Oh, Jake

6-14-09 day 12
start: Clark's Ferry Shelter
end: Peter's Mountain Shelter
daily mileage: 6.8
total mileage: 135.7

We feel like we're getting soft after hiking through 2 towns within a week, and only 4.5 miles yesterday and 6.8 today! But it's nice taking it easy. We stopped at a beautiful ridge for lunch and met a weekend camper named Jake while we ate. Apparently, his friends ditched him the night before when it rained for 20 minutes, and he stayed behind "to guard the beer." They hadn't returned by midday the next day (but it was OK, he assured us, as he knew how to "hunt and trap and stuff"). Perhaps the most amusing (?) bit was when he misheard something we said and thought we were fellow hooligans, and went on for a few minutes about how easy it was to shoplift around here... indeed, quoth he, it was how he got all his food for this weekend! Oh, Jake.

After saying goodbye to our clearly inebriated friend, we moved quickly into camp. We used our awesome new alcohol stove for the first time, and it was a thing of beauty watching it boil a quart of water. We can't wait to ditch Eric and Emily now so we can use it full time! (Just kidding)