Cranberry Stream Campsite 2003.4

By the time we woke up there was no rain so we hurried up to tear down the tent while it was dry. We didn't set ourselves a goal for the day, we just knew that there were some mountains coming up. After just about an hour of hiking we came by a campsite and were startled by a loud "Heeeeeey". We were surprised and happy to see "Late start", our good friend back in the Smokies. We didn't see him for more than three months in Tennessee where he wanted to catch up to us but ended up taking another Zero. We knew that he had flipped up to Kathadin but we thought that we missed him while staying at the Brown's camp. But both of us had plans for the day and it would have taken a while to report all the things that had happened so we postponed it until after we reach Kathadin. So we gave each other just a quick heads-up, some hugs and then moved on. Oh, and we gave him a pair of gloves as Julia doesn't need any.
We tackled the mountains and for lunch three of them were done. Then came a tough climb up to the Crocker Mountains with two summits and a saddle in between. So by 3 PM we've only made 12 miles and it started to rain a bit but then the terrain turned in our favor. The trail led down the hill with just a gentle elevation for more than 5 miles.
On the way down we reached the 2000 mile marker!! So we are both now 2000 milers (officially after the thru hike is confirmed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy) one day before our 4 months trail anniversary! It's an incredible number and it's hard to realize that we did that. And it also means that it's less than 200 miles until we reach Kathadin.
Motivated by that we pushed on and reached the Cranberry Stream Campsite at the bottom of Mount Bigelow. A hiker had told us that the rain is supposed to hit us around 8 and then last until early the next morning. So we set up the tent and used the tarp/footprint to add an additional rain cover above because we have to use our leaking tent until Kathadin. After this we had a quick dinner, chatted a bit with the couple that stayed with us at the campsite and then went to bed. The rain started to get heavier but it seems like our construction is working good enough.Baca lagi