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At
the hut, there was a group of staff from a local hospital who were up for an
overnight outing. They had brought a lot of food up with them, more than
they could possibly eat, and invited me to eat with them. I told them I'd come back
after setting up my tent. Then I talked to the caretaker about camping
regulations, and took some pictures of the hut and the falls while it was
still light out, just in case Saturday was too rainy to get decent
pictures. The falls are a long series of cascades in Whitewall
Brook and are pretty impressive (and loud) as they pass by the hut.
They're a nice place to sit by on a hot sunny day. The hospital group had
stashed a few sodas and a couple of bottles of wine to cool in a little
pool in a side channel by the rocks.
After
giving Muffin a drink of water, which was a waste since she wouldn't touch
it, we headed back downhill to find a good tent site. You're not supposed
to camp within a quarter mile of a hut or a pond, so we went back to the
junction of the Zealand Trail, the Twinway, and the Ethan Pond Trail, then
wandered down the Ethan Pond Trail past the forest protection zone sign, and went off into the woods to find a good flat
spot for the tent. We soon found a likely-looking location and erected the tent. I took most of the stuff
out of my pack, arranged my sleeping bag and pad, then took our food, my
fleece, and my headlamp, and we hiked back up the 200-ft climb to the hut again.
By
the time we got there, the hospital groups' dinner was just about ready.
They were having salad, bread and butter, chicken, roasted potatoes, and steamed
carrots. They had also lugged up a couple of extremely hefty-looking
cheesecakes. It felt a bit strange eating the food they had lugged up
there, but I knew they'd only have to pack all the leftovers back down again.
Also, a few of them hadn't been able to make it at the last minute, so
they were going to have all the more extra food.
After
wolfing down the main meal, I was way too full for dessert, but I helped
them clean up. At self-service huts, as Zealand is from October to May,
you can use their pots and pans, dishes, silverware, and stove, but you
have to wash and put away everything you use. You also have to carry in
water from the well in back of the hut, and heat the water for washing.
Dishwashing is a 3-step process: washing, rinsing, and
sterilizing in a cold water bath with a small amount of bleach mixed in.
At
around ten o'clock, I thanked them for the food, said goodbye, and Muffin
and I went
back down to our tent. Other than the sound of the tumbling waters of the
falls, it was quiet in the woods. And dark too - it had gotten cloudy, so
even the stars weren't shining. Comfortable in the tent, I read for
awhile, but quickly became tired and fell asleep.
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Junction
of the A-Z Trail and Avalon Trail. After this point, the trail became all
the more difficult to follow and I had to use all the trail-finding skills
I could muster to continue on in the right direction. |
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