Day 5 – 8/26/04 – West Lake to Carry Lean-to

Dave

Great night last night – very beautiful… and fun! Loved those boulders and swimming spots. These last two nights have honestly been two of the best I’ve spent in the woods.

Today’s trail to Cedar Falls was in bad shape and the arachnid invasion was at it again. We took turns leading this part of the trail because walking through them is just terrible. You end up paying so much attention to the spider webs and swinging your poles out in front of your face that you forget to watch your feet. I must have rolled my ankle 5 times on this stretch of trail alone.

Had a great lunch at Cedar Lake lean-to. It was beautiful out and I spent a good half hour in the water before taking a short nap under the sun… even getting a little bit of sun burn on my shoulders and back.

The trail from Cedar Falls up to Carry Lean-to was much of the same, and I was in a foul mood when we arrived, but it felt good to arrive none-the-less. Very pretty place. The bugs are in full affect already, so we will be setting up the tent tonight. The pavement pounding starts tomorrow – here’s to hoping my feet hold up better this year.

View from Carry Lean-to

Jess

I was on autopilot today. And now I’ve decided that I’d like to live the rest of my life on autopilot.

The spiders were awful. Every five steps we would come face to face with one of the stupid little bastards. Even the tree-hugging, vegetarian, liberal freaks that we are, we couldn’t help but delight in killing the suckers that caused us so much misery. But we finally got to Cedar Lake for a leisurely lunch and it was worth it all. We had a refreshing swim, lounged in the sun, read our books, and delighted in the peace and quiet.

After lunch we pushed on to Carry lean-to. It was on this stretch of trail that I finally figured it out. I stopped thinking. I turned my brain off and just walked – one foot in front of the other. No more spiders, no more fatigue, no more thoughts of where this trail would eventually lead us. I only saw the beauty.

At Carry lean-to, my Zen-like state persisted. In a fit of frustration over something Dave almost lost his sleeping bag — and I couldn’t have cared less. Even my pathetic attempt at a bear bag couldn’t bring me out of my reverie. This is how it’s supposed to be.

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Jess

Cedar Lake

Carry Lean-to