Appalachian Trail Hiker: 'It Just Can't Get Any Better'

It certainly seems as though , are enjoying the whole experience of hiking from Georgia to Maine on the trail. This entry to their journal is from July 31.

I started to stir around 515 am. At 530 I was out of my hammock and so was Pace. Somehow we both knew the sunrise would be grand. We brought our jetboils, coffee, and breakfast up into the tower. There was a dense undercast to the south and east. Pretty much Everything below 1500ft was in a thick cloud. Words cannot describe how amazing undercast is! Right on cue at 540 the sun peaked over the horizon. We ate breakfast and made coffee as we watched the clouds flow around the mountains as if they were glaciers. What a great start to a day. We climbed back down into the spruce forest and silently broke down camp. We were actually hiking by 6:59! A new record! The only down side to being up that early is clearing the trail of the nights cobwebs. After 10 min of hiking pace had me go first. 

The two of us hiked past Kid Gore shelter and took a break at 2hrs. The trail then climbed back up before dropping us down into more beaver swamps. I still cannot believe we haven't seen so much as a moose track! This is prime territory. Pace and I hiked in to Story Spring shelter at 1045 and took a break. The spring there was another amazing ice cold one flowing right out of the side of the mountain. We hiked on and stopped for lunch at the base of Stratton Mountain around 1. We had done 12.2 already. Mange and turkey passed looking like they were on a mission to cover massive miles. After lunch we started the 3.8 mile 1700 ft climb. Pace took the lead and chugged us up that mountain. We got to the top, passing another awesome pipe spring, and ran into Pheonix Rising, Mange, and Pez. Pheonix is a friend of my friend, TDS. We met at trail days in 07 and she is hiking water gap to Katahdin. Her, pace, and I climbed the fire tower together. 

We were impressed with the views from Glastenbury but these were even more awesome! We could see for over 2 weeks of hiking. From Mt Graylock to Mt Moosilauke and beyond. Truly amazing. We could also see Straton Pond below where I had a date with my Z-lite floating in the water. After soaking it all in for over and hour pace and I started the downhill trek. We made it to the shelter turnoff and found a sign that laid out the area. There is no tenting allowed at the shelter so you have to take a .5 blue blaze to the campsite. OK no problem, but the normal blue blaze was closed due to beaver flooding the trail so we had to take a longer one. We guess it was.7 around the other side of the pond. No worries. The walking was easy and had some great views. 

Pace and I rolled into the campsite around 6 and set up shop. I floated around in the pond for about 20 min and it was glorious. Around 7 pace and I went to the fire pit to cook. I actually made a fire. Our first one since Jim and Molly Denton shelter in VA. We ate dinner and Chardonnay and Jeff and Lt. Dan rolled up. Pace and I sat staring at the fire reminiscing about our epic day. It's days like today that reinforce why I'm out here. It just can't get any better...or can it?