Date: 2006-08-18
From: Rangely, ME

To: Gull Pond Lodge
Miles today: 203.4

Greetings from MAINE!!! Our sincere apologies for the delayed entry. It seems that the further north we go, the smaller the towns get and the internet access more difficult to find. We have lots of news! First and foremost, we are in our 14th and final state!! I think I can almost smell Katahdin. We are loving these New England mountains and forests and are starting to feel like we are back home as the woods here are full of spruce trees and moose poo. We made it through the Whites without incident and absolutely loved every minute of it. The going was quite a bit slower than we are accustomed to and we found ourselves a little frustrated when we realized that our average through those big rocks would probably only be 13 miles or so. That's alright though, as we had great weather and fantastic views. We did have one sort of ironic mishap just before entering the Whites; At the base of Mt. Moosilauke, our camera fell into a river and perished. It would figure that right when we get to the most splendid section of our journey, we would be unable to capture it on photo. Oh well. As we decided, better the camera to break than one of our legs. Fortunately, we are still travelling with Rip and Hugger, so we'll be picking up a disc of their pics which we'll be able to post a bit later.    Mahoosic Notch was another section we thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone said that one mile would take hours to pass through and they weren't joking. Giant boulders and downed trees certainly do delay progress, but it sure was fun trying to shimmy over, around and between them. There are sections where you have to take your pack off and squeeze through, dragging your home behind you. Its definitly a mile to do with at least one other person. We got lots of great photos (on Rip's camera, of course) that we're anxious to share.    In other, sadder news, our friend Fiddlehead decided that her purist soul couldn't stand to skip a section and return after the summit, so she went back to Vermont to complete the hundred miles she jumped ahead to hike with us. Its pretty understandable though, as I wouldn't want to summit Katahdin and turn around with 100 miles left to hike. Anyway, it was great to hike with her, if only for a short time and we're looking forward to a reunion after she does summit.   At this point, we only have 220 miles left to wrap up. On the one hand, it feels as though we've been out here forever, but on the other, I can remember this time last year, sitting in class, daydreaming about climbing mountains and living out of my backpack. I can't believe its almost over, but at the same time, I sure can't wait to take that final picture.    I would like to extend a special thanks to my folks for coming out to Mt Washington and helping us to feel human again. It was great to see you guys and everyone really appreciated the sandwiches on top of the Mountain. (Not to mention the magic beer cooler!)   Thanks again to everyone for tuning in. We're planning to be in Caratunk sometime next Wednesday where there is a hostel with hot tubs. Hopefully we'll be able to update from there. In the mean time, keep signing in and HAPPY TRAILS!!-ORK AND BEAN