Date: 2004-09-21
From: B-Hill Road 

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to 
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

B-Hill Road @ 0715Finish: Bemis Mountain Lean-to @ 1646Miles: 18.8Weather: Overcast and dreary all day, cool temps.Breakfast: Chocolate CIB, Strawberry Poptarts.Lunch: Snickers, Oat n' Honey, Peanut Butter Powerbar. Dinner: Turkey Trail Dinner, Snickers, Chocolate Powerbar.Trail Conditions: Steep climbs up Moody and Old Blue Mountains. Very muddy, lots of roots.Animals: Squirrels, Chipmunks, Birds, Grouse.People:SOBO dude, Nutcase, Blues Brothers, Ranger Jan, Statler-Waldorf.Slugs. I don¢t know what purpose they serve, but I¢ll cross my fingers that the Lord had good intentions when he made them. As I slept they slugged their way out of the ground and all over my bivy. This morning my sleeping pad and bivy were speckled with dozens of spots of crusted slug slime. Yuck. I did an immediate beard and hair check, fortunately only pine needles fell out.I slept soundly last night although I awoke several times to drink water. I got moving faster than usual this morning as I thought the gray skies would be a certain harbinger for rain, I also wanted to cover 19 miles. I scarfed down some grub and was moving about 40 minutes after I got up.I was in a much better mood and my grumpiness rating was far lower than yesterday. Enroute to Hall Mountain Lean-to I saw the only two people all day until where I am tonight. The first guy was a speed hiker who covers about 30¢40 miles per day. The second guy was a real whack job so I¢m giving him the name ¢Nutcase¢. As I rounded a corner on the trail he screamed out ¢Jesus loves you.¢ He was wearing a tattered LL Bean daypack, baggy jeans, and a beat up jacket. He was definitely American but talked as though he was Irish constantly calling me ¢lad¢. He offered to trade me his coat for a snack. It didn¢t seem quite fair so I turned him down. As kindly as I could I wrapped up the conversation and hurried away from him. He was definitely strange.I made great time to Hall Mountain Lean-to and actually walked around 2.2 miles per jour. I stopped briefly and pressed on as the hard part of the day was just ahead. Moody Mountain was a real beast. It was a 1,200-foot climb in 1.4 miles and was straight up. It was so steep re-bar steps were put into the rock in places. Once again there were long sections of scampering and my legs were like Jell-O when I hit the top. Then it was 1,200 feet down the backside of the mountain which put me at the base of Old Blue mountain and a 2,300-foot climb over three miles. Rebar Steps up Moody MountainI made it to the summit after two hours of huffing and puffing and grunts. I flopped down on a rock and rested and ate. Then it was time to pound out the final 6 miles. I made good time but they seem to take forever. Part of it was I was so dang tired. There were lots of small climbs that wore me out. The last mile I was literally dragging my feet and tripping and sliding constantly.Maine is going to be one tough state. I am both physically and mentally exhausted today. Just totally worn down. Honestly, I am so tuckered I had a hard time writing this entry and have left some events out cause I am too tired to write any more. Good night.