Date: 2018-08-05
From: Antlers Camgrounp

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0

As I hiked out of Antlers Campground I came across a large stretch of wild blueberries. I would grab a handful as I walked and eating them. I started to laugh again remembering that I just stopped and peed a few minutes back most likely in the same stretch of blueberries and wondered if anyone behind me was going to eat those things. Eddie and I reached Jo-Mary road, a gravel road used during the paper milling days and now used by owners to get to their cabins deep in the wilderness areas. Jo-Mary Road was also the drop off site for my outfitter with my resupply of food for the second half of the wilderness. The drop box was hidden in the woods just a described including sodas and snacks.  When I opened the large box I was surprised to see several cases of soda¢s, and boxes of both Little Debbie¢s Swiss Rolls and Cakes. I love Swiss Rolls. At the road crossing were three other northbound hikers waiting for their resupply guy to show up. Apparently their stuff never made it and the outfitter was on the way out to bring them more. I could tell they were both frustrated and wanting of their supplies so I decided to take out five soda¢s and two boxes of the treats, keeping two orange sodas for me and passing the Little Debbie¢s around. We laughed as we consumed every single treat those two boxes had. Eddie and I reached Cooper Brook Falls Shelter early afternoon. We did not plan to stop there but the view was awesome. A huge cascading waterfalls flowed right in front of the shelter. I hiked up the hillside to see if there was more to the falls and it just kept going and going around a bend and out of sight. Out front there was a fire pit and most of the dead wood was pretty dry so I jokingly told Eddie he was in charge of a campfire that night. Eddie did not disappoint creating the fire pile in perfection. It lit and grew in seconds into a fire that continued to glow well after we laid down in the shelter with three other hikers for bed. The shelter was right in front of the fire pit and the glow of the fire lit up the inside of the shelter with an orange tint. We all took a vote that Eddie would no long be Just Eddie but he would now be known as ¢Fire¢, a name he seemed to enjoy. The next several days would take us up over White Top Mountain. It was a steep long hike up but not brutal like other steep climbs. The local Appalachian Trail volunteers were their repairing decades of overuse and erosion by placing large stones to create a stairway. We watched as they found the right boulder uphill then transported it to a crew on the trail via a cable pulley system capable of transporting boulders as large as 3000 pounds.  Getting to the top of White Top was anything but a disappointment. The view was stunning. I could virtually trace back to every shelter and campsite area we stay at over the last week all the way to Mount Katahdin. You could see well past Katahdin to appreciate the vast area called the 100 Mile wilderness and beyond. As we descended White Top we came across about a dozen young and attractive women around 20 years old co9ming towards us northbound. They were section hiking the wilderness to Katahdin. When they spoke you could hear the very French accent. I asked them if they were from France, but they said they were French Canadians. Then one of them pulled out a T-shirt and sked if we would sign their shirts as they wanted to bring that back home and show them all of the AT hikers they met. We did willingly and wished them well as we departed. That night Eddie, now Fire, again did not disappoint us as he built yet another awesome campfire for everyone to enjoy. It was now my ninth day in the wilderness and Chair back Mountain laid ahead, a mountain the profile we all knew would be brutal. We along with two other hikers we met agreed our goal for the night would be Cloud Pond Shelter, some 16 miles away.  Little did we understand just how brutal Chair Back would be. It had so many monster ups and downs that each up was named first Chair Back, then Mountain One, Mountain Two, Mountain Three, Mountain Three and Half and Mountain Four before it was over. Fire and the other two hikers we started with were far ahead of me. I was exhausted, brutalized and demoralized. I kept asking why would anyone creating this trail following such a route with nothing to show for it. As I descending Mountain Three and heading for Mountain Three and Half I see a boy around 12 with tennis shoes, a fishing rod and a small school size backpack coming my way followed by two adults, mom and dad right behind in shorts and tennis shoes and no backpack. My brain is questioning what I am seeing, they did not fit, and even more they were clean, happy and having fun. With a bewildered look I asked them if they are lost and how did they get here. The informed me they were staying at a beautiful lake lodge with cabins. Of course I said where and they pointed to this nicely maintained trail indicating it was a short easy 15-20 minute walk to the lodge. I am thinking to myself, WHAT, a lodge in the middle of the wilderness. Yes a lodge run by an organization called the Appalachian Mountain Club and Conservancy. They were there for a week, so I asked if that place might have both an extra room and food. They said yes and that dinner is family style with everyone staying there to be at dinner by 6pm. It was now around 4pm and my heart was not up to the next four plus miles of more Chairback Mountain so I mentally said goodbye to Eddie and followed them back to the lodge in hopes of a hot meal, hot shower and soft bed. Eddie needed to get back to work and intended the next morning to hike the last 20 miles in one day. Following them was the best decision I made. They had a cabin available with a shower inside and said they had enough food to feed me as well. What a decision it was. First the place was astounding in natural beauty. Cabins on a wilderness lake, and a dinner feast of steak tips, potatoes, salad, fresh made hot bread, dessert, etc. I sat in my shower on the handicap bench for 45 minutes just soaking every single muscle that throbbed. Finally I left for dinner sitting with several families vacationing there. Many have come for years and I could see why. When the steak tips finally disappeared, there was still steak juice on the plate so I asked everyone at the table if anyone minded if I soaked it all up with the homemade bread. They laughed and passed the plate to me.  After dinner I went back to my cabin with a covered porch to watch yet another awesome night of thunderstorm. Any guilt I had about abandoning Eddie and group disappeared knowing they were just miles from me sleeping in a pouring rain. I had no regrets. The next morning breakfast was no less a feast then the dinner I had the night before including pancakes made with those wild blueberries ¢ well at least hopefully not the ones I peed on. I was prepared to hike out right after breakfast, pack ready to go. The staff prepared me a lunch bag with a huge turkey and cheese sandwich, pickle spears, cucumbers and tomatoes, plus bags of cranberries. These would be my last two days in the wilderness. On my last day I came across a family of five children ages ranging from 3 to 14 plus parents who have hiked the entire trail already and just a week or so from completion. Ben and Camy, dad and mom, stopped and talked to me about their adventure and the enormous help they received across the country in their journey. They were promoting family values and staying together and even had a Y-Tube following everyone knew about. They were impressive and I could see the children loved the adventure. Mom indicated she was home schooling the children on the trail. Very impressive and I will assume someday they will be on national TV describing their adventures. After they departed I began what was to be the first of three river crossings requiring me to ford the river with pack on. I was a little scared on the first as sections were white water but in was easier than I imagined. I finally came to Highway 15 and hitched a ride back into Monson by a local who also lives in Rhode Island. He said everyone just calls him Whitey and was a retired union worker. As I entered Monson I ran into the two brothers FishFry (Jake) and TreeFall (Sam) from Georgia. They got in the day before and resting at the hostel. I also ran into one of the two that I was supposed to meet at Cloud Pond that I skipped for instead opting for the AMC Gorman Lodge and told them my entire story. They said also Eddie came in yesterday but left right away to get back to work. I have Eddie¢s number as he lives close to the AT and wants to meet me to have a beer and dinner together. I look forward to seeing him again. I needed a full day off and decided for two nights at the Lake Shore Restaurant and Hostel, the same place I started this adventure sitting on the dock having dinner with others overlooking Lake Hebron and watching the sun set. This time I sat there listening to a two person band playing great music mix of classic rock, bluegrass and R&B while drinking a glass of wine. When the music stopped I decided to sit in a chair on the dock to call Marilee and tell her I missed her and love her.