Day 5: Swift Gap to Bearfence Gap

Made it to Day 5! At this point, we were starting to smell and I had decided for certain, I'd go off the trail with Heather on Day 7. We woke to a very cold morning and quickly ran around in our rain gear cleaning up, packing and making hot water for tea. We were anxious to start hiking up a hill to build up body heat. More section hikers we ran into (more men, but going south this time). This day we knew we were passing through a campground that was open, Lewis Mountain. When we arrived we were delighted to see a campground. Heather and I relished picking out our treats, whoopie pies and salt and vinegar chips. "More to do" arrived around the same time and we had to explain what a whoopie pie was since he'd never heard of them, blasphemy! We went out in a big grassy area to soak in what sun there was and make some quick phone calls and enjoy our treats. Since we still had mileage to go, and the winds cut through our layers, we departed after a short break and found an actual restroom with warm air handdryer and running water. We cleaned up a bit then headed back to the trail. Along the way we found ice in a tree, evidence how chilly it was! The food ran through me quickly and left me with an upset stomach but we only had two miles till we reached Bearfence Gap. "More to do" had beaten us there and was with another solo section hiker, "Early Riser," who was in his 50s, also retired. We chit chatted a bit and then headed up the hill behind the hut to locate the designated sites. We had a good deal of privacy at our site and the luxury of a bear pole to hang our food, a spring, and privy. Ramen noodles never tasted so good that night. Earlier in the day, Heather had the brilliant idea when we stopped at a cabin (unoccupy-able) to collect wild onions to jazz up the soup, yum! I also made a video of explaining the water filtration system...sorry for the shaky-ness. We clocked another 10.5 this day. After reading the journal, we noted that the next day, we'd pass an actual restaurant! Get a good night's rest to hike on to that destination tomorrow!!

A cute cabin that can be rented, no one occupied it this time, but we used the privy and collected onions in the sunshine, some of the last warmth we felt on the trip

There they go!

Ice in the tree at Lewis Mtn campground

Nightly dinner ritual

Heather demonstrating proper usage of a bear pole