Date: 2008-08-08
From: Rangley

To: Rangley
Miles today: 0.0

I awoke this morning prepared to slackpack. It had rained all night...again. Owl's first words out of bed were 'I don't want to walk in the wet anymore.' Since we'll be hiking back to here when we come back for this section it doesn't matter if she does it now or then. So she and I took the day off, sort of.Bob drove us to Rt.17 where Tigger, Soaring and Sweet Sixteen got out and started hiking north toward Rt 4. From there he drove us to East Andover to the hostel where Sweet Sixteen had her car parked. The hostel owners are semi-retired and don't always take in hikers, but they have offered to take us for a night with Sweet Sixteen.After getting the car we made a run over to Andover to the PO to pick up our bounce boxes that we had mailed from Stratton. We stopped at the general store for a burger and onion rings. They were excellent.Then it was back over the mountain to Rangley. It's just amazing how long it takes to get anywhere here. An hour and a half later we were back at Gull Pond. Owl and I took the time to go through our bounce box and pick out just a few things we needed. The rest we packed back up and mailed forward. Our plan is to catch a ride with Sweet Sixteen over to Glencliff, NH. I realized with all of us traveling with our backpacks there might not be room in her car for our bounce boxes. So we mailed them.Then it was off to the store. I don't have a clear plan for our next section. Since we are scrambling up the hike plan I don't have the maps for the next section. So I'm just kind of making a rough plan. I think it's fun to be winging it a bit. We went to the IGA and picked up a few meals and food for Roo and dropped off a prescription for Soaring. By that time it was 3:00 and we headed over to the trailhead at RT.4 to wait for the hikers.They came in staggered between 3:30 and 4:30, soaked to the bone. With a quick stop again at IGA and the pharmacy we made it home in time for showers by 5:30. Then it was out for pizza and back to Gull Pond in time to see that incredible Olympics opening show. Whoa!Owl and I have been pretty settled on our plan for the next few days. We were going to shuttle the other hikers early in the morning, then pack up and check out of here by 9 AM. Owl wants to do a little souvenier shopping in Rangley before moving on and we want to hit the internet at the library when it opens at 10:00. Mostly we want to get our business done and get out of Rangley by 11:00 when the Shiner's parade starts down Main Street.I'm not sure what the rest of the gang is up to. Tigger was going to hike but is feeling like she is getting sick. Soaring is feeling overwhelmed with the change in plans and has decided to skip hiking in order to reorganize her gear. Sweet Sixteen of course is going on. This is her last section in the northeast. So I'll get up with her early in the morning to give her a ride.As far as the plan to skip ahead and return to this section when it dries out, Soaring is still planning to join Owl and I in going to Glencliff. Tigger is till toying with some different plans. Her first plan was to stay on track here, but she is reconsidering several options. I'm not sure what she'll settle on.I feel pretty confident Owl and I have made the right choice for us. Safety and knowing our limits is much more important than doing the trail in any particular order. We did decide though that what we were calling our 'Wraparound' hike is now more like a 'Hop around' hike. But that's okay with us.In the IGA today I ran into our Trail Angels, Ed and Peggy from the other day on the trail. It was great to be able to say Thank You one more time. Their kindness was truly a blessing.Today we missed my nephew Nathaniel's wedding. Makes me sad to miss important moments like that, but I know Greg and Caleb were there and I'm glad for that. I sure hope the weather in Kentucky today was better than in Maine.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9