(Daily Mi: 21.9) Walked like a turk today over 3 mountains and finished up with a 2 mi. x 2000' scramble to the top of Smarts Mt (3240 ft) where I spent the night in a former fire warden's cabin.

Left this am before Apricot was even up. Had to take a side trail almost a half mile to the water source which is a covered box spring. Kind of suspect looking arrangement, but the water seemed fine.

Passed two shelters on my way. Found an entry from Choo Choo at the second one in, but nothing from the Woodman.

Nice trailbed, and I really flew the first 19 odd miles. Ran out of gas and water with the last two miles to go. Couldn't quite believe I still had a 2000' climb to close it out, but I put my head down and muled on to the top. Love that giddy feeling on top of a well earned ridge.

Funny note about the standards desperation leads to: just before I started my final climb, I met a family coming down and asked about water at the summit. The spring, they cautioned, was basically dry. Just mud. This was grim news because I was down to half a quart of water and figured I might have to skip dinner.

Then I got to the spring. While it was admittedly feeding a shallow little puddle, there was a good 1/2 inch of clear water above the silt. It took ten minutes or so, but I managed to pull almost a full 1 1/2 quarts of largely mineral free H20 which was ready for drinking by the time I unpacked my kit.

Spent the night with a pair of southbounding brothers (17 and 18). They are full of stories of wonderful hiker hostels in Maine. They walk big miles, but sounds like they are taking their time.

The fire warden's cabin is a very charming location on the outside. Cute little porch and whatnot. But when you lock it down at night it is just a single dark, musty room. And even so, the doors and shutters clatter in the wind of the semi-protected summit. Mice scramble about and floor boards creek every time someone shifts in their bag.