Lots of other characters

Friday the 29th. That means I'm 12 days into my conditioning 14 days. Seems like I've been at this longer. Today was 10.4 miles. I'm trying to figure out a schedule that gets me into four pines hostel. Written up as a three bay garage with a shower. There a resupply box there and I think I should just about get there with no food in my pack. A close call but that's how it's supposed to work. 12 miles tomorrow and 7 miles to get into town. Rumor is that the fellow who runs it ferries everyone into an all you can eat restaurant. I'm up for that. I got up early this morning and was the first one on the trail. I swear there were 30 tents at this lean-to. People were rolling in at 10 pm. Everyone really close. The people beside me set their tent up directly under where I hung my bear bag of food. I got that down quietly in the morning. Crawled up and over the continental divide. The eastern continental divide I guess. I took a picture. I had just gotten up and over this sort of open space and thunder storms rolled through. I was wondering how all those campers I left sleeping were going to get through here especially with all those metal hiking poles. Saw deer, hummingbirds and they looked like horned toads. Kept passing through air heavy with honeysuckle. No snakes but everyone else seems to have stories and pictures of humongous poisonous vipers. An hour before the shelter it started raining. Got a good bath. Had some hot grits for a late lunch. Then set up my tarp and hammock. I'm getting good at keeping everything dry. Well at least only damp. Took a nap to the plop of rain; woke up around 430 and now it was definitely too late to think about pushing on. Although some of my friends were to find a stealth camp. Pretty much still raining. I'm hoping it'll Peter out by morning. In the last few days have hiked with JC a r eroded firefighter from Nashua. A mom 50 something and son twenty something team. A nice Finnish fellow very insightful American humor. A couple German boys. Oblivious. Smoking cigarettes at the picnic table we were eating supper at. I don't want to think about where those two now empty coke cans are. Lots of other characters. Passed a local young fellow carrying a blanket a tarp and a gallon jug of water. Nada nice chat he's out for about 25 miles of trail. My hammock is comfortable and dry. I don't know how this tarp does it so well.