Date: 2010-09-07
From: Little Wilson Falls Campsite

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

07 September Tuesday ¢ 19.2 miles to Chairback Gap Lean-toYesterday, we passed a remarkable island campsite in the heart of Bell Pond. The island arose like that of a turtles head poking out of the water. The reflection on either side of the small floating campsite gave it frame and reference. Rock¢n¢Roll would later admit that he thought we¢d never make it past the island. We pasted that beautiful place of rest out of honor to our word alone. We had told Rock¢n¢Roll that we would make it to his campsite one way or another.We met ¢Utah¢ from Florida at Leeman Brook Lean-to on our way to Wilson Falls last night. Utah has an impressive goatee and seemed like a professional bull crap artist. He was a noble, interesting character that reminded me of a fireman or a hero. Utah wasn¢t going to make the October 8th cut off at Katahdin, so he flip flopped. Every time I¢ve tried ascertaining the recent whereabouts of Fun Dip I have failed. Not this time. Utah had specifically hiked with Fun Dip around the vicinity of Waynesboro, VA. Fun Dip made a positive impression on Utah, but ultimately Fun Dip left the older gentleman in his tracks.Talking with Utah caused us to arrive at our campsite later than anticipated. I never have difficulty with procrastination of any sort. I have no qualms with talking with an interesting character for as long as the conversation is good and fresh. When the topics went cold and dry I made the first move towards Wilson Falls. Tree and Hot Foot begrudgingly followed and we arrived late in the evening at Rock¢n¢Rolls campsite.Tree mocked my sudden inability to properly pitch my tent. I¢m falling apart. My camping prowess is tearing at the seams. I¢m subject to lackadaisical finishes where I cross the goal in a tattered and loosing my grip state. My hiking ability has not ceased to be outstanding, but my camp techniques are falling through the cracks. Last night it rained and I was practically soaked because of a lack of attention to detail. I always start out the race in proper fashion but towards the end I forget everything I learned. For example, I have no cooking pot. I forgot to replace my leaking Heineken can while in Monson. I have to borrow my friend¢s fancy titanium cookware to make breakfast and dinner now. Tree allowed me the trespass of using ones belongings, but he wasn¢t happy about it. I have to find an alternative or else my friend¢s may begin to jeer me and call me a gringo or worse, a tourist. Day hiker!Rock¢n¢Roll seems down in spirit this morning. The forecast calls for rain for several days. Today is to be clear and sunny but you wouldn¢t believe it. This cold and dreary morning makes it hard to believe that the earth orbits a bright orange orb called, the sun. If you had use of all your senses you could develop the idea that maybe the weatherman had to much to drink before evaluating the possibilities for today. The dull environment surrounding our first day in the 100 Mile Wilderness is like a plastic imitation of a Hollywood rainforest scene complete with bad lighting and fog machines.Rock¢n¢Roll fell at least 4 times within the first 30 minutes of hiking this morning. I felt bad for mocking him this morning. Tree was optimistic about today while Rock¢n¢Roll played pessimistic tug-o-war. We took a Rock¢n¢Roll break after the first climb to let him collect his thoughts. He narrowly avoided injuring himself while performing a Charley Chaplin style interpretive dance on slippery slick rocks. Rock¢n¢Roll needed to collect himself but mostly he just needed to talk. It seems like he is safest when he is talking. He is the opposite of the myth of not being able to walk and chew bubblegum. Rock¢n¢Roll can juggle the task of walking and chewing gum, but he would surely choke if he wasn¢t yammering away at the same time.Tree, Hot Foot and Rock¢n¢Roll have to push themselves hard today. Their schedule for finishing on the 13th of September means that they must reach Chairback lean-to today. It is a lofty goal with difficult mountain climbs. Our motto has always been: Big Miles Tomorrow! Honestly, we had no idea how difficult today would be. In retrospect, we were about to have a tremendously hard day. I felt like the devils advocate for being with them. I had no reason to rush. I simply kept their pace. When they took a break, I took a break. I wasn¢t their motivation. I didn¢t try to be. I never contributed to the demise of their plans. I never complained or discouraged the group effort. I wasn¢t there to muster the troops or swell the ranks. When they sat, I stopped. When they got up, I got up. At times I realized they were procrastinating to their own detriment but it never bothered me. I was simply excited and glad to be with my friends. The countdown to our finale is quickly approaching. Laughing once more at Rock¢n¢Rolls antics and misfortunate accidents were worth tripping over my own feet in the dark. Being around Tree¢s optimism was an even trade for late night hiking. The evening rush to our mutual objective was enjoyable with Hot Foot¢s sarcastic humor. The debauchery and depurative conversation with my pals made me glad I decided to stay