Day 4 Long Trail 2008

Again awake at 0500 and stayed in the sack till 0530. Nature calls always get me up. I had my tea and was starting my cereal before the 1st of the other group got up. Normal morning routine except all my clothes and boots were wet. I put them on anyway. Day temps about 50 - 55 degrees. Chilly! I said my goodby's and left at 0800. The 1st part of the trail was uphill and very wet but since the sun was shining, it seemed like a better day. Once, at the top of Mt Grant, the morning was pent on a nice woodland path, ery easy on the feet. I stopped on a ledge about 1030 to take off shoes and socks and to lay out some other stuff to dry in the sun. A hike passed by about 1100. He's up from Boston to play clarinet in a Green Mountain orchestra and spends his free time hiking and biking the area. He reminded me that it was Saturday. From then on I expected hikers and I wasn't dissappointed. At Sunset Ledge, there were 2 older couples, enjoying the view. I enjoyed it too. (It was the only high point view I had the whole 6 days. All other high points were reached while overcast, no views to be had.) They said hi and we chatted for a minute and after that there was a constant parade of hikers and dogs. The rest of the descent of Mt Grant was steep and made my ankles and knees hurt a bit. Then it was across Lincoln Gap and at 1350, up Mt Abraham. It took me till 1530 to go the 1.7 miles to the Battell shelter. Note, this is not even the top of Mt. Abraham, I'll have to finish the ascent tomorrow. There are a lot of hikers on this mountain too. It seems the last of them have descended by 1700. When I got here, I found a beautiful little stream with a couple of decent sized pools to get my water from and to do a bit of sock washing and to clean up myself too. The day stayed sunny and even warmed up to 70 or so. I had all my gear and clothes and boots spread out in every patch of sunshine I could reach. It worked out because everything dried in the few hours I had till sunset except the boots and they were considerably drier than before. My only complaint about the shelter is the flies. Giant buzzing green flies, little flies, ugh. I wonder if it's because it was warm today? As it gets cooler, there seem to be fewer of them. I hope so. At 1830, a young male hiker, Tapeworm, gets in and let's me know a fellow hiker, Huckleberry, is also coming along behind him. Apparently, Huckleberry's friends are coming tomorrow to this shelter for a feast and to climb Mt Abraham. Sorry to miss it but have to be moving on to Glen Ellen Lodge for my last night on the trail. Weather report for tomorrow is rain. The picture is of Bunchberry. There was a lot of it all along the trail, including a pale yellow version. I also saw a lot of Clintonia, a yellow flower. They were usually growing in the same areas. I also saw a green stalked flower, not listed in my flower book, growing in wet areas, about 3 - 5 feet high with little green flowers reminiscent of Irish Bells. I didn't take a picture of that one tho. I did also see, occasionally, little white star flowers. Total mileage for day: 6.5, for trip: 29.4.