Good walking and great cooking.

Relatively uneventful day. Saw a lot of pretty waterfalls. Trail was pretty smooth and dry, though at one point I stepped not a rock which shifted in the mud, splattering my leg with mud. Ran into an interesting guy named Whiskers. His name is rather self-explanatory. 

Hiked off and on with Hard-to-kill all day. We were pretty excited about a restaraunt, called the Whistle Stop which was right off the trail. But then we walked into the last shelter before it, and found out it closed at 3. Rather depressing. We met a couple named Dozer and Jackrabbit there, they were very friendly and gave us good info.  

I'd received a text on my phone the day before from some trail angels around Rutland (where we were) who'd offered to pick me up, feed me, let me use their shower, etc. I had no idea how they'd got my phone number, but I asked if they could give me and HTK a ride into town for dinner. 

Plans Too Much picked us up, and drove us to his place, where Karthryn had cooked pot roast. We had a great dinner with them and a great conversation. Turns out Machine gave them my number, as Plans was a vet and they like to help veterans out. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to bring Mrs. Sparkles up here to visit sometime. 

Plans drove us back out to the trailhead and we hiked one of the steepest sections yet into the next shelter. It was just a mile, but rough. We stumbled into the shelter after dark, but it was a large one and there was only one guy there, a SOBO section hiker named Newton. 

Section hiker whiskers. 

Rock sculptures

Hard-to-kill with his first ever rock "sculpture." He was very proud. 

HTK at dusk.