20.4 miles

It was too cold to write last night. Seriously. It was in the 30's, which, frankly, is beyond the limits of my sleeping bag, but just barely. That's all it takes, and if it's happened to you, you know exactly what I mean. As a result, I slept poorly, and this is the only time I've been warm (it's about 9am, and I'm in my tent). It practically rained in here when the sun hit the air in the tent.

Walkabout coerced me to do 20 miles yesterday, and I have to admit, it was far easier than I thought possible. Furthermore, as soon as we stepped into the campground, there was a nother hiker talking to a ranger about 12 feet away. Turns out he was looking for other hikers, so we all shared a campsite (they were $15). I was very happy with the campground facilities but for one thing: they don't have enough bear poles. The bathrooms were heated and had hot running water, which was bliss, after sleeping outdoors the night before.

I camped here with Walkabout, a friend of Walkabout's that came in a car, and the original hiker that picked the campsite, T-Snake. T-Shake turned out to be very proficient with fire building, and he also found a cache of seasoned fire wood that was abandoned at another site. Without the fire, we would have been huddled against the wind in our tents and bags. It was 45 even before the sun went down.

I intend to eat breakfast at the Wayside and hike to Hightop Hut.