with them.We stopped at Wilson Valley lean-to where I found a 9 inch aluminum pot by the campfire. The pot was more like a dog water bowl than a kitchen utensil. I could use this smutty black aluminum pan. Finding this pot inside the ashes of the campfire was right on schedule! I¢d prefer something a little less sooty, but you can¢t always get what you want. My new pot smells like old moldy firewood that had once glown a bright orange. The aluminum pan gives off the distinctive odor of a fire extinguished with pond scum. This is my only choice. It¢s this dirty pot or I have to annoy my friends with my lack of responsibility and preparation.I noticed a giant Fosters can swinging on a rope from the rafters of Wilson Falls lean-to. For a brief moment I thought I had found an alternative cooking pot. I could remove the rope and use the Fosters can as my new cookware. The purpose of the Fosters can as it hangs from the rafters is to protect food bags. The inhabitant of the lean-to places his/her food bag on the rope and the Fosters can further prevent the contents of the bag from being accessed by climbing ninja mice. The rope running through the can is attached to the bag as it dangles out of reach of vermin. It didn¢t immediately occur to me that there is a hole in the bottom of the Fosters can. Hot Foot pointed it out after I¢d already mentioned trading my ashen black aluminum pot for the Fosters can.I¢m having difficulty recalling anything significant about the hike from Wilson Valley to Barren Mountain fire tower. The terrain was similar to that of the exposed ridgelines of NY but harder. The weather had cleared up and redeemed our beliefs in the accuracy of the forecast. We caught up with Seeker and her brother, ¢The Judge¢ just as they were leaving Long Pond lean-to. We stopped at the lean-to for lunch and to wait for Rock¢n¢Roll. During the inactivity break I developed a shivering chill from the cool air intermingling with my sweaty back. I put on a rain jacket for warmth while we waited. There was an injured female section hiker with her husband at the lean-to. The lady had twisted her ankle and was questioning her ability to continue through the 100 Mile Wilderness. Tree, Hot Foot and I couldn¢t stop staring at the injured ladies enormous bag of Cliff bars and hoped they would sacrifice their trip and donate their candy to our cause. Unfortunately but fortunately the lady decided to keep their Cliff bars and continue walking. The couple is only one day into the 100 Mile Wilderness and she has an injured ankle. They decide to keep their food and continue hiking further away from medical services.We blew past Seeker and ¢The Judge¢ not long after leaving Long Pond lean-to. The ¢Judge¢ made a smartass comment about us younger boys hiking 25 miles a day just to take 3-4 days off in town. That¢s not true, but I laugh and don¢t tell him any different. The ¢Judge¢ is a funny guy that tries real hard to fit in with us. He sticks out like a sore thumb but I really like and admire the guy. He has a heart like a lion and tries to keep up with us. Our thru-hiker pace is not easy to follow after being in civilization yesterday. The ¢Judge¢ just got off the couch and a plane but we¢ve been at it for 5 months now. When I pass the ¢Judge¢ as he struggles up the hill he makes one last jeer in my direction.¢Yeah right, you went 1000 miles back home to care for your grandmother!¢ the Judge said jokingly as I passedNo time to bother with him, I have miles to go before I sleep.Barren ledges were murderous! I felt like my head was going to explode. My blood pressure went off the chart. I felt similar to this when I first started climbing serious altitudes in Vermont. My neck feels like the space shuttle take-off pad and my head is about to lift off into orbit. When we arrived at the dismantled fire tower Tree and Hot Foot were just as tired as me.¢I was bonking pretty hard back there¢ said Hot Foot in exhausted desperationWe decided to wait for Rock¢n¢Roll for only ten minutes here at the Barren ledges. Rock¢n¢Roll was having a hard day and the terrain isn¢t helping. Hot Foot played Rolling Stones songs on his mp3 player. Tree and I were anxious to leave but Hot Foot was procrastinating. I¢m starting to feel fed up with arriving at camp past dark every day. Neither Tree nor I have a reliable headlamp. Rock¢n¢Roll arrives just before the 10 minute cut off. We waste entirely too much time resting by the old fire tower.In another series of my recent stunning neglectfulness, I¢ve lost my only water bottle. My bottle must have fallen out before Long Pond lean-to. Now I¢m a litter bug without a water bottle. I intentionally discarded my leaking platypus water bladder back at Shaw¢s in Monson. Part of the reason why I purchased that large 1.75 ml bottle of ¢Calico Jack¢ was to replace my ability to carry large quantities of water. Now I have a half full bottle of rum and nothing to hold regular drinking water. I feel so unprepared for the 100 Mile Wilderness! I¢m falling apart right at the end!When I arrived at ¢Fourth Mountain¢ I prayed to God that we weren¢t counting down. Really?! Three more of these hairy beasts stood before us and our next lean-to? I was in for a fight of will and the last shreds of my