THE FIRST 100 MILES
June 15 - June 28, 1997
~ Sunday June 15 ~
We finally arrived in Maine today after 2 days of driving.
We left Orlando, Florida on Friday the 13th at 5:00 p.m. We drove
through the night until we reached Baltimore at about 8 a.m. There we slept at
a friends house until about 1, ate, and went on our way. We got to
Gardiner, Maine
late Saturday night/Sunday morning, and slept in a parking lot. In the
morning we met Bill and Elizabeth Caldwell who were nice enough to follow
us to the rent a car drop off and then drive us to Millinocket. We had to
stop here because we have Lucky and the boarding place is closed until
tomorrow morning. OH WELL!
I'm exhausted and feel like I haven't slept in days. We brought food
from home to eat on the trip to save money, however, this has left us with
extra food which we'll probably just send ahead if we can't eat it all
tonight. The drive was long, but extremely beautiful. It's the first
time I can remember being in the mountains without them being completely
covered with snow. However, I'm sure we'll have more than enough snow in
the next few weeks. The weather is great! It's about 65 Degrees now and
at nights in the 40's.
If anyone is doing some shopping, we all have the Whisperlite International
stove and they're great! Well, if all goes as planned we'll take Lucky to
the shelter in the morning, stop at the Post Office, and then head for Mt. Katahdin!!
~ Monday, June 16 ~
Had a late start this morning because we couldn't get in touch with the
boarding house for Lucky. Finally talked to them and had to call a taxi
to take Lucky :( and then drop us off at Katahdin Streams Campground.
Lucky was extrememly sad, but we'll be picking him up in only 2 days.
First day Katahdin
opened ALL AT trails. YAHOO!! Finally feeling
better, been battling a cold since Thursday. Got to Katahdin at about 12:30, too late to climb, so we'll climb it tomorrow.
I can't wait. It's like the true beginning of our Journey. 3 thru-hikers set out this morning, and I think more are staying
in this campground. We decided to hike a blue-blazed trail down to Daicey Pond, then to Grassy Pond and Tracy Pond.
We all decided to lay on a bridge on some logs
overlooking the Pond. We ended up falling asleep - not too smart - and a
bug bit my eye, not to mention everywhere else too! On the hike back to
camp I heard some splashing in the pond and looked over to see a huge
female moose. She was so beautiful! She was eating out in the pond. We
then noticed a little baby on the shore about 30 feet from us. It was
breath taking. He just looked up at us and stared as if saying
"Can I help you with something?" I regretted not having
my zoom lens for my camera. I tried to get a little closer and saw another
baby lying down by the first. They were so content just hanging out by the
water. I finally got about 15-20 feet from them without them seeming to
mind and got some good pictures. Mamma didn't even seem to notice us. Oh
Yeah!! This morning a bald eagle flew right over us. He was
awesome!! Just soaring around about 100 yards behind a flock of Grackles.
There was also a huge
raccoon poking around camp last night. We've also seen rabbits and
chipmunks all over the place.
The trees are awesome up here. Today part of the hike was
all spruce and fir trees. It was like walking through a Christmas tree lot, it smelled great.
I lost my spoon already. I left it in the rental car after
munching out on a pint of Ben & Jerry's Saturday night. I also discovered that my
Pentacell water purifier SUCKS!! It's awful, it takes soooooo long.
It's not worth it. I'm going to get rid of it and just share Jen's and
buy a filter for it.
I showered yesterday and used my camp multi-purpose soap to wash my hair
- I don't recommend it. It dried my hair out so much. I'd rather be an oil head and at least be
able to brush it every few days. Our packs are all too heavy, but I can't think of anything else
to get rid of. I guess I'll just have to get used to it. We'll need to get a good night sleep to
hike Katahdin tomorrow .. Good Night!
~ Tuesday June 17 ~
Well, WE DID IT!! We climbed Mt. Kathadin!!
It was amazing! Then we hiked 2.3 miles to the Daicey Pond Campground. My flashlight batteries are dying, I'll have to finish writing tomorrow.
~ Wednesday June 18 ~
Well, to begin with, I'm sleeping in Jen's (Smiles) tent.
