Miles Hiked: 7.3
Miles Left: 2134.8
Ending Location: Blue Mountain Shelter.

Last night we were serenaded by a flock of owls . B theorized that they were feasting on the mice which I think is a fairly safe bet. I like owls even more now!

It’s interesting that come 7am everyone starts stirring even though no one sets alarms. This morning it was like waking up in a cloud, with all the fog and humidity. Everything was damp even though it hadn’t rained, and condensation was dripping off the trees. It took us a while to get going, which was ok because today was a low mileage day before we tackle Tray mountain tomorrow.

The hike itself started out easy as we were following an old logging road. Slowly the fog started to burn away and by around 11 it was gone. It was still a grey day with the sun never peaking out from behind the clouds. Around noon Brian decided to call his wife so I continued on to give him privacy. This was actually the first time we’ve been hiking separately on this trip. It was nice but that was just at the point where the trail became a collection of wet mossy boulders along a cliff. The thought of tumbling down below and no one knowing where it happened certainly crossed my mind. Eventually I passed a campsite and decided to rest my feet and wait for B. The remainder of the hike was fairly uneventful with the exception of the fact that we ended up skirting the mountain we thought was Blue mountain to climb the bigger mountain behind it. Also we were rushing at the end because it looked like bad weather was rolling in. All that being said we still arrived at camp around 3. I set up a tent and B originally planned on staying in the shelter. He changed his mind though when it started filling up. I was very happy I had my pump water filter since the main water source up here was almost dry.

After getting my tent set up I spent some time writing this entry and then joined all the other hikers hanging out in the shelter. The main topics of conversation was how all the wildlife in Australia can kill you but the plants are perfectly safe and, is it time to eat dinner yet?! It was pretty funny because when the clock hit five there was a mad rush to boil water.

For the next hour and a half after dinner we hung out and talked some more, (I think I understand cricket now), until it got dark and we all turned in. There may be lightning storms tonight but the rain is supposed to stop around 8 tomorrow so hopefully we ‘ll be dry when we’re hiking.