Day 4 — 13 miles
Pinefield Hut to Hightop Hut
June 5, 2002

Today was a good day.

We spent the day hiking with our Iowa companions. We talked as we walked, and the miles seemed to fly by. There were some pretty intense climbs, but nothing we couldn't tackle. We passed a trail maintainer who told us 100 yards ahead was a bobcat, so with cameras in hand we snuck up the trail. No luck today. We missed it.

We left Jim and the others at Smith Roach Gap, 1.4 miles from the shelter. We arrived at the shelter and discovered the mouse problem there right away. If in broad daylight the mice are out, you know they'll be terrible all night. Jeremy found the best tent site around and set up the tent.

A little later Gail (MeChunk) and her sister (McChunk) arrived at camp. McChunk is kind of amateur at camping and it was amusing watching them make dinner.

Space Monkey showed up in camp, followed by Chili Pepper talking about Trail Magic. He said a van pulled up and offered him KFC. We knew right away who it was. Our friends from Iowa were talking about KFC all day. Sure enough, that's who it was.

As we were all getting ready for bed they brought out some more magic. They had packed in a bottle of wine and cheese and had a candle for ambiance. It was awesome, everyone was in a good, festive mood. It seems despite the obvious mouse problem we saw during the day, the mice weren't a problem that night.