Why you ask? Because mine SUCKS! The first rain since we've been out,
almost instantly EVERYTHING was wet. It didn't help the situation any that
I had just done my laundry and almost all my clothes we're hanging to dry
when it started to rain. So, not only is my tent so soaked that I had to
evacuate, but all my clothes are soaked as well. And we're beginning the
100 mile wilderness tomorrow. Good news is that I did get a shower today,
so I'm clean, but my hair, to add to everything else, is also wet.
![[rain]](/megan/graphics/rain_a.gif)
I LOVE THE RAIN!!!!
Well, let's go back to yesterday. Katahdin was AMAZING. We started hiking
about 7:30 a.m. Scott, now known as Chivo, took of as if he was running a Marathon. I kept up for
about the first mile, but then, I fell behind. Around every bend the mountains showed me something new. I would
take a picture thinking how crazy this hike was, and then, the next section
would be even more intense. I fell behind quite a bit, which, at first,
didn't bother me at all, but then, I remembered we had put all our stuff in
one pack since the Ranger let us leave our packs in his station, and we had
to use Lucky's pack to put our stuff in because it was the smallest pack
and we didn't really need that much stuff. So I started getting extemely
thirsty and hungry. I tried to pick up my pace in an attempt to catch up,
but I had to stop a lot and rest. Finally, about 1/3 the way up the mountain
I heard voices and assumed it was Smiles and Chivo, however, it
wasn't. It was Bob and Mean Gene who were just doing a day
hike to prepare for going out to Montana. Gene was wonderful. He
walks with a cane but he just kept on going and going up the mountain.
They said that Scott had flown past them about an hour ago and
Smiles about 30-45 minutes after that. They then gave me a pint of
water and four Three Musketeer Bars. I was so excited to have met such nice
people. It kind of goes to show that someone is always watching your back and
looking out for you. So, I preferred Bob and Gene's pace better than
Chivo's - oh, which, by the way, means Billy Goat in Spanish, he
got the name because he's just like a goat running up the mountain - and I hiked
with them for a while. Finally Bob called out to me that he saw Smiles.
I was so ecstatic to see her that I just bounded the rest of the way to her.
![[JerBear]](/megan/graphics/jerbear.gif) so my
surprise, Chivo was also with her. He had been waiting an hour and 15
minutes. Smiles had only been there about 5 minutes. Chivo was
cold from sitting and waiting for us so he just gave us some snacks, refilled our
water, since he had kept the purifier, and moved on. We brought some Mac
'n Cheese to eat but we wanted to save it till we were more into our hike.
Bob & Gene also moved on while Smiles and I took a little break.
After about 15 minutes we decided to press on. We stayed at about the same pace,
both of us having to take a short breathing break, less than
every 10 minutes. So, it might have taken us a long time, but finally we
made it to the timberline. From this point on, I thought the Peak was over
every incline. How wrong I was!! I was not at all expecting what was next.
However, it was the most rewarding and breathtaking accomplishment I've
ever had. We climbed UP, OVER, and AROUND the biggest boulders I've ever
seen. Keeping in mind, that I did grow up in Miami, so I wasn't exposed
to this sort of thing. At some points there were grips in the boulders
to use to pull ourselves up and over them. It was so unbelievable.
I pushed myself to a point I had never done before. Finally we were at
cloud level, but it kept on going. I was sure, at one point, that the
incline lead to the top. It felt great to reach it, but the blazes went
on. We reached a sign which said "Baxter Park 1 mile." I
couldn't believe that we had gone only 4.2 miles. By this time we
were again hungry and had just about drank all the water. But again, we
pressed on. It was the longest mile I've ever hiked!
From where we were we could see people way up in the
distance, that was where we wanted to be. Almost all the way up we saw
Chivo sitting on top of a boulder. He had already been up, hiked around,
and hiked some back down to meet us. Together we hiked to the top. The
view was more amazing than anything I've ever seen. We were on top of the
world! Above Cloud level. Over to the right was the Knife's Edge. It
looked suicidal. There were 2 people way out on it, and it was also
extemely windy and cold. There was still snow in some places. We met
Kaleb, Andrew, and their father up the last sections of the trail. They
purified some water for us, and we saw them again at the Peak. We relaxed
for awhile, ate a few snacks, enjoyed the view and decided it was time to
head back down. Going down we saw a group of 4 thru-hikers. The hike
down wasn't so bad. I had renewed my energy and was filled with adrenalin.
