Packing up the following day I felt great, alive, ready to conquer the world.  My legs brand new carried me swiftly and steadily to the next gap along the road.  It became apparent how good I was feeling when i waited for the others to catch me at the last water source before the climb.  With two mountains to do today I plugged in and let the music carry me up the mountainside.  My nimble feet found the right spots and my lungs worked in perfect rhythm with my body.  I was a machine as i steadily walked up the rocks and steep switchbacks.

Looking over my shoulder every so often, I noticed distance between us at first, this distance grew each time I looked back until I was all alone, they were no where to be seen.  Climbing steadily and fast I peaked the first mountain with little effort.  Taking in the views solo i felt a huge sense of accomplishment and awe on the overlooking cliffs.  I stood there on the edge, daring the rocks to break free and send me to the depths, looking off into the distance.  Half ghost, half person i was just out of view as Earthling crested over the rocky terrain.

Waiting with her at the view, Flailing wasn’t far behind her as we discussed what to do for lunch.  There was another viewpoint just up the next mountain and we decided a view for lunch was on the menu.  Taking off I was soon alone again, I was on fire, alive.  It felt great to be the one crushing out mountains for once, instead of being injured.  Breaking for lunch we had another mountain to climb, Mount Cube and I was attacking it with full force.  Up and up i climbed, never losing my breath, climbing over rocks and free climbing up faces.  Taking my time to go off trail for views I plugged away all the way to the top.  Just before the last view Flailing caught me, he had skipped all the views and trucked it up to catch the old man.

The two of us hiked on together, not for long though.  We soon came across some scattered clothes on the trail that had us worried.  This wasn’t a sight we saw often, clothes that were caught in roots and strewn across the trail.  Waiting for Earthling we thought the worse and prepared for the best.  Packing out the clothes, I called 911 and relayed what we found in case someone had gone missing or been injured and discarded them.  The three of us finished our summit in the middle of the day with spectacular views of the surrounding peaks.  Enjoying our views we headed down the mountain and walked together for the remainder of the day.

Reaching the road we were rewarded with a sign saying there was pancakes down the road and took the initiative to hitch there.  Getting our barrings at the sugar bush farm we waited to see if anyone would show up.  Sure enough someone did, the caretaker Maple Jim, offered to take us into town to get some food and supplies.  Cooking out on the BBQ we ate burgers and prepared for our ten mile hike the next day.  Breakfast was one thing we thought about, eating that pure maple syrup and pancakes in the morning was absolutely delicious.