On a cold evening in the New Hampshire mountains Matthew and Eric were keeping warm close to probably “our biggest fire ever”. The trail has been a little lonely with no other hikers but then it is January. They had a “long and hard day” and covered about 19 miles to the Ore Hill shelter and are a little ahead of pace. One highlight was a 140 foot firetower on Smart’s Mountain. The natural course was to attempt to climb it but the ice covered steps kept them from the top. The rain froze to the trees and made starting a fire a little difficult. Matthew was prepared for such an event and used some cotton balls coated with vaseline to improve h
is fire staring chances. The Ore Hill Shelter looks comfortable but is not as warm as the tent. If it gets much colder they may set up the tent in the shelter. That way they will be warm and dry.
The sky was bright and clear enough to witness the Milky Way as they sat around the fire.
