Date: 2015-08-10
From: Hall Mountain Lean-to

To: The Cabin, Andover
Miles today: 4.1

ANTICIPATION. IT IS STARTING TO GET TO ME.I can't believe I am in Maine.I was the queen of the shelter last night. I could have rolled around the whole thing like a psychotic glowworm in my big blue sleeping bag, with just my head sticking out and headlamp on. AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE YELLED AT ME, saying "For Pete's sake, crazy panda, go to freaking sleep!"Because no one was there! No one else arrived to indulge in the joy of sharing that little shelter with me!I was all alone on Hall Mountain. Except for the mice. I heard their little pitter-pattering throughout the night as they investigated my toilet paper bag, and my book, and my face. Luckily they did not get into my food bag. I hung my dirty socks on top of it as an extra deterrent.I keep hoarding my last new, not-textured-like-cardboard pair of socks because I don't want them to get trashed. Which is stupid. Because the whole point of having them is to wear them and not get stuck wearing the terrible old ones all the time. When I told Dan I was saving them, he said, "WHY? Enjoy them! I'll buy you a new pair of socks!" So cute. I am wearing them right now. In the hostel. Where they won't get muddy. Just a few more days until I ruin them...It was a wonderfully peaceful night. I slept fairly well, except for being a little warm in my nice sleeping bag. I guess I didn't need to wear my pants and my long-sleeved shirt and my jacket and my panda socks to bed.When I got up, I immediately headed to the privy, which was north on the AT. There was TOILET PAPER in the privy. What?! There is NEVER toilet paper in the privy. What a gift!Ok, fun story: In Korea, there is almost never toilet paper in public restrooms (I habitually carried packs of tissues with me). And often, when there is TP, it's not in the stall. At my school, there was one giant roll of TP on the bathroom wall next to the sinks. I have a serious problem with this. How am I supposed to estimate how much TP I am going to need?! I can't anticipate the texture of my excrement before I pass it (at least not usually). I HATED this. I am not ashamed to admit that there were multiple times when I didn't have to take enough, and had to carefully pull up my pants, waddle back out stealthily, snatch up more paper, and sneak back into a stall.It was really gross. But really, you can't know how much you'll need!Also, they don't flush their used toilet paper (a remnant of a history of poor plumbing, I believe). Each stall in my school had a little red plastic trash bin for soiled TP. Very gross.There is your poop story of the week. I feel like I haven't told a poop story in a while.OH I HAVE ANOTHER! Kind of. Yesterday afternoon when I got to the shelter, I noticed something orange sticking out of the ground. Upon further inspection, I found that it was a plastic shovel, similar to my own.And LATER, when I went to put my fuel bottle back in Gertrude's pocket, I realized that my orange plastic shovel was missing. I didn't see it anywhere around the shelter. How could it have fallen out?! I have no freaking clue.FREAKY, NO?! I took the other abandoned shovel. I think the trail loves me. I sure love it.Actually, as I think about it now, maybe I shouldn't have taken it. I shouldn't have assumed that it was a gift from the trail, though no one needs to dig poop holes at a shelter with a privy.Maybe the woods really ARE turning me into a barbarian.End of the digression...It was a very, very short nero to Andover. Only four miles, but they looked like the kind of miles that would take an hour each to hike.The elevation profiles have been very misleading lately. Today's first descent was steep, but not too bad. And the next ascent looked like a freaking wall on paper, but was not so bad in reality. No horrible, steep stretches of ledge to kill my leg muscles and test my balancing skills. Not that they haven't been getting plenty of exercise. This part of the trail has been well-maintained.It has been a little muddy, but much less dangerous. I guess that's less fun, but also less frustrating. There have been lots of nice stone steps to climb. They are also kind of annoying.Little steps. So many little steps. I tap-tap-tap my way up them, up the mountains and down the mountains.The big descent then climb weren't bad. Morning energy was well spent.At the top of Moody Mountain, I called ahead to The Cabin, the hostel where I was headed for the night. They headed out to pick me up as I headed down the mountain.IT WAS SO NICE. SO SMOOTH (mostly). I cruised! It was like the trail of the