We decided at the first water spot we would cook lunch. By this time it
was about 4 o'clock and we hadn't eaten anything all day, however, when
we got there we discovered that we'd forgotten to pack a fuel bottle!!
<ARGH> So we finished our hike to the bottom and
then ate a huge pot of Mac 'n Cheese. We, well, actually Chivo, then
decided it was best to hike on to Daicey Pond Campground since we had to
pick up Lucky the next day at Abol Bridge. It was 2.3 miles, so in all
we hiked 12.7 miles. NOT BAD for our first day.
^-^-@@-^-^ ^-^-@@-^-^ ^-^-@@-^-^ ^-^-@@-^-^
(..) (..) (..) (..)
Oh yes, on the hike to Daicey we saw 3 cow moose, 2 babies, and 1 bull moose. They are so beautiful.
Back to today. Today we hiked
7.4 miles to Abol Bridge. We left at about 9:30 and arrived here about
2:30. It was a beautiful hike. The first river crossing I almost fell in. If
Chivo hadn't grabbed my arm I would have fallen backwards into the river.
Thanks Chivo! Instead I just fell and smashed my knees on the rocks
we were walking across. The next river crossing was awesome. The current was
strong and I got to wear my TEVA aquadactyls. Chivo went across first and with
about 8 feet to go he threw his boots to the other side and one of them hit a tree
and fell in the river. I've never seen him move so fast! He got his pack
across and then had to jump to get his boot that was luckily stopped from floating
down the river by a branch in the water. He then helped me and Jen keep
our balance as we went across. It was so much fun! Both of us almost
fell in. We crossed one last river that was shallow and easy.
Then we saw Andrew, his dad, and Kaleb - who is thru-hiking.
The trail was kind of hard to follow in some spots. We had to back track once
because we lost the blazes and in some areas we couldn't see a blaze for
1/4 mile. Kaleb and his group also got lost and ended up on a blue blazed
trail. We met up with them again at the Abol Bridge convenience store.
They were going to go through to Monson, but his father's knees were
hurting and he decided to quit. No wonder though, at the beginning
they were each carrying 80 lb. packs. I couldn't believe it! Kaleb was
down to probably 50 lb and we went through his pack with him eliminating
at least 10-15 pounds of stuff that was so unnecessary. We then continued
on to the next campsite.
We waited for the Taxi to arrive with Lucky and
ate munchies from the store. We got a campsite here for the night. It sprinkled while we
were hiking, but it's pouring now. I just hope the whole wilderness isn't
like this, especially since my tent leaks. It's OK from all sides,
but water gets between my ground cloth and tent, then up through my tent.
I'm not at all happy about this, and the next Outfitter isn't
until after the wilderness! This reminds me of how awesome Smiles is.
She's so good at staying calm and taking care of the situation.
We had our clothes out and were starting to cook when the rain started.
We put our clothes away - this was when I realized how soaked my
tent was - and she just moved the cooking stuff under Scott's vestibule
and continued. I began to feel this courage. I then realized she had
already put her rain gear on and was finishing all the chores. I quickly
got out of my rut and reminded myself that this was only the first
rain we've experienced, and we can deal with whatever comes up! Including
the next 4 day's in the wilderness where it's supposed to rain
almost non-stop. HEY, NO SWEAT!
So that leaves me lying here with Jen in her tent, which is extemely
cozy. It's crazy and hard for me to think how independent I thought I was, and already, only on our 2nd day hiking, I've realized how much I
appreciate those around me.
~ Thursday June 19 ~
30.1 miles
We hiked 11.1 miles today, from Abol Bridge to
Rainbow Springs Campsite. When we woke up this morning EVERYTHING was wet, and on top of that, it was
still raining. Even my boots got wet. It sucked! I looked inside my
tent when I woke up and it was a lake. I decided it wasn't worth carrying it
through the 100 mile wilderness soaking wet and I trashed it. I'll have
to share with Smiles until we get to an Outfitter.
So we put on all our rain gear and got ready to head out.
It was horrible. My pack was at least 5 lb's heavier with all the water soaked
in my clothes and other stuff. So I said a little prayer and what do
you know, ask and thou shalt receive, within a mile it was beautiful out.
