Date: 2018-07-27
From: Pierce Pond shelter

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 4.0

No rain this morning, but still woke up in a sloppy wet tent from the day before. There were quite a bit of people staying at the shelter/campsite I was at last night. Lots of new faces these days (Sherlock, Hot Tang, Chili Dog, Prophet) and some semi-new faces (Kidska, Mr. Potato, Stinger). This shelter is kind of a ¢hot spot¢ because if you don¢t stay here, well there¢s not really anywhere else for you to go. It¢s only a 4 mile hike between the shelter and the road that leads to Caratunk, ME. But in between the shelter and town is the Kennebec River. The Kennebec River isn¢t like any of the other rivers the AT crosses. It¢s a BIG freaking river. So big that the guidebook tells you NOT to attempt to ford it. The river is damned upstream and it¢s currents are very unpredictable. So the ATC has put in place a ¢ferry service¢ to transport hikers across the river. And by ¢ferry¢ I mean a guy in a little canoe that paddles hikers across in twos. The ferry only runs from 9am-2pm though, which is why everyone was stuck at that shelter last night. So the whole lot of us showed up at 9am and after signing release forms and strapping on life jackets, we slowly but surely got paddled to the other side. Once my feet hit the northern shore of the river bank, I was running to town, which thankfully was only like half a mile. There¢s a super popular, hiker B&B right off trail in Caratunk that I had planned to stay at, but they were full by the time I got there. Since I don¢t get cell reception out here anymore, it¢s nearly impossible to make reservations ahead of time. So instead I¢m staying up the road at a place called Sterling Inn. It¢s not a hostel, but not a hotel. Kinda just a nice, clean motel that has one room set aside with bunks for hikers. For the cheap price of $30, I got a clean bed, shower, laundry, breakfast tomorrow morning, and return shuttle to the trailhead. What a deal. The owner is super chatty, but really cool. He let me hang all my wet gear over his white porch to dry out in the sun. I got to wash my sleeping bag, which I think is only the 2nd or 3rd time on trail yet. It smelled like mildew. Lol And he gave me a ride to the post office to pick up an awesome care package from my fabulous Aunt Pat! It was full of vegan treats and her famous vegan peanut butter fudge, which made me super popular amongst the other hikers back at the motel. The town stops are always the same, but never get old. You clean up, dry out, and refuel. And by ¢refuel¢ I mean gorge yourself on junk food until you¢re so painfully full that it physically hurts to move. A literal beached whale. That¢s what I feel like right now. I ate an entire family sized bag of salt and vinegar chips until my tongue went raw. LolI also got to catch up on my blog and reconnect with the world virtually. The encouragement and support I¢m getting from friends and family (even strangers right now!) is overwhelming and literally means the world. Thank you x100! It¢s the only thing that keeps me going most days. It gets really hard out here sometimes, so to know that people back home believe in me and are keeping tabs on my journey REALLY HELPS. LIKE A LOT. Y¢all have no idea, so thank you so much.