Date: 2016-08-12
From: Rangeley, ME

To: Spaulding Lean-to
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: few clouds

Training Wheels, Deadwood, Radar, Verge, and I were all dropped off at the trailhead and leapfrogged a bit for the first few miles of trail. It was disgustingly humid. I was melting. People had been talking about the storm coming, and the Farmhouse owner even gave us a safety speech and told us an emergency route to get down if we needed. Jeez! Everyone's freakin me out! I'm both nervous and excited for this storm.The rain came, and I was severely underwhelmed. It was just an annoying sprinkle that would keep you wet and chilly but wasn't actually very substantial. But then I got closer to the top, and the rain and wind immediately picked up. Torrential downpour! I was squinting through the pouring rain--it almost felt like hail it was raining so hard! I never bother to put my raincoat on in rain like that, and I don't have a pack cover so I don't have to worry about that either.For some reason, torrential downpours actually lift my spirits more than anything. It's like it washes away any and all negativity and gives me a new energy for the day. I couldn't stop smiling. I spread out my arms and embraced the free shower. It was fantastic. The trail got completely flooded to the point where I was splashing through streams deeper than my ankles while going up Saddleback Mountain. What an adventure! As I happily hiked up that mountain, I felt so in the moment. All I could hear was the wind whooshing past my ears and my shoes squishing up the rock faces and plowing through the rivers. I loved it. But then I had to go downhill...down completely slick flat rock faces. It slowed me way down and made me very annoyed. Hiking the horn was okay, but I started singing while going downhill and apparently that split my attention enough to make me slip and fall. Ow. Big ow. The rain eased up, but the slick rocks remained, so my spirits took a bit of a dive. Now, I'm just soaked and chilly and hungry and my everything hurts as I slowly maneuver down the steep mountains. There's no longer the wonderful accompaniment of the exhilarating rain. I finally got to the shelter and was happy to see Verge had waited for me. There were only 8 miles left for the day, and they went pretty quickly; however, I did start chafing. Badly. With about 5 miles remaining, I was in serious pain. The kind where you actually are wincing and gritting your teeth. Mind over matter? I'll give it a whirl. It worked for a bit, and with a pop tart snack came a new sugar energy. I was singing to myself and came across Verge and Soup. Soup provided us with thrilling and hilarious tales of his hunting camp experiences in Wyoming. A great distraction for a steep uphill near the shelter. We finally get there, and it's packed. I take a seat next to Sweets, who was cooking dinner, and I noticed I chafed so badly on my inner thighs that I was bleeding. I could barely walk. I waddled over to help Verge set up the tent (the shelter was very sadly full) and was happy to realize we'd made it to camp before 7pm. Woo! After a nice dinner with Sweets, Jingle, Fire, Panda, and Whiplash, we went to sleep, where it rained all night.