#053 Snowbird Mountain to Max Patch Day 24: ATMM 239.1 to 255.1
In 2021 officials restricted camping on Max Patch. Since a gravel rode leads near the top, too many people with no respect for nature have easy access to the top. Easy access means excessive trash....
Mosey and I skip breakfast due to lack of water on the mountain. We pack our gear and head down the mountain. At the base of the mountain sits the rickety structure called Groundhog Creek Shelter. Surprised by its dilapidated appearance and slanted floors I wonder to myself if anyone still sleeps in it.
I follow the blue blazes to the nearby water source, which in contrast to the shelter, is excellent. Its flowing stream of cool water is an instant spirit lifter. I fill my tank with enough water for anyone who needs it back at the shelter.
We may have walked down the mountain on empty bellies and no water but the climbing up the next mountain would have been difficult without my oatmeal and coffee.
As we sit at the leaning picnic table—what’s with everything leaning around here? Sorry, allow me to begin again.
As we sit at the leaning picnic table preparing our meals a couple of SoBo hikers stop to gather water. I offer them some of the food the man in the truck gave me yesterday, and one of them declines. The other thanks me but says he doesn’t eat carbs. I present to him the potted meat. His eyes light up as if I’m handing him a t-bone steak and says, “Yeah, that’s my jam right there.” He’s excited to have the little can of mystery meat in his possession. I’m glad someone is eating it. I’d hate to carry it up and down mountains just to toss it into a hiker box a few days from now.