Date: 2013-06-13
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 15.6

DAY 4MILES ON AT FOR DAY= 15.6TOTAL MILES FOR DAY= 16.8Woke up early, the sun was shining, and it was time for our first 15+ day! Popped some ibuprofen, had two packets of oatmeal and coffee, and we were off at around 7:45am! Doodles and UPS were a little slower but we all had the same destination and told them we would see them there. I felt better than I had any of the days before taking off in the AM. I think the sun really lifted our moods.The first 6 or so miles were a breeze. When we got to the top of Mt. Nesuntabunt (our only higher peak that day), we took some pictures of how far we had come. There was a beautiful view of Katahdin off in the distance and a lake below. It was amazing to think that we had walked all that way, with so much more walking ahead of us! We called White House Landing (a hostel) to make sure they had space for us and they did, so another 10+ miles we would go! Pretty much after we descended Mt. Nesuntabunt, it was all downhill (no pun intended). Although the weather was great, the trail conditions were terrible. For whatever reason there were so many fallen trees that took forever to get over, under, or around and so much of what we walked through were swamps. When I say swamp I mean mud up to your mid shin. Not the best when your trying to hike fast. It also made my knees start to flare up again and now my achilles tendons were starting to flare. More pain.... I guess it was expected. We met another thru-hiker named Hugh. He was an older chap and he had started the 100-mile wilderness from the other end (NoBo) to get his hiking legs, and then he was going to hitch hike back down and try to continue SoBo. What he was doing is sometimes considered a "flip-flop". He was super friendly and gave us a heads up on the trail conditions ahead. Pretty much matched up with what he had already been dealing with but also gave us ease about the river fording ahead. He had just come from White House Landing and said it was great and that the burgers are amazing! But to hurry because dinner is at 5pm. With the thought of a juicy half pounder in mind we looked at our watches and realized that we had apparently been more lacksidaisacal than we thought. We had about 2 and a half hours to make it 7 miles. Wouldn't be a huge deal if the terrain and our bodies would work with us. I was hurting!We decided to just bomb it and try to go as fast as we could with burgers and showers and beds swimming in our brain. Going so fast and getting distracted we ended up heading off the trail twice. It doesn't help that they don't mark the trails as well in the SoBo direction. It wasn't easy or painless, but we made it at 5:30pm! 1.2 miles off the AT is a boat dock with a blow horn. You blow the horn once and a guy shows up from across the lake not even 5 minutes later and takes you on a speed boat to the place that I keep mentioning... White House Landing. It's an oasis in the middle of the 100-mile wilderness, literally. Its in an unorganized town with a population of 3. Bill, Linda, and their son. Bill and Linda own it and run it themselves with over 700 hikers coming through between the beginning of June and the middle of October. They are some of the nicest people I've ever met.First thing was first... I said puh-LEASEEE tell me your still serving dinner. Answer was yes . A burger and a Dr. Pepper has never tasted so good... And that's the truth! Went down so fast. Could tell I was already getting the hiker appetite. I could've had another! We got to shower, wash our clothes, actually give them a chance to finally dry out, and got a nice bunk to ourselves... indoors! We heard a horn blow about an hour after us, and we knew it was Doodles and UPS. We were glad to see they made it safe too. I have some new injuries to attend to like a new blister and cut on my foot and my Achilles on both feet, but a good nights rest will hopefully help. Tomorrow morning will be my first AYCE breakfast experience hiker-style. Pretty pumped