We put our rain gear away and hung our wet stuff on our packs to dry.
I ended up chucking my fleece sweat suit pants. I didn't really think I
needed them and they were so heavy wet. I think I'll be able to send
back my fleece jacket in Monson.
The hike was beautiful. It got tough in a few
spots and it was really muddy along with some trees down on the trail. Lucky is doing
great. It was his first day hiking. He's not crazy about his pack, but he still
keeps up front the whole way. At one point Chivo started steering
us in the wrong direction and Lucky just cut off and kept following the trail. He's an awesome dog!
I just saw a salamander before I stepped into the tent. He was dark
brown on top with yellow spots down both sides and a pale gray or purple
belly. He was huge too! But very cute, just cruising along through the brush.
It's amazing that no matter how much I hurt while I'm walking, I
forget all about it at night. It's so worth it! I lay down and think
about all the beautiful views - we had a great view of Katahdin today
from Rainbow Ledge. We tried to set our camera on timer and take a
picture of us all together, but I don't know if it worked.
Right now we're camped on a Lake and the sunset was fantastic.
I'm still trying to eliminate weight from my pack. I've sent back a
lot so far, but small stuff I can get back later if I need it, or pick up easily at a convenience store.
We had a great dinner tonight. We made potato buds and then put minestrone soup on top, and we had pita bread. It was awesome!
We haven't run into any other hikers in the wilderness, but I'm sure we will soon. Today the hike through the mud reminded me of Labyrinth's Bog of Eternal Stench .. not because it smelled, but because of the noises your boots make when you pull them out of almost 3 inches of mud. It helps me forget about all my aches if I keep something like that in mind. For a while I was hiking through Jurassic Park!
~ Friday June 20 ~
38.2 Miles
Oh, the people we met today!! It was great! We started out at about 8:30 and I saw Trail Trooper while I was getting water.
He was coming south at about 25 - 30 miles a day! WOW!! We hiked 12.1 miles from Rainbow Springs Campsite to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to.
We climbed Nesuntabunt Mountain. It was tough! Lots of ups and downs, and very muddy. I took my first real spill. It was pretty funny. We were walking
through the Bog of Eternal Stench once again and I was stepping off a rock onto a log, and what do you know!! the log rolled and sent me into the mud. For a second I couldn't get up, but as soon as Sister
Smiles stopped laughing she helped me out of the mud. I didn't get covered too bad, but my legs were covered and cut up. Smiles fell later just putting her pack on, and it was my turn to laugh. We decided to
give walking sticks a try after seeing Trail Trooper fly by us with them. They help with speed, but already, after one day, I have blisters on my hands.
Next we met The Will. He was also going north and was eaten up by bugs. He said the rest of the hike was easy with not many ups and downs. I don't know what mountain he was hiking, cause the one we were on was ALL ups and downs. Then we ran into Brian again. We had met him at Abol Bridge. He's from New Hampshire (I think) and is only going to New York.
Then we ran into Bobbie K who is thru-hiking to Georgia. Then we met Charles on top of the mountain. We are all camping together. Smiles, Charles, and I are in the shelter. Bobbie K is the oldest at 48 and Brian the youngest at 18. Trailvis and Sneaky passed through for a second, but kept on hiking. We had met them on top of Katahdin. We were just discussing how we all hiked at the same pace when we heard Chivo and Brian planning out a 20 miler tomorrow.
Smiles, Charles and I just looked at each other and laughed. It's great staying in the shelters. It's fun talking to people and hearing about who they've met and just chatting a while.
Smiles and I hiked 1/2 mile down the trail to Sandy Beach.
At first I had South Beach in mind, but I just laughed at that idea. It was very nice,
though very cold. But we still jumped in. I decided it was also time to brush my
hair again. It's such a pain. the thought has crossed my mind to cut it
all off, but I don't think I could do that. We have already seen a mouse
and there have been a couple of run-ins with Brown Recluse Spiders in the shelters.
I tried again to lighten my pack, but all I did was cut my journal in half. Every bit helps.
The bugs are starting to get worse. Today we had a lot of horse flies on top of the mosquitos and black flies. And I forgot my mosquito head net in the bag that I tied in the tree with my food. Why it was in there in the first place, I'm still not sure.
