Date: 2005-08-31
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to 8:21pm - Hey, Jude

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to 7:22pm - Walking in a Hur
Miles today: 8.3

Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to 7:22pm - Walking in a HurricaneIt poured last night. Those of you who track meteorological events may notice that the date corresponds to Hurricane Katrina. I woke up, observed the horrid conditions outside, and announced that I'd be taking a zero day in the shelter. Since I'm on the eight-mile-a-day to Rangeley plan it would be trivial to make up for today tomorrow. Mayfly, always the go-getter, soon left, followed shortly by Red Wing and Hopeful. They were tempted to zero, too, but ultimately pushed on.Left alone, I occupied myself. I spent about an hour and a half working on storyboards for the B & B movie, a task I've been neglecting for about two months. When drained of creativity and inspiration, I read. Then I ate lunch, packed up, and left.There's a famous scene in Lawrence of Arabia where Lawrence holds a lit match in his hand, letting it burn down to his fingertips. He then rolls it, extinguishing the flame. An onlooker attempts the feat but drops the match in pain. "Ow," he cries, "it bloody hurts! What's the secret?" "Of course it hurts," Lawrence replies. "The trick is not to mind."It wasn't nearly as cold as I had feared. On the contrary, it was quite warm. But, oh, was it ever wet. Maine, as you may recall, is hard. It is a rugged, rocky area. When it receives an inordinate amount of rain, the three inches of topsoil can only absorb so much. The trail was a raging river. I'm not referring to the quick flowing streams that often form in heavy rain. Instead, the trail completely flooded for long stretches. I waded through shin high water and walked through heavy currents for much of the day. The ford across Bemis Stream was quite treacherous. All the extra water led to a very swift current but somehow I crossed without incident.The rains came and went all afternoon. At one point, I found myself ankle deep in a puddle, picking blueberries in the rain. I began to fear that my berry picking tendencies border on obsessive-compulsive.I left the shelter at noon and arrived at the next shelter up the trail, Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to, around quarter past four. Immediately I walked past a huge group, a dozen or so kids out on a college orientation trip. I began to second guess my decision to hike - I really, really wanted to be in a shelter. I turned a corner and found the shelter occupied by last night's trio and Chris and Alicia, two section hikers I'd met at a pond. Red Wing won the bet by me showing up. Unfortunately, he told me that the two open shelter spots were beneath leaks in the roof.I'm an engineer and always willing to meet a challenge. Red Wing mentioned a black tarp that previous tenants had left at the campsite. I rustled it up and borrowed some rope off Chris. I tied his rope to one corner of the tarp and mine to another, then tossed the ropes over the shelter, nearly killing a few people and knocking down a clothesline in the process. Red Wing and Chris hoisted the tarp into position and then we tied off the ropes. After tossing an anchoring rock up onto the tarp, our repair job was complete. Of course, things weren't in reality quite as streamlined but I'm sure that you're not at all interested in hearing of my ill fated attempts to climb onto the shelter roof including how Red Wing dropped me.Roof fixed, I made a home in the shelter. The orientation group was also hanging around the shelter so it was quite crowded. All in all, there's probably at least fifteen packs and as many sets of clothes strung up in a futile attempt to dry them. The shelter looks as if a travelling band of gypsies exploded. There's only six of us in here, with plenty of room for more, but it feels as tight as any other shelter I've squeezed into on a rainy night.The rains have also returned with a vengeance. I'm glad I'm not walking in this torrential downpour. We can scarcely hear the voice of the person next to us in the shelter, so we've given up and are simply enjoying the sound of the rain amidst our silence. It's supposed to be relentless tonight and clear up tomorrow morning. But right now, I halfway expect to see a parade of animals walk by two by two. At least then I'd maybe see a moose.