Date: 2017-08-07
From: West Branch of Piscataquis River

To: Monson
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

8/7Monson - Shaw's12 milesTwo young men walked by without stopping at about 5. Other than that I saw no people. Or animals for that matter. I read for a while, having difficulty keeping my knee in a position in which it didn't hurt. A little after 7, I got sleepy, shrugged, and put things away so I could sleep. No reason to stay up late, and sleep is when your body heals. Or at least mine does. I fell asleep holding my knee, the only position I could find that didn't hurt. A little awkward, but doable. After that, my muscles started relaxing while I slept, relieving the tension on my knee. When I woke up to turn over, I had more position options. As long as I kept a slight bend in it, it was fine. At 1 I woke up and realized I was chilly. I dug out my puffy jacket to layer with my sleeping bag. Then I dug out my fleece top. ( I had been planning to send the fleece home since it's been so warm. Now I think I had better not. ) I pulled my hat down to cover the tip of my nose, which was so cold it was running. All this was enough to let me sleep. At 6:40 or so I woke up, with nearly 12 hours of sleep under my little hiker belt. I felt pretty good. My knee still wanted to be kept slightly bent though. I got my food out of the tree and decided it was a hot coffee in the sleeping bag sort of morning. I needed to filter water so I moved my sleeping bag out of the way, baring my (clothed) legs. Sometimes the filter leaks. Better safe than sorry. After I finished filtering, I realized that my feet were so cold they were going numb. Dang it was chilly! I dove back into the bag while I finished my coffee. I packed up and started walking. I didn't know how many miles I could do on that knee, so I couldn't count on getting to town today. And I wasn't even sure how far I was from town, since I had to guesstimate my location last night. Imagine my surprise when I walked a hundred feet and found myself at the river ford. I had been spot on!I scouted the bank for the shallowest crossing, double bagged my phone, braced for icy water, and plunged in. To my surprise, the water felt great. It was actually a little warm compared to my feet. I never bother taking off shoes and socks these days. Crossing barefoot hurts, and my shoes are safer and less slippery than crossing in my crocs. My thin socks and mostly mesh shoes dry quickly. I find it a little humorous now when I find people laboriously removing footgear, tender footing across rocky stream beds, and carefully drying their feet before putting shoes on. Sometimes they do this multiple times a day. Meanwhile I've crossed in seconds and I'm on my squelchy way. I found that once I warmed up, my knee was pretty happy if I a) kept it slightly bent, and b) stepped on flat, stable surfaces. That was doable. I kept a pace of about 1.5 mph. Not stellar but way better than I expected. Shortly after Horseshoe Canyon I found Tom sitting by the side of the trail. He told me he'd been vomiting for three days and he was trying to get into town. I dug out some electrolytes to leave with him and wished him well. It's miserable to hike when you feel bad, and not being able to eat when you're exercising is the pits too. Later I heard that he had made it into town. At the trailhead I called Shaw's for a ride. They brought me back to the hostel but were out of beds. I got the sofa for the night, with a bed promised for tomorrow. The restaurants in town were closed, and the hostel offered a steak dinner, so I signed up for that. Mostly I wanted the salad and baked potato that came with it. The baked potato was the size of a softball. I put an obscene amount of sour cream on it. It was delicious. I was happy to see F Stop and Leif. Leif, being a little Jack Russell Terrier type dog, is super cute. And he was pretty happy to get my steak leftovers. F Stop says he's been eating a LOT of food. Like half a pack of hot dogs at once, in addition to his regular food. I don't know where he puts it. Must have a hollow leg. Tomorrow I'll resupply, mail some things home, and rest as much as I'm able in between running errands. I'm looking forward to seeing the Hundred Mile Wilderness again. Even more I'm looking forward to seeing my husband again.