08 June.

08 June.
From: Melville Nauheim shelter
To: Goddard shelter
Mileage: 8.5
Weather: Sunny, mild

Penguin and I followed LightenedUp out of the shelter, but were out before Wally.

The trail was very nice today. Penguin stopped and allowed me to get ahead.

I met LightenedUp at the Hell Hollow Brook crossing, but was shortly passed by Wally, who reported Penguin returned to the shelter for a zero day, which wasn't a surprise.

I fell behind LightenedUp, and eventually ran into him again taking a break. I used my HikerBot phone app to determine that the Goddard shelter was less than 2 miles ahead.

The trail turned steeply uphill then leveled out. LightenedUp was just ahead, getting water at the spring near the shelter.

I stopped at the shelter to figure out my hiking plan and how to sync up with Penguin later. While I debated what to do, LightenedUp decided to continue on.

Except for LOTS of gnats and mosquitoes, the shelter had a nice spring adjacent and was new, comfortable and large. I decided to stay, hike another short day Saturday, a 15 mile day Sunday, then a short day Monday into Manchester Center. I hoped Penguin would catch up by then, and wrote my plan in the shelter register for her. The trail signs reported a bear frequenting the next two shelters, so I was happy to stay put tonight, but it was only midday so a lot of time to kill. I used a high capacity battery powerpack someone left behind to charge my phone while I updated my trail notes.

Other hikers passed thru or just stopped for water, but a father settled in the shelter and his two adult sons setup their tent and started a campfire that reduced the bugs.

I left my pack behind and followed one hiker up trail 0.3 mile to the summit, then climbed the fire tower there to enjoy the view and take pictures, while ignoring my mild acrophobia.

The father and I were the only ones staying in the cavernous shelter that night. As it got dark, we were startled by a LOUD chorus of frogs in the weeds in front of the shelter, which started and stopped abruptly.

I again used the left-behind powerpack to recharge my phone overnight.