Antlers Campsite

Day 159, Monday, 8/22 – I woke up at 5:00am this morning. We all had to hike 12.5 miles by 1:00pm to get to our food drop off on time. I was the first one ready, so I hiked out alone at 5:45am.

I was walking past Crawford Pond when I saw a sign that said “Sandy Beach.” This was too appealing to pass up. I went to the beach, and swam for a good half hour. The water was crystal clear, and I had the place to myself. It was both peaceful and relaxing.

As I was heading back to trail, I ran back into Genie, Splitzy, and Birthday. We all hiked to Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to, where we stopped for lunch. Splitzy and Genie went swimming, while Birthday and I hung out in the shelter. We were reading poetry out of the New Yorker that someone had left in the shelter. I’ve recited some recently, and that inspired Birthday to memorize The Clock Man by Shel Silverstein.

We left our lunch spot at 11:00am with a little under 4 miles to go to the road. The trail was somewhat cruisy, so I ran the parts that were easy, and walked the parts that were muddy or rocky.

I got to the road at noon, and setup my hammock. Birthday, Splitzy, and Genie showed up shortly after. I was only in the hammock for 20 minutes when the shuttle with our food cache arrived. We dumped our trash, reloaded our packs, then hiked 4 more miles to Antlers Campsite (Mile 2142).

I was starving when I showed up at camp, so ate a dinner at 3:30pm. I setup my hammock and tarp, then hung out around camp. I then cooked another dinner at 6:00pm. The forecast looks rather grim for the next few days. It’s entirely possible that this is the last dry day on trail.