We haven't really been eating breakfast and lunch. Instead we take more breaks and eat a lot of snacks.
They gave me the trail name - Pedro. Sounds kind of silly, but I suppose it fits. Pedro is Speedy Gonzalez's extremely slow cousin, and somehow I always end up a little - or a lot - behind. Oh well!
Chivo is amazing. He just keeps going and going. He probably won't stay with me and Smiles much longer. He has a deadline to be back and we don't. That's fine with me. I'll hate to see him go, but at least then I won't feel so pressured to hurry all the time.
~ Saturday June 21 ~
48.3 miles
We hiked 10.2 miles today, from Wadleigh Stream to Potaywadjo Spring. We were going to attempt to hike 20 miles to the next Lean-to since it was a semi flat hike, but that just didn't happen.
We left about 7:30 this morning and arrived here at about 1:30. About 1 mile away it's started to thunder really bad and we didn't feel like hiking in the rain. Chivo, Charles, and Brian said they were going to go 20 miles, but they were at the shelter waiting for us and decided not to go on. We examined our food and I think we are starting to run low. We've been eating as much as possible but we need to slow down.
We met some weekenders on the way over. They had (2) 7 week old Springer Spaniels. They were so cute. The hike was O.K., nothing exciting. The lean-to is really nice. It's pretty new and the out house is amazing! It's HUGE! You don't have to worry about bugs and spiders, and there's even a plexiglass window with a curtain!! It doesn't even smell yet. WOW!! The things that excite you in the wilderness.
We're camping tonight, and all the same people from yesterday along with Trailvis and Sneaky, a married couple from Memphis, and Brad from England. We've been sitting out by the fire for a few hours. It's nice to get to the shelter early and have time to relax.
Today is the first day I really hurt. Both my Achilles Tendon ached with every step. The rest of me is sore, but that's the only thing that
REALLY hurts. On top of that I fell in the mud twice today. It was pretty funny. I didn't get hurt, just really muddy. Lucky looks like he's really hurting too.
I gave him a massage. His feet really seem to hurt, and he was limping a little bit. I hope he's O.K.
he bugs were awful today! Worst Yet! They weren't even phased by deet. Once we get a little elevation it should get better. I HOPE!! It rained from around 2 to 5 and it's starting again now, but it's not too bad.
~ Sunday June 22~
59.7 miles
We hiked 11.4 miles from Potaywadjo Springs to Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to.
We started hiking this morning in the rain but we took our
rain gear off early because we sweat so much we might as well have been getting rained on.
It was actually pretty refreshing at first to get rained on, but after about 2 hours it
stopped and the bugs came out. They were AWFUL! THE WORST YET!
The sun was out for about an hour and then it started to down
pour, and a lot of the trail today was cedar bogs and it's hard enough to walk over the
planks when they're dry, but today both they were soaked, and we were soaked. My boots
were full of water. I could feel and hear the water squishing. The last couple of miles
were horrendous. We were hurting and carrying extra water weight. I started to hallucinate
that every leaning tree was the roof of the shelter. Finally we got there
and everyone except Sneaky and Trailvis was there. Chivo,Lucky, and Brian
decided to press on to the next shelter. We got here about 2 o'clock, but Lucky's almost out of food
so they were hurrying. I feel bad for Lucky, he looked like he was hurting bad. He cut a pad on his
foot yesterday and he did not want to leave the shelter. Poor Lucky :{
We first met Gus on the trail. He was an older man who was
finishing his section hikes. He started in 1968! AMAZING! Then we met Brett. A lady gave
Sneaky and Trailvis bug dope for us when they mentioned we were low. She also gave them some food.
We should meet up with her again in Monson. Then we met Papa who was great! We all talked
for a while. I ended up giving him my Thru-Hikers Handbook because he had never even seen it. I
was going to send it home anyway and share Smiles. He then gave me some
brown rice. Good trade! We're running kind of low on food - but we'll be
fine. Smiles and I gave some food to Chivo. We should get to Monson in
5 more days of hiking, and we're already thinking of what we want to eat
when we get there.
~ Monday June 23 ~
Lunchtime
What a beautiful day we've had today!!
