Day 35, 7-23

--> Trapper John Shelter, 12 miles

It started raining some time last night, and has been raining all day. I don't think my hands have ever been this pruny for this long. On the plus side, though, the wetness of my boots and socks has cleaned a lot of the dirt out of my toenails.

It was an easy walk to the fire warden's cabin on top of Smarts Moutain. I stopped there for a stack and to warm up and dry out a bit. I was warm without a raincoat going up but I don't generate as much body heat on the downs. On the way down was a section on Lamberts Ridge. There were a lot of blueberries growing on the side of the trail, so that section took a bit longer than normal. At the bottom is the home of Bill Ackerly, the Ice Cream Man. In return for signing his log he gives out free ice creams. I had one and chatted with him for a while. He said I was the 320th hiker (north, south, and section) to stop in this year. Since I'm so low on aquamira I filled up all of my bottles to bring to the shelter. Thu pack was a lot heavier with 5 quarts of water, and a can of coke. Thankfully the shelter was only .8 uphill.

It looks like this was the site of a cabin- in front of the shelter is the old chimney. The sun did come out after a while, and it has been a pleasant afternoon. Two NOBO section hikers, a mother and son, and Warbler are here now. At least the shelter isn't too crowded. I hear there are good views on the ledges so hopefully there will be some sun tomorrow.