whiskers on the other hand had a puddle forming right under his tent. The whole area flooded and there wasn't anything he could do until the storm passed. We got his tent dried out and moved it to a better spot. On cliffs like this there are areas that look perfect but sometimes bog up and out of nowhere a puddle forms.

Bear Country

More railroad tracks

Bubbles and I on the trial

Bubbles enjoying the view

Day: 113
Miles hiked: 11.9
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 984.8
Bears: 0
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Horses: 12
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 2
Squirrels: 11
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Bubbles Day 102 (Thursday, July 7th, 2016)

I woke up crabby and felt rushed to leave camp. I hate feeling rushed. It throws off my day. The hike down off Smarts Mountain was a million times easier than the hike up. Yay!! Even the hike up Cube Mountain was super easy after our difficult day yesterday. There were giant slabs of granite to hike up but it was really cool and kind of exciting. We sat at the top of Cube, ate lunch, and met up with Alice and Jack and a new friend Hail.

We heard of trail magic from a couple really nice SoBos. I love SoBo (Southbounders) because I’ve found them much friendlier than NoBos. When we got to the trail magic we actually got to meet Warren, the guy who supplies the wonderful magic. He is a super friendly and helpful guy.

We got split up from Whiskers (he met a friend on the trail who is SoBoing and was a little behind) and Alice. We were all going to go check out The Dancing Bones Intentional Community but a fellow hiker had already went and said it was a total bust. We were waiting for Whiskers when Warren offered to take Sprout, Hail, and me to Tony and Geri's house. They are local angels who let hikers stay in their home for a small price. We thought maybe we would stay there to get away from the rain that was coming. When we got there, we were surprised to see Whiskers and Alice already there! W e had been waiting for them for a long while and didn't know they were already at Tony and Geri's! Tony fed us and made us packed lunches since we decided to press on to the camp site.

 When we almost got to the campsite it started to rain lightly. We quickly set up camp and got in the tent right away because the mosquitos were some of the worst I've ever experienced! I had welts all over my body from those stinkers. Our tent then started to flood. I'm not sure why but everything was wet. Everything! It was pretty miserable, but you can either be sad or embrace the lousy situations and look forward to brighter days ahead. We went to bed floating on our rafts (sleeping pads).

Trail today

Trail today

Awesome aged roots

Me coming over a ridge on the trail

View today

Top of Cube Mountain

Getting a ride back to Tony and Geri's house

This flood is NOT GOOD!!!  AHHHHH!!!