Date: 2008-07-21
To: Andover Guest House, Andover, ME
Miles today: 58.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Alright...here is goes...Stratton, ME - Spaulding Mountain Shelter - Day 16 - 187.8 - 201.3 - July 17thWeirdest day today...after a good dinner and breakfast this morning, I hit the trail at 8. The first 5 miles were up 2900' and I had no issues there. Then the last 8.5 miles took me 7 hours. I ran into a good number of day hikers and NOBOs that wanted to chat it up (and I always love talking). Anyway, put that with an "accidental" 75 minute nap river-side and I turned a 7-8 hours day into a 10 hour one. None of the summits today had views (wooded), but the views getting to/from each summit were great! In other news...crossed over the 200 mile mark today...oh, and I ran into Sergey (IFP 2004) going along with 4 other guys slackpacking. They were flying along and we only exchanged a few words and he was off. He will be done in less than 2 weeks and did pass Collin (IFP 2004) earlier. He was also wearing an aircast on his left ankle, but if I was as close as he, it would take more than a sprain to get me off the trail. No SOBOs at the shelter tonight, just 6 section hikers...Saddleback Range tomorrow...I hear it's great! One other thing...2 of the ladies here tonight are from FL State...they have done a small (100-200 mi) section every summer for over a decade. They are going to Monson this year and finishing next year. It's amazing how many different ways the trail impacts people!Spaulding Mtn - Poplar Ridge Shelter - Day 17 - 201.3 - 209.3 - July 18thMade a potential life saving decision today. 2 miles into today's hike, the rain began falling. It rained (hard at times) for another 5 miles and then stopped for the final mile into Poplar Ridge. It was only 12:30, and I had plenty of time to go the extra 9 miles to Piazza Rock. However, that section involves going over the Saddleback Range, which has 3 miles above treeline (completely exposed - rocks only for the most part). This is ta long above treeline stretch and is very dangerous in bad weather. I had a gut feeling last night not to go over Saddleback today, and decided under sunnier skies at 1:30 to still onloy have a 8 mile day and stop and attack Saddleback under tomorrow's sunny forecast conditions [editor's note: the forecast for both the 19th and 20th - sunny and 80 - no rain]. All of you that know me well understand how unlikely it is for me to do this as I am generally a gambler/pusher on. What a decision is ended up being!!! It rained from 2-3 and lightning, thunder, wind, and 4+ inches of rain later in the afternoon during the time I was going to be above treeline (pat on my back for that one!). Anyway, I'm going to have to put in a few big days now to make up for lost time to Andover, but after these 9 miles to start tomorrow, it will get easier...no excuses now that I've gotten all of this rest lately! Oh, and 2 NOBO section hikers today in the shelter - saw no SOBOs today.Poplar Ridge - Sabbeth Day Pond Shelter - Day 18 - 209.3 - 229.4 - July 19thInteresting Day...it rained even more late last night and made the entire trail a big lake. My equipment is drying out, but there is no hope for the boots and socks right now. Hiking up Saddleback's 3 peaks this morning was hiking 60 degree vertical rocks as moving streams were coming down off the rocks from the 6 inches of rain yesterday (I measured with my Jetboil cup yesterday/night). Although there were no views from the top, it was a cool place. The sun was on one side of the mountain trying to burn off the grey clouds surrounding the mountain. It was cold, cloudy, windyu, and misty, but the battle between clouds, sun, and winds was cool (like a 5 year old playing with a dimmer switch). After getting down Saddleback, it was another boring, muddy, soaking my boots 13 miles. Oh, today was my 1st 20 miles day and I crossed over the 10% mark on the trail. After sluggishly getting into camp, some trail angels gave me hot dogs...then I ran into Scout Troup 1776 from NJ who gave me pasta with meatballs and cookies...awesome dinner! Thanks everyone for the morale booster (I needed it)! Well, besides the troup, I've caught up to the beginning of the big group ahead of me. However, I am only 27 miles from where I'm planned to get off the trail and go to Andover and take a day off. They'll probably pass me back again...tomorrow's plan is to take it as it goes...hopefully the trail dries out a little tomorrow...NOT!Sabbeth Day Pond - Andover, ME - Day 19 - 229.4 - 246.4 - July 20thA day that will live in infamy. Let's start out by saying that it rained for an hour last night and soaked my tent (with the rain fly on thankfully). I got going around 8:30, and by 10:00 the sky went from partly cloudy to overcast and rain began to fall. This was a real deal breaker for me, as everyone had been telling me how nice today was supposed to be and I thought things might dry out a bit...plus it had rained 5 of the last 7 days. I got over the 3rd peak of the Bemis Range today when the bottom started to drop out. The next 4 hours down to the road were awful. I slipped and fell more today than the first 18 days combined. The trail was nearly unsafe today to be on as I got off. Literally, everything inside and outside of my pack was now soaked, and my feet were starting to kill me because they had been wet/in rain/mud/etc. for 3 straight days now. I would estimate between 9-11 inches of rain have fallen in the mountains in the last 60 hours. Miserable. Oh, and of course, no views again today except for the first hour and a half. Now for the extra interesting part. Since today was supposed to be nice, I was going to tent near this river near South Arm Road. It would give me a chance to dry out my tent and other stuff. [editor's note: it downpoured from 10am - 2am without stopping at all]. There were no shelters anywhere close and I really had put all of my eggs into the 10 people who told me 80 and sunny, not 60 and lots of rain. Lesson learned there. There was no way I could stay outside and tent, cook, etc. in the rain tonight and hike the 10 miles to the East B Hill road tomorrow and get into Andover. South Arm road did go into Andover, but it was 9 miles away, didn't have any traffic (one car/hour), it was getting dark, oh, and still pouring. Luckily (very luckily), I had met a duo of people from Burlington, VT day hiking. They told me when I passed them 5 miles from the road that they had to pass Andover to get home and could give me a ride...SAVIOR!!!! The woman actually re-passed me and was down by 6:30 and I got down at 7, got my gear in the back of their Subaru Outback and get in the warm car. We waited until 8:45 (now dark) for the gentleman to finish. He had also picked up two other SOBOs who were also going to hitch into town. Well, the five wet people and packs jammed into the car and headed into town...we got dropped off at the Pine Ellis Hostel first, and after talking with them, they were full. Honestly, I'd had such a bad day, I would have slept in the bathtub so long as the roof was over it. They were somewhat pushy that they didn't want they 3 of us in their hostel, but at least did drive us to the other hostel in town (which they told us was also already full - it was nearly 10pm by now, oh, did I mention it was STILL pouring???). The manager at the Andover Guest House, Joel, was another complete lifesaver. He let the couple sleep on the pullout couch, and is letting me sleep on a cot in the laundry room. We got some supper and a shower and I have never been so happy with either. Evidently, I caught up with the big group in front of me. Once again, thanks to Joel and the Andover Guest House and the Burlington hikers for saving me last night. I am definitively taking a day off here tomorrow and will figure things out then. I am pretty dinged up (especially the feet) and need a day off. I hope it is nice out tomorrow and can at least quasi-dry some of the trail before I get back on. The last three days have been some of the most mentally challenging days of my life. I have learned that the physical part of this I can handle easily...the mental part is the tough one. Again, experiencing the lowest of lows at some points and the highest of highs sometime after the rain stops! More tomorrow when I get rested!