We woke up and the sun was blazing. It was great! We put all our stuff out
to dry and then just relaxed by the river and took our time getting
ready. Papa gave us a bag of lentil soup and a bag of corn
chowder. He was awesome! He's an English teacher from North Carolina.
Trailvis is also an English teacher. We climbed Little
Broadman Mountain this morning. Then we went another couple of miles
and reached this beautiful lake. We were going to swim, but didn't want
to hike wet, so we moved on. Then we lost the trail and came
back to the lake and decided we wanted to go skinny dipping. But then
we remembered reading that one pond was infested with leaches and this
happens to be the one. So, needless to say, we didn't go skinny dipping.
Instead we decided to cook lunch which we haven't done at all the whole
trip. But with the food Papa gave us we had a little extra.
It's great how everyone looks out for each other out here.
We were low on water at the summit of Little Boardman and Brear Rabbit gave us some.
Everyone is so willing to help each other. Why can't it be like this everywhere?
~ Tuesday June 24 ~
71.4 miles
We finished our hike really late yesterday at
Logan Brook Lean-to after a 12.3 mile day. We took it easy, which
was nice, but we got to camp way too late. We saw a snake.
78.6 miles
Today we got a late start again. We hiked 7.4 of the hardest
miles so far; to Carl A. Newhall Lean-to. We started off climbing White Cap Mountain which we had climbed half of yesterday. It was amazing! A hawk of some kind flew right over my head.
We met an older couple going up and chatted with them for about
20 minutes. They were both teachers and climbed a mountain a week while school is out. Then
we climbed the East Peak of Hay Mountain, went down, and came back up the west peak.
We saw 3 more snakes. We see tons of frogs every day, they're super cute.
Then we met 3 cute boys from Massachusetts with a 3 months old puppy. She was great just
bounding up the mountain.
We then climbed Gulf Hagas Mountain. It was tricky.
Something like 4 times it's like you're at the top and then it just keeps on going up. We met
Walking Blue and Frogman, two brothers section hiking, up there.
Oh yeah, yesterday, after lunch, we crossed a river. It was awesome!
The current was so strong from the rains that it felt like it was just going to take you away.
I could feel the force. ![[ARGH]](/megan/graphics/afraid.gif)
I lost 1 hiking stick, and Smiles lost her water bottle. It was a real challenge and I'm
glad I brought sandals for it. Sandals are great for crossing rivers and for hanging around camp.
When we got here today we bathed in the river. It was exhilerating! It felt great to be clean for
a change. Sneaky and Trailvis have a waterbag and we just dumped water over our
heads. It was great!
We're waking up early tomorrow. We're only going 9 miles and over 1 mountain.
I can't wait to get to Shaw's. We run into people every day who tell us how great they are and
how good the food is. Bobbie K is snoring really loud, he does every night. It's kind of irritating.
Sneaky said this morning that at first she thought she heard a moose, but it was just him snoring.
~ Wednesday June 25 ~
We hiked 9 miles today to Chairback Gap. We had planned on hiking 16 miles today,
but we were not at all prepared for the climb be encountered. It was amazing! We only had to climb one mountain after
an extremely long and cold river. We saw a White Tail Deer. She was beautiful. So we met Ethan and
Matt, 2 cute northbounders who let us know that Scott and Lucky were doing well and that they had
even cooked them pancakes the day before. They said Chairback Mountain wasn't so bad. We started climbing
and it was pretty steep, but leveled out for a while. It was one of those mountains that you kept on thinking you were
at the top but it kept on going and going, and going some more. It was on and off all day. I kept on taking my rain gear
on and off because it's so hot. From what I thought was the top of the mountain I heard people screaming and looked way
over to another ridge where 2 people were waving. I waved back just thinking it was 2 hikers and thinking damn, they
are way up there, I wonder if we have to climb that tomorrow - then I thought it was Trailvis and Sneaky
and that they had pressed on past the next Lean-to. Little did I know, that was where I was headed. I had fallen behind Smiles,
and when I caught up she was sitting on a rock and said "I thought I'd wait for you for this climb"
- the boulders went straight up! I was in awe! We had to get rid of our sticks because in some parts we had to pull ourselves up.
