I woke up still sick over potentially destroying all evidence of our trip.  It rained all night and Dave fell asleep at 7:00, leaving me to play solitaire and contemplate my complete ineptitude.  Luckily the hike to Blue Mountain Lake this morning was only 3 miles or so and we were looking forward to another “Mom drop”.  We made it to Lake Durant pretty quickly and Dave’s parents met us at the road.  We decided to try and find a room for the night – unfortunately, a tall order for a Saturday afternoon in late summer.  Everything in Blue Mountain Lake was booked, so we ended up with a room in Indian Lake … 11 miles from the trailhead.  Fortunately, Dave’s parents were nice enough to offer to come back the next morning so that we wouldn’t have to hike those 11 miles. 

We grabbed some lunch at a local restaurant and it might have been the best meal I’ve ever had.  No doubt that it was the best beer I’ve ever had.  Did some "laundry" in the hotel sink, hit some golf balls at the driving range, and moods picked up all around.

It was so nice to be inside last night. . . Especially since it was pouring rain!  My parents drove back up to give us a lift to the trailhead today and we decided to check out the Adirondack Museum.  Had some breakfast and lunch and spent the better part of 3 hours there.

As the day wore on the sky turned dark and it became obvious that we were getting another storm.  So we cut our day at the Museum short and 15 minutes later we were at the trailhead... and of course, it was pouring rain.  We threw on the rain gear and set off in rain and thunder, with the occasional burst of lightning in the distance.

A little over 4 miles later and we found ourselves at the O'Neil Flow lean-to.  Two southbound hikers that we met on our way up from Stephens Pond told us that this shelter was very nice - and I have to agree.   It appears to either be a fairly new construction, or has received recent work.  At any rate, I'm happy that it is solidly waterproof, as the rain is now torrential.