SHT Day 7 (9/25)

I took a Benedryl last night to help me sleep so I wouldn't stay awake scratching my mosquito bites, which have dramatically increased today. The Benedryl did help me sleep. I slept a solid 8 hours, waking up to drool covering the clothing bag I use for a pillow, my arm, and part of the mat below me. No wonder I woke up so thirsty.

It has been another beautiful day in Minnesota. Today started out sunny, then a thick layer of fog rolled in from the east and hung out for the rest of the day.

The trail eventually brought me to Gooseberry State Park, where they have nice paths mown into the brush.

The state park is centered around the falls. Being autumn, the falls are at their lowest and aren't much to look at. This doesn't stop tourists though and I passed quite a few people just walking around in the fog admiring the trickle of water running along the slick rocks.

My guidebook said that the visitor's center had snacks, and who am I to pass up snacks, so I took a short spur trail to see what kind of goodies they had. They had three vending machines and a display of local chocolates. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it certainly beat the tortilla with peanut butter I would have eaten otherwise. 

It's funny how it only takes a little deprivation to make us appreciate the things we would otherwise take for granted. I don't like coke or most sodas, but this coke I had was heaven! I felt like I hadn't had this kind of food for months, even though I had a root beer and onion rings only yesterday. I stayed in the visitor's center for an hour, gorging myself on vending machine food, charging my phone, and watching retired couple after retired couple shuffle through the lobby.

I was too busy eating to take any pictures, but on my way out I managed this bathroom selfie. Look how handsome and rugged I look!

Also, I reluctantly forwarded the web address to my blog the folks I work with. I'm not sure why I was hesitant to do so before I left.

Whatever the reason, I decided to share my blog with work folk and I'm glad I did. I immediately got emails of support and encouragement and I didn't realize how much I needed that, having been alone the past few days. It's strangely powerful to have people you only know at work say that I've inspired them or that they know I can do it. It really motivated me to get out of the visitor's center and back onto the trail.

This section is also the closest I'll be to Lake Superior and this is the view I had while getting closer to the shore.

The fog made it a beautiful and sort of bleak view of the lake.

After getting back onto the trail and into the woods, I found this awesome hat. It's camouflage and says Bass Pro Shop on the front. By the writing under the bill I could see that it once belonged to I. Sawyer, but I couldn't just leave it there. It was too Minnesota-y and I had to have it. Doesn't it look great on me? Thanks I. Sawyer!

I walked into camp at about 6:15 and found a middle aged woman standing in a clearing. She seemed surprised to see a rough looking (thanks to my rad new hat) young man, but I was eager to be at a camp with another human being and a hilarious comedy of errors ensued. I didn't realize that she was actually half naked, with no pants or underwear on, so I said hello. She thought I was intentionally lingering and staring at her nakedness, so she asked me to turn around. I still didn't realize that she was half naked and I thought she was saying that she didn't want me to camp here, so I apologized and turned around to leave. A moment later she told me to come back and we figured out the misunderstanding.

She ended up being a nice lady and we talked for a while. She's a thru-hiker and has hiked the SHT, the CT (Colorado Trail), and the LT (Long Trail in Vermont). Her trail name is Eagle Eye. 

Thru-hikers have an interesting sort of culture and trail names seem to be a big part of it. Usually your trail name is given to you by other thru hikers and people prefer that you identify yourself as your trail name instead of your real name. She told me about her friends Samwise and Max and she wanted to know my trail name. I don't have one yet and I couldn't help but hope that when I do it's something more original than Max. Maybe something powerful like Phoenix or Hurricane, or something cute like Maple or Redwood. Hmm.

Well, I'm off to bed early so I can get up and hike 12 miles into Silver Bay tomorrow to resupply at a grocery store and eat PIZZA. I can't wait for pizza. I'm a pizza fanatic. 

Goodnight! 

Rob