I wondered how on earth Lucky got over this. We were wet, and the boulders were wet and slippery. It was a tough climb and made
me think of my Mom when she used to tell us "No one ever said it was going to be easy" - and no one did, and it
wasn't. But man, it felt great after we climbed it!! Then we went through some quicksand - it was really just mud, but you sure
sunk fast in it. First, when Smiles was sinking, I thought of Indiana Jones and then of The Never Ending Story
where Atreyu's horse sunk and died. I can't remember the name of the horse for the life of me, oh well! (note from Mom - the name of the horse is Artax).
It's still pouring, but I have DRY boots, so life is good. It's really cold, about 55 ° and it's only about 4 or 5 o'clock. It's going to be a chilly night!
~ Thursday June 26 ~
99.4 miles
We've decided to just camp on the side of Long Pond Stream.
I think that's what it's called, but it's a whole lot bigger than your ordinary stream, more like a river, fast flowing.
We have to cross it tomorrow, should be interesting.
We hiked about 12 miles today. Over Columbus Mountain,(elevation 2,342
feet) then Third Mountain (elevation 2,069 feet), then Fourth Mountain (elevation 2,379 feet), and then Barren Mountain (elevation 2,660 feet). They were
beautiful, but it was a tough day. We intended to hike 16 miles so that we would only have to hike 9 miles
tomorrow, but we figured 13 instead of 9 isn't too bad. And we'll have an incentive. Sneaky and Trailvis
are camping with us. We're only a couple of miles from the last Lean-to, but we heard it was infested with
Brown Recluse Spiders. Met Nolan on top of Barren Mountain. He was awesome. He was on a
day hike and he gave us half of a super big Hershey Bar and half an orange. It was great! I can't wait to
get some fresh fruits and veggies for a few day's. Drizzled for a little while, but we were lucky that was all.
~ Saturday June 28 ~
We made it to MONSON yesterday at about 7:30. We set out at about 8 am.
We forded Long Pond Stream, then saw the AT sign pointing down a dirt road. We started walking and missed
the trail, which was going off to the left. We probably walked 1-1/2 miles before tracking back and finding the
trail. It sucked, but hey, what can you do!! Smiles was pissed!
Sneaky and Trailvis left after we did, but found the trail.
We had decided to meet at Shaw's and then go out to eat pizza. We finally showed up around 2 this afternoon.
They had looked down the street into Monson and checked places in the town for us. I admit, I expected the
town to be so small. They had a parade today for their 175th Birthday and asked us to walk in the parade and
represent Shaw's and thru-hikers. It was pretty short, but fun. My knee has really been hurting me.
It's been sore for the past 3 days and I've kept it wrapped. I take some anti-inflamatories and normally it stops
hurting after a while, but today it hurt all day. It might just be because I haven't kept it elevated, so I'm
icing it to try to get the swelling down and I'm sure I'll be fine. Monson is having a dance party and I walked
down there to meet Smiles and Brian (a new Brian from Charlotte). The other Brian and
Caleb moved on this morning.
The food has been great. I feel like I'm hanging out at grandma's. It's so homey!! They're
playing Macarena right now. I hear everyone jamming. It's pretty cool, the whole town is partying down! We're going
to hang out tomorrow and probably leave Monday. The last day hike was rough. Lot's and lot's of ups and downs, and
we were trying to hurry due to our little side tour that morning. We got a ride only about 1/4 mile from the trail.
2 really nice people who were friends of the Shaw's picked us up. Everyone is super nice here. It's like the people
from 3 day's of hiking came together .. We've all been reading about each other in the registers, and now we all meet.
The Shaw's are great. 2 people from Wisconsin got in today. Lego and his
brother Luke - Lego is going on Monday, Luke just hiked the wilderness with him. One guy came in today and called
his parents in Pennsylvania to come pick him up cause his knees hurt so bad. Trying to plan to be in a town for the 4th
of July but I might spend it on a mountain top instead. Sure sounds good to me. Going to go through pack again and try to
eliminate stuff. Going to send cold weather stuff up to P.O. before the Whites.
HAPPY TRAILS!!
This Page supports the Any Browser Campaign
![[Any Browser]](/megan/graphics/any.gif)
|
![[mail]](/megan/graphics/rainmail.gif){kind=small}
