Deep Gap was a fairly basic shelter. Three walls. Roof. Though the loft made it slightly unique. This is where Hansel and Gretel draped all of their wet clothing after their full day of torrential down-pour. They were also able to sleep up in the loft which meant they did not have to pitch their tent somewhere on the ground outside. That night, the shelter ended up sleeping 9 people all together. This is where the stories begin.
At some point after Handel and Gretel arrived, they were joined by two rather stinky hikers. It is certainly not uncommon to have a bit of an odor after hiking a few days on the trail, not showering regularly, and living in the same set of clothes for days on end. They just isn't enough room in your pack for extra clothing, and as you might imagine, showers stalls are hard to come by in the middle of the woods. Still, these hikers were a few notches beyond the expected stink. Perhaps the rain was sort of pulling the ripeness out of them. We can not be sure.
As night fell and bed time arrived a few more surprises seemed to scurry their way into the shelter. It seems some woodland friends decided to join the 9 hikers and the squeaking and pitter-pattering of little mice kept Gretel tucked tight in her sleeping bag, worried that one might decide to join her. One mouse actually did hop right on top of her sleeping bag in the middle of the night! Fortunately, he hopped right off rather than sticking around to snuggle.
As if the mouse slumber party wasn't enough to keep Hansel and Gretel tossing and turning, one of their fellow snoozers, Red Fred, started producing the most epic snore ever experience by human ears! Hansel reports:
"Oh my gosh! Oh my goodness!! I don't know how this guy made the sounds that he made!"
Around 10:30, Hansel and Gretel both were startled awake and said to each other, "Oh my gosh. What the heck IS that? How is he DOING that?" Red Fred's snoring was constant and it reverberated the whole shelter! All night long this big guy made sounds that, even when Hans and Gretel tried to breath their very hardest, they could not even come close to making. At one point in the night, another hiker that was sleeping next to Red Fred gave up on trying to sleep, turned on his flashlight, and starting reading a book.
Other than the epic snoring and mice visitors, Hansel and Gretel reported the shelter was quite nice and it was great to be able to sleep out of the rain.
Happy trails!
Hansel I feel like I used to wear that hat.
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