Date: 2010-07-22
From: Rangely

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn" -John MuirHe can see the sweat pouring from the brim of his cap as it forms tiny droplets falling to the rocks steadily. He breathes deeply and thinks to himself "it can't be much further, it can't be much further". He carefully climbs the rocks one by one, looking for safe places to put his feet. He can feel his legs and feet burning as he continues to climb this steep foot path that someone must have placed here out of spite of hikers. He notices that the trees are growing shorter and that the song of birds growing fainter. He knows what this means. He pushes harder leaning into the mountain, carefully placing his trekking poles in strategic postion to aid his accent. He is out of breathe and stops for just a moment, listnening to the sound of his heart pounding in his ear. The trees grow even shorter and the sound of birds is all but gone. His accent contiues up long slabs of rocks at steep angles emblazoned with the famous "white blaze". The trees are now shorter than he is, and there is more rock than forest. A couple hundred yards ahead he sees a small wooden sign marking the summit of the mountain. He turns around and lets out an involuntary yelp when confronted with the stunning beauty that can only be seen here above the trees. Wooo Hooo!! OH MY GOD!!!!! Mountains stretch endlessly in the distance, lakes sit quietely far below. He has just felt the exhiliration of victory. The clouds seem so close, heaven almost within reach. He feels it. That special combination of warm sun and cool breeze that only exists when you break treeline. He has climbed this mountain.So that is what I do just about every day now, sometimes 2-3 times a day. We are in the toughest stretch of Maine; the toughest stretch of the trail for that matter. Another week or so and we will be in New Hampshire and the white mountains. We stopped in this small town Rangely to pick up supplies and spend the night. It is a quaint New England town nestled between the mountains on a large lake. There are float planes that buzz right over head on their final approach to land. There is one gas station, a small library, a few buisnesses and a few lodges. Jan is here, as is Geo, Tater chip, Veggie, On pace, and a couple other North bounders.My shoes were falling apart. I left out with a pair of Keen Voyager mid height hiking boots. By the second day on the trail the soles where peeling back. I knew I needed to get a new pair of boots and not risk a catastrophic failure on the mountains. This is annoying. Although I will have no problem returning them to REI back in Jersey (I already called them), it means I have to front the money for a new pair, and go through the hassle of mailing the old smelly ones home to later be returned. Good hiking boots can run anywhere from 80-250 bucks! I stopped in an outfitter here called the Alpine Shop to try on new shoes and explained my dilemma to the owner. She said she had seen similar problems with the same shoe company recently. She brought me a phone number for Keen and told me to call them and tell them my situation. After briefly talking to the lady at Keen, she asked me to put the store owner on the phone. Five minutes later, the store clerk came back from her office and told me to pick out any shoes I wanted. Keen had credited the store the price of my shoes (110 bucks) so that I could exchange them there. I picked a pair of merrel trail runners that would have cost me 110 bucks. Kudos to both the outfitter for insisting that I call Keen, and to Keen for instantly making it right.Apparently Moose hike the Appalacian trail. I swear it's true. Although I have yet to see one, all day long I see their droppings right along the trail. I imagine at any time I will look up and see a Moose coming along clad with Bandana, beard and a set of trekking poles....."hey dude, you going Southbound".The night or two before a town are giddy times. When falling asleep in the shelters, often time the discussion turns to town talk. Pizza, milkshakes, and on this particular stop, the movies. Tater Chip has been talking about going to the theater (pronounced thee-a-ter in SC draw) for a week. "Lets go see us a picture show and get a big old tub of popcorn with butter" he says. We were all happy to oblige, and last night we smelly hikers claimed our own row at the Rangely thee-a-ter to take in Toy Story 3. Afterwards.....ice cream.Tater Chip is part of my "trail family". On the AT you develop bonds and friendships with people unlike anywhere else. Perhaps because it is the shared experience of the AT that makes it so special. Perhaps because we all share the same common bond of leaving our homes and loved ones to fulfill this dream/ambition/adventure/challenge/5 million step weight loss plan....it is something different to everyone. We look out for each other, we help each other, we recognize excess fatigue or homesickness in each other and combat it with humor or sarcasm. For your trail friends there isn't much you wouldn't do. For a trail friend, you would give your last snickers bar.Some people have asked about sending me things.....hopefully along the lines of extra fattening cookies or tastycakes!! Anyway, when I know for sure that I will be stopping in a town or Hostel I will put the mailing address in that little box up there to the left labeled "mail drops". You would just put my name, trail name, and the words "hold for SOBO thru hiker" on the box along with the address. I don't have any for sure yet but I will put some up there eventually. Also, eventually there will be many many pictures I promise. I just have to get to computer and have the time to upload them. It takes forever, and you have to do one at a time on this site.Onward to New Hampshire