Date: 2006-07-15
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gorham
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: clear sky

It turned out to be a great night last evening at Imp Campsite. Around 6:00PM Cedar Moe left to go to the next shelter ¢ a scant four miles ¢ having regaled us with the stories of his adventures on his northbound hike. Among his many stories was his harrowing tale of been bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider, necessitating extensive surgical debridement of his lower leg. In order to protect him from further bites he now has a stuffed toy armadillo on the top of his cedar hiking staff for protection!    We all went to see the sunset. Dingle has arranged a little bench to sit on with a great view to the west and the Kilkenny Range of mountains. A hazy evening spoiled what was otherwise a spectacular sunset.   By 4:30AM this morning it was light enough to tell the color of a grey horse at 100 paces ¢ so I got up for an early morning breakfast and to watch the sun rise.   The sunrise was also hidden ¢ this time by a forest of trees. As I was trying to discern the beauty of the sunrise, I was bemoaning the intervening trees that were spoiling my view. Gradually the trees captured my attention and I lost interest in the sunrise. I don¢t think that I have ever realy noticed it before, but each tree is a very distinct individual. My tendency has been to classify them by family ¢ pine, spruce, fir, etc. but now I began to notice their individual characteristics, how this one leaned to the left, this to the right, this one had its greenest side towards me, as if it was hiding its browned needles and leaves behind its back. They were not just spruce or fir; they were as individual as the members of any family. I think that up to now, I have been truly loosing sight of the individual trees because of the forest.   I was on the trail early in anticipation of a long eight-mile day and an impressive up and down profile on the map. Cedar Moe had told me that he no longer looks at the profiles, preferring to view the trail at his feet instead. A wise man indeed, as I recalled the Fingerboard section in New York which was as flat as a pancake on the profile but was full of small, but significant, ups and downs in reality.      The major climb of the day was the ascent of Middle Moriah Mountain, difficult but enjoyable, with long exposed flat surfaces of rock and great views. I was able to look back and pick out Mount Washington and the great circle of mountains around the Great Gulf Wilderness and the ¢sharp and pointy¢ Mount Madison.   We had listened last evening to reports of a rescue on Mount Washington via Dingle¢s radio, and I said a prayer for the female hiker, reported in stable condition, who was to be evacuated this morning via the cog railway.   After the summit of Mount Moriah there is a little plateau ¢ which is in fact a wetland with extensive puncheons over it - and then a very long downhill. By now the day had turned very hot with the sun burning down out of a cloudless sky. The Black Flies were out trying to dive bomb into my sweat filled eyes. They got X2 hits to the Right eye and X2 to the Left. As I descended, the rising humid air from the valley greeted me and soon I was in a miasma of sweat.   I had learned my lesson from last year and I stopped at every trickle of water ¢ thankfully plenty because of the recent rains ¢ and drank my fill. I think that I consumed almost two gallons of water and was still concerned about my urinary output.   My luck was good however since all of the downed trees caused by the recent storms had been cleared away ¢ a Trojan job and I was happy that I had thanked the SOBO work crew when we passed each other yesterday. Fresh cut coniferous tree trunks are now added to my olfactory memories, under the heading of ¢Very Pleasant¢   The last part of the hike is a long a relatively flat hike out from Rattle River Shelter to Route 2. The trail can¢t make up its mind which bank of the river it prefers and crosses over the river twice ¢ necessitating some fancy footwork on slick stones covered with the still high water. There is also a new bridge downstream but for some reason it is not yet connected to the trail. This long flat portion out to the road was what Cedar Moe referred to as ¢Foot Candy¢ i.e. so nice to hike on that it is like candy for your feet. The candy was a little spoiled today by the black flies and the overwhelming stench from the Rattle River privy!   The seventh car stopped and delivered me to the door here. A hiker himself, he is currently climbing all of the ¢100 Highest¢ mountains in New England.   So I am now showered, air conditioned, fed, ice-cold-diet-coke-in-a-can replete and had a nap this afternoon. Great cell signal here and I spoke with KT. All is well at home. So a good section to start ¢ but I am tired and I do ache all over.Thought for Today ¢   There is a real difference between looking at something and seeing it!