Bug free and not hard at all

Envision the impossible: Mosquito-free Vermont pond

One funny thing about hitting a trail after living in the flatlands for a while is how much trepidation I have about peaks. Maybe I’m usually not that worried, but yesterday’s bout with Styles and Peru Peaks gave me pause about Mt. Baker. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the sign that said 0.1 miles to summit–it hadn’t been steep or tiring at all!

I had a great view at Lost Pond and was immensely fortunate not to have any bugs–has visiting Lost Pond bug free ever happened to a AT or LT hiker?

I was very excited about revisiting White Rocks cliff again. Its a beautiful cairn garden of white rocks (update: thanks Rockhound for letting me know the rock is schist!). I gave a talk about my AT talk last month at the National Conservation Training Center and the Superintendent of the AT and Assistant Superintendent of the AT was there and neither of them knew that the cairn garden existed! Although cairns aren’t exactly part of the natural environment and I wouldn’t want to see them everywhere on the AT, in this one place, they create an energy that seems to connect me in time and place with all the hikers who have come before me and all the hikers who will be there in the future.

The famous White Rocks cairns

Minerva Hinchey shelter was full of AT hikers and it was fun chatting with them. One guy, Awakening, was putting together an AT documentary and traveling with an older guy, Yellowstone Jack, who told us stories about wolves. Sundog was on the AT last year and got sick, so came back to finish it. It felt good to hear stories from other hikers and to be around other people–I felt a bit like I was on the AT again. 2425′ gain