We’ve been walking through clouds for the past few days. It’s been a quick section since the last time we were in town. The first night out, we camped and it rained. Last night, I crammed into a full shelter. Shelters are strange to me. We were packed in so tightly that any movement from the guys on either side and I’d feel it. I understand shelters when it’s raining. But most people out here only stay at shelters. Being crammed in a dilapidated shack, sleeping on top of strangers, stinking, mice, graffiti, trash, …. It’s the antithesis of the beautiful wild camp. It’s stupid. And yet, the appeal of the socializing, and dry camping, sometimes makes out worth it.

Spring is really erupting. The dead forest floor now has a wide variety of inch high plants poking up.

Visibility is less than one hundred feet. It’s a foggy, misty, drippy world. Sometimes near creeks, I’ve had a feeling that I was back on the Rio Beni in the Bolivian Amazon. Lots of resemblance except for the silence. There are very few bird and animal noises here.

Other highlights? Freefall’s company again. He even made cherry cheesecake to share. Also we hung out briefly with some local kids. The were throwing firecrackers into a creek. Even though they lived within a few hundred feet of the trail, they had never walked on it and some didn’t know what it was. I have them the five minute sarcastic intro to the AT.