Date: 2004-09-08
From: Wadleigh Stream Shelter

To: Hurd Brook Shelter
Miles today: 19.6

this morning it was lightly raining outside and warm. since we were packed into the shelter like sardines last night, we let some of the other guys get up and get ready so our 3 people on 2 pads arrangement could expand into the shelter space later in the morning. we had 19 to do today and it wasn't going to be as fun as yesterday's 21 miler. more maine r&r (rocks and roots) and some elevation gain/loss were in the mix for today.as it rained we waited around talking a bit and reading the shelter register. i left a note for dragon slayer. a few hikers have said she was one day behind us. i thought she was weeks behind us. the trail has a weird way of bringing people together so i wrote the note anyway. it would be cool to summit with her since we started the same day in february.we packed up and started off in the rain. about 100 yards into the hike the rain stopped for good and the blue sky could be seen through the trees. the weather radio has been saying were going to get smacked by the remnants of hurricane francis. looks like today we will get some nice weather. i'm hoping some cool canadian air will come our way and deflect the storm off the coast.did anything happen today? not really. we walked, and walked, and walked. there was a great view of katahdin today off nesuntabunt mtn. that's about it. i did have some odd thought when we took a break near a lake and some really large rocks. ...in two days i'm going to be surrounded by four walls, day after day, and not this lake. how am i ever going to handle this? it seems unreal that i could have lived inside so much of my life.when we got to the shelter there was couple there (heather and pablo) and last night's knuckleheads. the shelter was full and i was not happy. the forecast is for big rain tonight and i'd rather not have my tent up.there was a postcard in one of the towns where it had a mosquito as the maine state bird. i now believe it. we put out tents up way behind the shelter near the privy. the flying blood suckers were everywhere. i had to put my full rain gear on to get my tent set up and to make dinner. thankfully they can't pierce coated nylon... yet. the folks from maine are pretty hard core and so are their mosquitoes.my bad mood went through dinner and into the get-ready-for-bed time. fauna and flora did their best to raise my spirits. they asked what they could do and i said i just need to talk out what is in my head:i didn't want to camp; we are in camp late, again; the mosquitoes are biting me; i'm always the last to eat; and the last to get ready for the evening. such was the thoughts in my head. just expressing these decreased the pressurization i felt inside. after a little while i lightened up and felt ok.it occurred to me that i was doing the dishes for the 2nd to last time. actually, depending on the rain, it might be the last time i clean my pot and cup on this trip. (if it rains like hell, we're going to do all the stream crossings tomorrow and get out of dodge... err baxter, and come back saturday when it's forecast to be clear and sunny.)yeah, there's something growing in my tent. flora, the microbiologist, can usually take a whiff and tell me what it is. lysol disinfectant is what this tent cries for. i do take good care of it, but i haven't been able to fully dry it in a few days - too much walking going on.and that's all for today.