Date: 2004-09-08
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-To

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: light rain

Today's hike had a theme! Red and Wet. We woke to sprinkles and a forecast that promised hard rain for the afternoon. It would be the first day over twenty miles since entering The Whites; I have to admit to looking forward to knocking off some bigger miles. Of course, there was a good reason other than stroking the ego. A long day would give us a short nine miles into Monson the next day¢¦that means getting in at around 10 am leaving lots of time for eating, resupply, eating, laundry, eating and a bed. Not to mention finding a whole Dutch Apple Pie which I can devour solo. But back to red and wet.The trail has been bringing us farther north with every day and each day I see more and more maple trees in full autumn color. Bright reds and magentas. Brilliant oranges and yellows sprinkled here and there. The forest is far from its peak; this is just the warm up act to the grand show to come. Now for the wet. The rain last night had every leaf, bush and tree poised to soak us every time we rubbed against them. Add the light rain and you've got a fairly moist Thru-hiker. But that's not the fun part. I had three stream fords. The first was manageable with some creative rock and tree hopping. The second had all the rocks underwater so it was shoes into the water. Amazingly there was no difference in the feeling of my socks and shoes when they were submerged. Obviously my feet were already soaked before wading in and I didn't even know it.Now came the third, which was a true ford. I found a section where the rocks came up shallower allowing for a knee high water depth. Other areas would have required a waist high wade¢¦glad I looked before I crossed. And I'm glad I crossed before all the rain of Hurricane Francis dumps on the land. Which for the record has now started at 7 pm. In the morning we have one more river ford right out of the shoot, so we'll get to walk the last miles into Monson in soggy socks again. Oh boy oh boy.Only a measly 123.5 miles to Mt. Katahdin now, can hardly grasp it yet. I do not want it to end or do I wish it would all be over. For me, there's just a new level of excitement to completing this fantastic adventure. Oh, after 2050 miles, I've finally lost a toenail. Actually two, at the same time. It, the left foot middle nail fell off today. The right foot middle nail is dangling by 10%. My big left toe still has about 40% numbness. My right big toe has about 20% numbness. That my gentle reader is an amazingly lucky foot care fact. I've known hikers who've lost five nails and have had blisters out the whazoo. Which have been strangely absent for me. My tally for falling down now is 13, I seem to be catching up to Alleghany whose up around 24 or 25? Remember I had only 3 falls for the first 1700 miles, and then I entered The White's and Maine. But the worst fall is still when I was back in Virginia at the Blackburn AT Center hostel. I was backing through a door with my hands full and forgot about the door jam and went over flat on my back. I just lay there and laughed at the absurdity of it all.Well its raining hard here in the woods of Maine and it sounds great. I love going to bed to the sound of a good cloudburst. So, from Maine, I'll say good night.