Date: 2010-09-01
From: Stealth Tent site

To: ME 27, Stratton
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: few clouds

Okay, well, I didn't sleep that well last night. For one thing, my tent site was not really level, so my sleeping pad tended to slide downhill all night. Also, I was stealth tenting last night, so there was nobody else around. Seems like I'm getting alternating good and poor night¢s sleep. That being the case, I should sleep well tonight!Since I wasn't sleeping well anyway, I got up around 6am, made breakfast, packed up, and was on the trail at 7:30am. Right off the bat, I met a southbounder, who's trail name I cannot recall, who was a northbounder in my hiking bubble way back in Central Virginia. He had obviously flip-flopped. He is deaf, and hikes with his dog. He recognized me, too; broke into a broad grin and stuck his hand out to shake mine. I smiled back, shook his hand and gave him the thumbs up. Gosh, lots of climbing again today. First up Lone Mountain, then Spaulding Mountain, and then up Sugarloaf Mountain, the second highest mountain in Maine. Fortunately, we didn't have to climb all the way to the summit of that one. The descent down Sugarloaf to the South Branch of the Carrabassett River was STEEP and rocky. It took me forever to get down to the river, cussing all the way. I had lunch at the river where several thru hikers were swimming. One had actually fashioned a fishing rod from a branch and was casting into the pools. I'm not sure what he was using for bait, but he yelled back to me that he got a strike. I also ran into thru hikers Lady Bird and San Gabriel, who have been ahead of me since Delaware Water Gap. It's funny; many hikers have slowed down, and some have sped up. I guess I've sped up, relatively speaking anyway, because I've caught up with a lot of hikers who have always been ahead of me or whom I haven't seen in quite awhile. Anyway, the fun at the river looked inviting, but I wanted to get to Stratton, get a shower and a good meal. At 6pm, I finally got to the Stratton road crossing after climbing South Crocker Mountain and North Crocker Mountain, at over 4200 feet elevation. I hitched a ride to town within about 15 minutes and checked on a room at the Stratton Motel. Sue informed me that the only private rooms left were in her overflow motel outside town. So, I walked across the street for dinner, then grabbed a pint of ice cream at the grocery, and had her drop me off at the overflow motel. Motel might not be the right description, but I did get a shower and a bed for the night. She'll be back in the morning to run me back into town. I hope to be in Monson, after an intermediate stop in Caratunk, in about a week. I'm thinking I may arrive at Baxter State Park around September 16, with a possible summit of Katahdin on the 17th, depending on the weather. I'm keeping my eye on Hurricane Earl. Oh, and Pacer, who I met at a shelter a couple days ago? He's going home! That's right - 188 miles to go, having walked 1991 miles, he's quitting and going home. Why? No particular reason; he's tired and he has "projects". Go figure. And, he's not the only one. A thru hiker named Rockfight went home in Gorham, NH. One day¢s walk from the Maine state line and he got "tired of walking" and went home. Wow! I'd need a serious medical condition to stop me from finishing now. Trail maintenance required