Date: 2008-08-08
From: Twin Mountains, NH

To: Twin Mountains, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Ok ok, maybe it wasn¢t the smartest idea to watch a show about Grizzly bears ASI was going to sleep. I had a nightmare that I was being attacked by a blackbear last nite. Again, I¢m shocked at the immediate relevancy my dreams havebeen having with the present happenings.We all slept till 9:30 a.m. Man did that feel good. I was so tired from nothaving slept that well in the huts. We got up and A.M. started packing up herstuff for the trip home. Finally our stomachs wouldn¢t take no for an answerso we went back to Munroe¢s for breakfast where we had a wonderful conversationwith A.M. about her life¢s path. Gosh it¢s so interesting to hear the story ofa person¢s timeline¢¦how this led to that and so on.We finished breakfast and all headed back. A.M. and I needed to talk about ournext plans. Oh, and we wanted to watch the weather to see the bad news too.She was sweet enough to offer her house as a place for Karen and I to stay atif we had to wait out several days of bad weather.So, I totally forgot to tell you all about my HUGE hiking reality check I hadlast nite. I briefly looked at the topos for the rest of the Whites and therest of NH. I KNOW I can be finished with the Whites in 7 hiking days, meaningI¢ll be in Gorham. And then¢¦the biggest news of all¢¦I KNOW I can be in Maine in9 hiking days (total¢¦not 9 more hiking days after the Whites)!!! I say hikingdays, because I don¢t know how many zeros I¢ll be taking, but when I realized Icould be in Maine in 9 hiking days, I about crapped myself right there. I meanREALLY? I am REALLY that close to being in Maine?Until the moment I figured this out, I genuinely felt I was just walking andwalking and the trail was just never going to end. No, it¢s not done at theMaine border and the hiking is very difficult there too, but being IN the stateof Maine is almost an unbelievable reality for me.So my plan, which I shared with A.M. is knock out this day hike tomorrow, andI¢ll be officially at Crawford Notch then. The weather looks like every otherday, but I¢m getting a 6 a.m. start and it¢s with a day pack. Then, Karen andI will relocate to a better location for her to work in (supposed to have wifiin the room at this place, but the signal is too weak). Then I¢ll head outfrom Crawford Notch and hut hop through the Presidentials for 4 days to get meto Pinkham Notch. Then, hopefully A.M. will join me again for 1 hut and 1campsite from Pinkham Notch into Gorham for 3 days and 2 nites. Then I¢ll befinished with the Whites and I¢ll be 16.5 miles from MAINE!!! Oh my gosh..ohmy gosh¢¦can it be true?A.M. opted out of the hut hopping through the Presidentials because she doesn¢tfeel right doing work for stay or the table sleeping, and the cost to stay inthese things is $85.00 a whack¢¦expensive.   Also, I¢m going to contact Ping (mysection hiker friend I met last year at the Dutch House B&B) and she may hikeinto the Whites and do the last day or 2 with me into Gorham. I REALLY hope Iget to see her again. She also offered Karen and I place to stay for a fewdays once I¢m in Gorham.So that¢s my plan, and I¢m VERY excited about it. A.M. and I went down to thisawesome store, Foster¢s, which is like a small version of Dan and Whit¢s in VT. I bought some supplies for my day hike tomorrow, because I¢m going to need toeat a lot to keep my energy up. I am excited because I can actually take somebologna sandwiches with me and doritoes too! MmmmmmmThis store had some cheap camping supplies and another room with sweatshirts.There was 1 shirt that I think should be remade for Massachusetts. It said ¢NHState Bird¢ and then had a picture of a giant mosquito on it.   I¢ve not useddeet since being in the Whites¢¦oh yes¢¦that¢s right..bugs don¢t generally botheryou when it¢s RAINING!We got back and A.M. got ready to go. We decided to finish our card game whenwe hook up again ( so you see A.M. you HAVE to come back and hike with memore!!).It¢s always sad to see her go. It¢s going to be really hard for me when I knowshe¢s leaving for good. I¢ve gotten rather used to having someone around outthere to blab to when I hike now. We¢ve had some really really wonderfulconversations too.The rest of the day, Karen and I just enjoyed some downtime. She found¢Deadliest Catch¢ for us on the television.   We talked about what happens whenI hike down Katahdin, get into the car, and drive away. She said she¢s worriedabout the next phase I¢m going to go through and she doesn¢t have a strategyfor being able to meet me in the emotional place I¢m going to be in. Iobviously can¢t begin to 100% predict what it will be like. Oh, and to Ginnywho shared such wonderfully wise thoughts in my guestbook pertaining to thegrieving process I¢ll be going through, I am definitely working hard to stayfocused on the enjoyment of the end¢¦but you¢re right, the process is startingto creep into my mind, so thanks for your thoughts and reminding me to stay inthe present.I told Karen that what I¢ll need more than anything is a safe place to be ableto express what I¢m going through, and that I¢d need to know she would bewilling to listen to me. She of course is up to that, but how lucky am I tohave a partner who is so aware and supportive of not only this hiking part ofthis journey, but the post-hike journey.It was a really great talk and although I am trying to invest as little mentalenergy as possible in thinking into the future about post-Katahdin days (let¢sface it, I¢m not even in Maine yet), it is within my nature to lend some energyto it so that I¢ll not be so shocked when it becomes my sudden and brutalreality.Well, now I need to get my pack ready for my dayhike tomorrow. It¢s got someclimbing and exposed stuff (after I get back up to the AT that is), and I¢ll befording the Gale River again, so it will be interesting to see if the waterlevel is different, since it has rained and stormed AGAIN today. Oh, the parkranger told Karen yesterday that someone drowned in the Swift River last weekdue to the high waters. I don¢t know exactly where that is, but it¢s a localriver. Seriously people, if this weather pattern doesn¢t change, I will feellike some sort of bionic super hero hiker for having made it through the Whitesin this crap.~Certain