After a long, steep climb, I reach an incredibly rocky ridge line with a great view. The entire ridge is covered with giant, smooth boulders, all of them slanted steeply to one side. Thankfully, the sun has dried them off, but they're still hard on the ankles, and they seem to go on forever. I'm getting cranky, so I stop to snack on some pretzels. It's amazing how quickly food can liven up one's mood out here. One minute I'll be cursing at every single little bump in the trail, and the next I'll be cruising along thinking about how great pretzels are. I finally get down to the trail magic, and I'm the first hiker there. There are some women with Dutch ovens, and they have potato salad and lasagna and apple crisp. It was totally worth it. They tell me that it's supposed to rain that night, but I'm too tired to hike to the next shelter so I set up my tarp nearby. Now, some hikers swear by
the tarp, but I am not so enamored. For me it's really only for emergencies. To be continued...