[at-l] AT Hike Report: Day 7

[ARTCLOUTMN at aol.com (ARTCLOUTMN@xxxxxxx)]

Saturday 03/15/03  Blue Mountain Shelter       7.7 miles

    Short day today.  After a misty night with very busy mice we left camp at 
9:00 AM.  Very foggy and windy.  Our clothing and gear are wet and cold from 
yesterday.  Some light rain has added to the discomfort.  We met some 
southbound section hikers out for the weekend.
    We made it to Blue Mountain Shelter just before 1:00 PM and decided to 
call it a day.  It was a long easy ascent except for the last 1.5 miles which 
were rocky.  The rocks Reminded us a little of New Hampshire.
    ?Hoover? and I set up our gear then tried a lunch of Ramen noodles and 
peanut butter.  It was pretty good.  Worth trying again.  A very thin man - 
retired Air Force - came into camp accompanied by Kevin.  We decided to call 
him Seattle since he came from Washington State.  Kevin complained of a sore 
knee.
    Later two more hikers section hikers arrived heading as far north as they 
could go for the time they had available.  Then a local gent arrived waiting 
for his partner.  They are the care takers of this shelter.  They chose to 
set up a tarp for the night.  ?F-Stop? and Jennifer ?Bear Bait? followed 
shortly by BeesKnees and Relentless.  They had camped together last night and 
gotten very wet.  They spent a little time at Low Gap shelter today to dry 
their gear.  After we had eaten dinner another couple arrived with a 
Malamute.  The dog was very well behaved.  Busy place tonight. Still cold, 
foggy, windy.  
    BeesKnees and Relentless set up two tents.  One for them and one for 
their gear.  The couple with the dog set up two tents, him and the dog and 
the other for her.  Go figure.
    One of the entries in the register talks of ?Chicken Man?.  The writer 
describes a guy carrying a chicken in a cage on his shoulder.  He claims to 
get one egg per day from the hen.  I did see a bunch of eggshells on the 
trail a day or two back.  But it seems unlikely that anyone one try to haul a 
chicken and chicken feed just for a daily egg.  It is a nice story.  
    John, Regan, and I have finished exactly one week on the trail today.  It 
has been everything that I expected up to this point.  I?m having a Hunky 
Dory hike so far.