determination. Sure enough, I groaned and loathed the name of the next mountain we summited; it was ¢Third Mountain¢. I was exhausted and it was getting dark. The trail is at least a difficulty of 8 out of 10. This section would later be described as the ¢Most Underestimated Section of the AT¢ and I would have to concur at this moment. We ran into another delay in the form of Not Bad and Klarity. We took a break together and waited for Hot Foot to catch up. We sat in the middle of the trail and I watched with great displeasure as the beautiful sunlight faded away.The views from ¢Third Mountain¢ ledges were fantastic but the loss of our vision made it hard to focus on getting to camp. It¢s so moving to see something so beautiful when you¢ve worked so hard to see it. I felt inspired again and recharged for the final push. Tree struggled to stay positive in the waning daylight. I tried to help our situation with a barrage of positive encouragements and good happy thoughts to get us home. Tree responds well to cheerleading and we were thumping on all cylinders again. Hot Foot was still somewhere behind and we were unsure of his ability to make it to Chairback lean-to. Tree and I actually made a bet on who we thought would make it to our destination. Honestly, I was unsure if I¢d make it. Earlier I tried motivating Hot Foot by staying behind him despite his slow progress but he tired of my persistence and flagged me to pass by. Hot Foot supplied himself with high fructose corn syrup junk food products and now he¢s low on energy.Tree and I were the first of our group to make it to Chairback lean-to. We were dripping with sweat and exhausted when we arrived in the dark. We asked if the shelter was full but I could tell from the brightly colored clothing and new backpacks that we were out of luck.¢Is there any room in the shelter¢ I asked but I knew it was in vain¢All full¢ said an overweight bald headed gentleman¢There¢s no room for two exhausted thru-hikers?¢ I asked just to emphasis¢Nope¢ announced the same guy with no less enthusiasmWe walk back to the tenting area behind Chairback lean-to and find only left over scraps. There fact that our headlamps are barely working makes it hard to find level ground. The fact that there isn¢t any level ground makes it that much harder. I find a crappy spot on the edge of a giant root expanding from the nearby pine trees.¢How fah did yoo go today?¢ asked FigI greeted Fig with a ¢Hello, Brother!¢ but he simply grunted in response. Fig never seemed to help my mood with anything he says. Generally, I avoid conversing with him. His comments never seem like anything more than advice. Who wants negative vibes after 20 miles of hard sweaty climbing that ended in night hiking? Tonight his unpleasant spirit towards me only made it worse.¢Big miles!¢ I responded cheerfully in the direction of FigI knew what Fig wanted. Fig wanted to point out the difference between us. He wanted to let us know that he was a responsible hiker. Fig wanted to tell me about his last thru-hike. Tree broke the silence and told Fig that we hiked 20 miles.¢I hiked tweenty thwee miles to here in too thousand!¢ announced Fig with Mainah dialectI keep my mouth closed but my heart was indignant at this comment. His negativity seeped into my mind momentarily, I¢ll admit it. To my relief I began to realize the reason why I hiked 20 miles today. I remembered why I was here in the first place. I didn¢t hike 23 miles, only 20. I didn¢t get a spot in the shelter because we had wasted precious day light. I didn¢t have a decent place to sleep because we lollygagged over moderately difficult terrain. I¢m not as strong of a hiker, but I chose to stay with my friends. I¢m here because I like my companions and I appreciate our close friendship. That¢s good enough for me.Tonight I ate dinner with Tree, Hot Foot, Rock¢n¢Roll, Not Bad, and Klarity. We are a vagrant bunch of dilly dallying lax hikers. But eating dinner with them around the fading light of dying headlamp batteries makes today¢s suffering easier. I¢m glad I have these friends. They feel like my family and I¢m proud of them. We all stumbled into camp in the dark. We are exhausted and ill, but we care about each other. We listen to one another bitch and moan, but we wouldn¢t trade our dinner table company of lowly hiker trash for any current or previous thru-hiker.I poured my ¢Calico Jack¢ rum into the ashy black aluminum pot that I¢d found today. I filled the newly empty 1.75 liter ¢Calico Jack¢ bottle with cold spring water. Then I poured the icy fresh water from my rum bottle into Hot Foot¢s platypus water bladder. Then I poured my aluminum pot full of liquor back into my ¢Calico Jack¢ rum bottle. This freed up my sooty black pot for its intended purpose of containing my dinner. I had spring water left over for drinking but it tasted a little like that crappy rum.¢Calico Jack¢ rum tastes like shaving cream and a bubble bath.I¢m going to get wet if it rains tonight. When I pitch my tent in a low lying valley it leaves the fabric of my tent limp and loose. I haven¢t discovered how to fix this after 2000 miles. Tonight I would learn once and for all how to properly pitch my tent. Unfortunately, it would be a lesson I¢d learn in a pouring thunderstorm.