It is 830 and the guys are about to head back to Ottawa and we are back on the trail with clean clothes resupplied food and packs that are way too heavy! I am carrying 38lbs and Arlene 32. There is long distance walking wisdom that says the difference between what you need and what you think you need is fear. I am carrying about 10lbs of fear! That will be whittled down in the days to come, I hope!

We are walking through lovely forest and the views are beautiful. The colours again are spectacular even though there is little that has yet awaken to the spring. The moss, lichens, fungi and ferns are jewels on the forest floor and clinging to the long dead trunks of massive trees. The forest is mostly oak. The ground is scattered with acorns. I strikes me that there are almost no squirrels. I guess generations of them have migrated to become urban and suburban opportunists. I feel sad that they have left this beautiful forest with plentiful food, they don't know what they are missing.

It is passed lunch time and we haven't had a break. We come out of the forest to cross a road and there is a gentleman parked waiting for his wife. He is 'slack packing' her. Our trail friends Apogee and Plyro also show up. Wonderfully he gives us a little trail magic in the form of water and tiny Snickers bars (a hikers best friend). Foot weary he whips out chairs for Arlene and Plyro to rest a moment, such simple acts of kindness that are so meaningful when you are tired. We bid him good bye and wish his wife well and continue on our way.

We know our destination based on the guide book, a camp site just past Low Gap Shelter. We are tired, it is late afternoon and we have been walking pretty much non-stop for 8 hours. Our feet and knees are feeling the weight of our overloaded packs. Not stopping to go downhill to the shelter we walk on. It is now an hour and a quarter since we passed the shelter, we have clearly missed the campsite and have climbed up a considerable distance from the gap. We pick a nice spot to put our tents under some big oak and white pines.

Thankful to finally be relieved of our packs we set up the tents and realize there is no water anywhere near to where we are and we are not walking very far to look for it. Luckily, there are our compatriot "old guys' Steve and Scott, they too have missed the infamous campsite. We invite them to camp and they thankfully share some water with us. Spirit of the trail. We set about getting dinner organized. The wind is beginning to howl and the sky is clouding over, the forecast is rain...