past! I loved it. I got that hiker rush, blood pumping through my veins as I picked up speed.And then I ran into a familiar face heading towards me. It was Yoda (I think that's his name)! One of the older men (50-60ish) who I met with Twister and Hands way back at Wayah Bald. "You look familiar." He said as he approached. I guess he had tendonitis and took time off, then decided to flip-flop. He hiked Katahdin with Hands. It is like the hiker world is imploding.I talked to him for a while then sped the rest of the way down the mountain so I wouldn't keep my ride waiting.Bear, husband to Honey, is one of the owners of The Cabin hostel in East Andover. When they married 21 years ago, they decided to keep busy during retirement by renovating a house and opening a hiker hostel. This was inspired by their love of hiking, and I think by a thru-hiker son. Very cute. They have a basement bunkhouse, with a bathroom and full kitchen, as well as multiple pop-up trailers in the yard for hikers to stay in.Honey and Bear live upstairs in the cabin, in living quarters separate from the hostel. They invited me to wander around as much as I pleased, though, offering snacks from the fridge and the use of their computer.Bear drove me to the post office to pick up my mail drop. Only two more left! Mom and Dan exclaimed about the fact that after they drop off the next one at the post office tomorrow, there will only be one last mail drop to send. There were about 25 boxes up in the loft at home when I set out for Georgia. But now... THE END IS NEAR.I am the only one here. There is another hostel in Andover, close to the grocery store, post office, diner, and other businesses. I imagine that most hikers opt to stay there, as it's more convenient. But not me! I take the road less traveled! I thirst for adventure!I think I made the right choice. Honey and Bear are so sweet. They are like amazing grandparents. They kept saying, "What else can we do for you? Come upstairs if you need anything at all."For dinner, they cooked me FOUR hamburgers. And when I couldn't eat them all, they insisted I pack them up for tomorrow. Then they handed me a HUGE bowl of ice cream. And brownies. I thought Bear was kidding when he said they had three gallons of Moose Tracks ice cream. He wasn't. That container was ENORMOUS.I feel sick just thinking about all the food I ate. No wonder I can't fit in my shorts. It was all so delicious, though...Did I mention that my mail drop contained about twice as much food as I need? I am going to have to inch my way up Old Blue Mountain tomorrow.It was a typical nero day. I took a shower, shaved my legs and rinsed my Trail Plaid with peroxide. I washed my clothes and updated my journal. I called dad, and mom and Dan. I tried to watch TV but didn't have much time.I did watch the beginning of "Flip Flop Flippin'", in which a man hikes the AT in sections and repeatedly catches up with the same thru-hikers throughout their journeys. One shot of the rhododendron tunnels so prolific down south made me nostalgic for the beginning of my hike. Is this what the rest of my life will be like?! Am I going to live forever in a state of trailsickness, instead of homesickness?! Is there no escape?!At least i have 250ish more miles left to look forward to. Still, Katahdin grows closer all the time. I called Alexa to discuss The Plan, and she told me that she had stayed here, too! I love it when our AT journeys overlap. I passed on her greetings and remembrances to Honey and Bear, who seemed very touched to be remembered.ALSO, they told me that they are the ones responsible for the TP in the privy. I love people. I hope I don't revert to my old misanthropic self as I reintegrate into real life.I don't know if I will be able to sleep after so much sugar and chocolate. But I will try. The morning trail awaits!I anticipate lots of rain and maybe some misery tomorrow. Here's to hoping for a good hike!EXTRA NOTES:1. No chafing problems lately! I haven't even needed to apply my diaper paste. I think this is in part due to cooler temps and rougher terrain (slower hikijf, no rhythm).2. Katahdin is pronounced Kuh-tah-din. Emphasis on the middle syllable. I hope that makes sense. Did you know it means "The Greatest Mountain"?3. DD: That poem is AWESOME. The formatting was right in my email. Thank you!4. I realized after talking to Trail Mentor Alexa that I never really talked about my friends besides their names... Kind of funny. Sorry! I forget things... but anyway, the Aussie Legs are two young Australian women (20s) and their mother. And Coco (female) and Magnus (male) are a married couple in their 30s. And they are all AWESOME.