Moreland Gap Shelter to Mountaineer Falls shelter

When I woke up on Tuesday morning and got back on the trail, I stopped at the shelter to take a look inside to see what I missed. From what I understand, it was very similar to the other shelters on the trail. Looking back at the good sleep from the night before, it didn't really break my heart that I didn't quite make it to the shelter. The planned route was about 10 miles to the Mountaineer Falls shelter, and it was mostly downhill after an initial 200 foot climb. On the first day, my average speed was about 1.5 mph due to the hundreds of miles walking uphill, so that is the speed I used to estimate my hike to the next shelter. Initially, I thought that I wouldn't be there until about 4 pm or later, but I was sure that I would be there well before sunset. On day 1, I started off with 4 liters of water, and by the time I reached my first camping spot, I was down to about 1.5 liters. Thankfully, I found a stream crossing less than an hour after starting. I made a mistake that fortunately didn't end up biting me in the ass. Normally, a person would test out and practice using a piece of gear that he or she would be taking to the woods, especially a piece of gear that would help sustain life. I didn't do that with my water filter. However, it worked out, and couldn't have been more simple and efficient to use. I have a Platypus gravityworks 4 liter filter. While at a water source, it is a good idea to drink as much as possible before refilling water bottles or bladders. That will prevent the need for another water stop sooner than necessary. In the middle of the day, I reached FSR 293 a lot earlier than predicted, so I sat down, pulled out the stove and boiled some water for my Knorr chicken rice side dish. This was the first food of the day for me, and once it was cooked, it didn't last long. After that, I did what every fat man does after a hot meal. I napped. Upon waking up, I got loaded up and continued my walk. The Mountaineer Falls shelter is 4.8 miles from FSR 293, and it only took a couple of hours to arrive. Once I got there, I took off my wet hiking clothes and put on my dry polypropylene long johns. It was only 2 pm, but I was alone, and I had nothing to do, so I felt like my wife on a Saturday afternoon when she has no place to go- time for the jammies! The only thing missing was a glass of wine. I was by myself in the shelter in the early afternoon, and the only thing I had to look forward to was sleep at 8 pm, but that was almost 6 hours away. There was a paperback copy of "One Day" by David Nicholls which I started to read to pass the time. I was about one page into it when I heard somebody walking down the trail to the shelter. As it turned out, it was a guy with the trail name Jolly who was part of a group of 5 SOBO thru hikers. He and his father started in Maine in June, and they are predicting a total of 5 1/2 months on the trail when they reach Springer Mountain, GA. After he left, 2 of his hiking partners showed up about 20 minutes later, and we made some small talk while they signed the logbook and eventually headed out. The last member of the group that showed up was a guy with the trail name Rock Fish. He's obviously older than the other guys, and he seemed to have a lifetime of experience on the trail. He commented on my Gregory Baltoro backpack and said how much he likes his Gregory. His adventures are much more extensive than mine with his Gregory. He has more than 17,000 miles hiking with that particular backpack, and I was almost ashamed to tell him that I barely had 17 miles with mine. He and his group still had about 400 miles to their destination, and I only had about 9, so I took what I needed out of my food bag, and gave the rest to him to share with his group. After Rock Fish left, it was about 1/2 hour before sunset, so I heated up some more food, re hydrated, and waited for 8 pm so that I could go to sleep again. The shelter was a good place to sleep except that every time I rolled over in my sleep, my head bumped into one of the wall supports. I still had a great night's sleep and rolled out of my fart sack at about 7:30. After changing into my stinky, half-wet hiking clothes and refilling my water, it was time to head out for my last 9 miles of the trip.