7a came early. I didn’t feel well last night and had a hard time sleeping. I didn’t want to get up when the alarm went off, but I also didn’t want to hold up the group. Responsibility won out and I left bed to shower. When I got out, everyone was packing up. I did too. Our stuff had been strung out all over the room, but since we really don’t have that much stuff, it cleans up quick. We had a lot of left over food from our zero days which we ate for breakfast. It was a random mixture of last nights’ Chinese food, chip dip, crackers and cheese, donuts, cinnamon rolls, Little Debbie snacks, and anything else we didn’t want to throw away. I’ll venture to guess there wasn’t much nutrition in it all, but there had to of been a whole lot of calories.
After “breakfast”, we officially checked out of the room. I was sad to leave our comfy den, but knew full well that we needed to get hiking. Katahdin doesn’t get any closer when you are sitting on your bum. Before we hit the trail, we needed more fuel. We walked across the street to the gas station so everyone could get coffee. In order to carry less trash, we waited until everyone was finished and could toss their paper cups before throwing our thumbs out for a hitch.
It took less than five minutes for someone to pull over for us. Her name was Lisa. She knew exactly where we were hoping to go without us having to tell her. She told us she was driving right by the trail head and would happily drop us off. She was on her way to meet with someone and called to tell them she would be about thirty minutes late because of us. It worked out in her favor because the person she was meeting with had to cancel, he just hadn’t called her yet. Where we got off the trail is about fifteen minutes or so outside of Bethel, the town we took zeroes in. Even with the cancellation, Lisa still took us out. I will never get over my shock at the kindness of strangers out here. She didn’t just drop us off. She even took us to a nearby waterfall, carved out from glaciers. If it hadn’t been for Lisa, we wouldn’t have seen those waterfalls. Firstly, we wouldn’t have known they were there. Secondly, even if we had, we wouldn’t have walked the extra distance to go see them. When you walk 1,900+ miles, you are tired and don’t want to walk any more. Of course, we were happy to drive to the sites! That’s what Lisa did for us. Before letting us get back onto the trail, she asked for a photo of us all – putting our names into her phone so she could remember who was who in the photo. I’m so thankful for the Lisa’s of the world.
Anytime you go to a road or town, you are usually descending to it and climbing out of it. That’s what we had first, a climb away from the road and up the mountain. We were all still tired and were carrying heavy. It was a 2.6 or so mile climb up to the first peak, which happened to be another rocky bald (thanks Maine). The top of the mountain was in a cloud. The air was wet and cold. The rocks were slick. You had to carefully place your feet. We spent a lot of time up on the peaks, there were two in this climb. This particular stretch is known for its’ amazing views which were for the most part blocked by the cloud we were in. Every now and then it would break apart and for a brief moment you could see below. It let us see how the treetops are starting to change with fall. There was a partial rainbow hanging above them. It was gorgeous. I don’t mind foggy days, I think they are beautiful to photograph. However, from what I saw of the view, it would have been kind of nice to be up there on a fully clear day.
Everything was wet today. After three or four days of rain, of course it is going to be. The trail literally had water running down it like a stream. The bogs that were mixed in with the rocky balds, were swollen. The boards floating across the surface were half submerged. Everyone got their feet wet on these. You couldn’t walk around the bog because it’s a bog… your feet punch through the plants growing on top. Poor Wonder Woman lost her foot into it again, going in up to mid-calf. We had started off well, so dry, so clean. After just a couple of hours, we were all covered in muck spray and our feet were wet.
After our climb and after getting thoroughly soaked again, we descended a bit until we hit a shelter. The shelter was at about halfway through our mileage for the day. Since we knew we would have a late start, we were only hoping to cover about twelve miles. That meant we were eating lunch at six miles. We had the normal; pepperoni in tortillas, Pringles chips, and Nutty Buddies. We sat in the shelter to rest our tired legs and feet. All too quickly it seemed, we were moving on from lunch.
We continued down a bit to waterfalls and then started our gradual climb up. It’ll be our last climb for the day. The grade was refreshingly easy. Even though we still battled wet rocks and roots, we were able to keep up our normal two miles per hour pace. By 7p we hit our campsite for the night.
We are right next to a pond. There’s an old cabin across the way, just down the two track road near us. The campsite is large and open, something we haven’t had the luxury of camping in for quite some time. It was relieving to easily find our spot and set up camp. Warthog was excited we were early enough that he could start a fire. Despite several days of rain he was successful! He first laid down a large sheet of birch bark that was on the ground since birch bark will burn even if wet. Then he piled on his smaller twigs, then the larger wood pieces. He found some really dry driftwood near the pond and broke it down to fit in the ring. The fire started quickly and easily. Once it was up and going, the rain started. We were supposed to be clear for the night. Apparently a small cell came in and decided it was time to ruin someone’s campfire. Poor Warthog… he was really looking forward to the therapy of it all. He held up hope, but the rain was too constant. It won.
As it rained, a tiny salamander wiggled its’ way out of the dirt under our tent. We hadn’t seen him when we set up. He was probably dug down in the dirt a ways. When he recognized the raindrops he came scurrying out. I assume he was looking to hunt some bugs. It was adorable.
We ate dinner inside the tent. Warthog cooked in our vestibule. I know it’s not advised to do that, but when it’s raining, what choice do you have? It’s cold out. I changed into my camp socks so my feet could dry out and put on my puffy jacket and thermal pants. Fall is here. With it came bright colors and, unfortunately, also cold temperatures. In two and a half weeks, when we hope be to completing the trail, I imagine it’ll be even colder. If I could hike the trail while snuggled in my sleeping bag, I totally would. But I can’t. So it’s time to wrap this thing up and get indoors. Something I fully intend on doing. I’m so freaking excited!
-ansel