Wednesday, April 3

13.5 miles from pecks corner to Cosby shelter
1st 2/3 of journey was still snow-bordered ice path. It looked like a frozen class I-II  rapids that I was attempting to walk on....nothing level or with traction. It was really a curse-out-loud sort of journey for me..thank goodness I was alone most of the time. So incredibly frustrating and dangerous and scary...all I needed was done mini spikes or yak-trax...none to be found as it IS Spring..
The last 1/3 of the day was without snow or ice..fantastic, beautiful...such relaxed walking...just take one step right after the other and advance forward with intention...absolutely refreshing! I have never seen such BLACK mud before. There aren't a lot of familiar faces at the shelter tonight. A family of 6 has invaded and disrupted our thru hiker routine. Of course they "had reservations" and had concerns that there wouldn't be enough room in the shelter for everyone... I allowed him to rattle on and warm the air a bit before I interrupted and said, basically, "we have had 29 people in these 12 person shelters for the past week....there's plenty of room..." Just add a bit of"tone"to that and you'll have a good idea of how it went...he didn't bring that up again...
.no bears yet & I'm totally fine with it. Folks I've met lately:
Peepaw from new York
Pumpkin king from new Hampshire

Streak hurt his knee a little in a fall today
My feet are just tired and sore..with good reason.
I have a slight blow out on my right shoe..the toe cap is peeling off and the foam seems to be degrading around the midsole...hopefully it will make it to hot springs..
8-10 miles tomorrow, no ice, I will have hot coffee in the morning..