After a night of okay sleep, we woke up at 5a. Warthog and I were out before Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman. We were trying to get into town first because we have more errands to run than they do.
First thing, we had a hard push up. It’s something that would have destroyed us even a few weeks ago. However, after the Whites and southern Maine, our bodies are more prepared. Warthog and I saw only a couple of other hikers for the first few hours. In fact, for a bit of it, we were the “web breakers”. That means we were the first people to hike down that stretch of trail so we hit all of the spider web lines that were ran overnight. It’s not gross, but it is irritating. Occasionally you will get a web that strings across your mouth as you are breathing. Then it is gross.
A couple of miles before we reached the road crossing that will take us into town, we hit the 2,000 mile mark! Woo hoo! We stayed for a bit, enjoying the moment. Any hiker that arrived was tangibly filled with joy at such a huge accomplishment. It was at this spot that Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman caught up. I was glad too, I had been hoping to be able to share this special moment with them.
Less than an hour after hitting 2,000 miles, we arrived at the road. We stood trying to hitch for quite some time. There wasn’t much traffic and the ones we did see were apparently immune to our awesome hitching thumb dance. Finally a car stopped. It was a support van for a bicycle tour that was going through Maine. They took us down the street and dropped us off near a cafe. Lunch was first on our list. We were hungry, hungry hikers.
We didn’t seem all that welcomed in the cafe. The locals seemed to quiet down and stare at us. I know we aren’t the first thru-hikers they’ve seen. In fact, some were already there when we arrived. By the time we were leaving, thru-hikers were the only customers in the restaurant. I didn’t worry about it though. I just wanted to eat. I ordered the “Gobble Gobble”. It was a sandwhich with thick cut turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce inside. It was so good. We talk a lot about food on the trail. A friend, Bartender, told me how her mom asked what she wanted to eat when she got home. Bartender responded by requesting “Holiday dinners – all of it”. Since hearing that story I’ve been craving holiday food. This sandwhich hit the spot!
After lunch we walked down to the grocery store to resupply. It was a just under a mile walk from end to end. In between the two was the post office, which we went to after the grocery store to mail home things we can live without for two weeks.
After running errands, we walked across the street to where all of the other hikers were hanging out at picnic tables on the side of a gas station. There was a herd of us. All northbounders. Warthog and I each ate another sandwich before heading back to the trail. I’ve been so hungry lately, I knew I needed the calories.
Late afternoon it was time to get back to the woods. We still planned to hike another four or so miles. We quickly got a hitch and were on the trail in no time. After walking a bit I hear a familiar voice say, “I had a feeling we would see you all today.” It was PR, Aspirations, and GQ! As always, I was so excited to see them. It seems like we are always hitting each other in passing. I’d love to be at the same campsite for an evening so we could get a good visit in. Still, we stood on the trail for at least a half an hour talking. We could have stayed longer, but it was getting late and we were looking at night hiking into camp already so we had to press on.
We ended up stopping early at a campsite just about two miles from town. I’m glad we decided to stop. It let us get into camp early, sit around a fire with people we knew and some we didn’t. We stayed up “late” (9p) chatting and enjoying each others company. It was a really good time. I think all of us were nobos (northbounders) so there was a lot of reminiscing about the trail happening. We know the end is in sight. In the meantime, we plan to soak up as much trail as we can. It was really beautiful. It reminded me of why I love the AT. This is a place where people from all over the country and world can come together to share in each other and their accomplishments. It was a great night.
-ansel