Round 2: June 15, 2009 – Day 4

Starting from October Mountain Lean-to
Hiked 11.8 miles

Yes, they made it through the night and did all of the things they needed to do to keep themselves safe! However, there is still a story to tell. It was already after nightfall; Navigator, Turtle and two other hikers were settled in for the night when another hiker and his dog came stumbling in to camp. The commotion of “doing the nighttime stuff” woke everyone up. The only open bunk in the shelter was on the upper level, so the noisy hiker got on the top bunk and continued to rustle around, never really settling down. Crash, the hiker falls from the top bunk, to the ground, and then crawls back to the top bunk. Did this stop there? No! This rustle, fall, crawl routine went on several more times. The two other hikers were so disturbed by this routine that they got up, packed their things and hiking during the night while it was thunder and lightening. Turtle and Navigator somehow stuck it out. As Turtle was opening his eyes the next morning he saw Tumble, Fall and Crawl (TFC) fall out of the top bunk onto his head. This time the crawl was to one of the lower bunks. It was definitely a restless night!

Most hikers that Turtle and Navigator have met over the years have been down to earth folks from many different walks of life with a love for the great outdoors. The hikers have all been bit by the same desire to hike the AT as Turtle and Navigator. Turtle and Navigator have met many hikers, most were genuinely nice, some were characters, a few very crazy, and only a couple sketchy ones. TFC was definitely sketchy, so much so, Turtle was concerned about two girls that were hiking behind them on the trail. He hoped that TFC didn’t cross paths with the girls.

The trail today was muddy and sloppy. Navigator said that they have learned some new hiking moves this year. During the choreography of the hiking sloppy dance Ben came across several boards that were on the trail. Under normal circumstances these boards would provide stability and he would have traversed over them without an issue. Today he got to the boards, lost his footing which caused him to loose his balance. He wobbled, the weight of his pack and centrifical force started the spin and before he knew it he was falling to the ground on his backside which was cushioned not by a soft bed of leaves, but by a hard Nalgene bottle. Ouch!!!! Navigator got the second “Spectacular Fall” award for the year.

The good news is that they reached Dalton, MA today and picked up their first mail drop. They stayed in Dalton at the Shamrock Inn, which welcomes hikers. The star rating is above trail shelter, maybe one star, certainly not two! At least they had a chance to get a shower, dry out their rain soaked bodies and sleep in a bed.

Total miles hiked: 279.5