Date: 2018-08-30
From: Abol Store

To: Rainbow Stream
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning at the Katahdin Inn.  It is located right next door to a Rite Aid where I will be picking up my antibiotic eye drops.  Here I am about 36 hours post Katahdin and I¢ve got an eye infection, my legs look and feel like I was run over by a pick-up truck, and the rest of me aches. I slept with ice packs last night. ... when I slept.   I made arrangements for a 9:45am shuttle pick up.  I needed every minute of it. By the time we got to the trail it was 10:45.  Another late start.   Armed with my antibiotic eye drops and a full pack I set out in the 100 mile wilderness! How exciting! I saw 5 or 6 NOBO¢s coming in to finish their hike.  They¢re always extremely verbose.  I¢m sure it¢s the excitement of reaching Katahdin and the prospect of really finishing this long crazy hike!  I smile and talk as long as they want. It¢s fun to share in others joy! There were excessive roots on the trail today, and it stormed last night.  Rain and roots are a recipe for disaster.  I chose stepping on roots roots to avoid stepping in mud, and sure enough, down went McGinney!  I just laid there. My leg won¢t take much more of this. This leg injury has slowed me down tremendously.  Hugs was in the lead most of the day. I¢m going to have to start earlier and hike longer for a while.  Hopefully it will heal up quickly.  My biggest fear is that my body won¢t hold up to let me finish. Being forced to hike slowly was nice in some ways. I really smelled the pines.  I felt all of the breezes.  I heard all the little sounds a forest makes, and I saw the hundreds of tiny pine cones scattered along the trail.  It struck me that Maine has the most beautiful forests I¢ve seen so far.  Slow is good.  When I finally reached the summit of today¢s biggest climb, I caught up to Hugs. There she was leaning on a rock enjoying cell service.  I pulled up a rock and did the same.  I miss Papa Big Swig. He was my first and only text.  We chatted a short while.  I felt the need to move on since I¢m so slow.  Too give you an idea of how slow I am, Hugs stayed up there an hour trying to post something and still passed me before I made it to the shelter.  At times I¢m still using my hands to lift my right leg, depending how high up I need to step.  The trail down from the rocks was nice. It took me down to Beaver Pond.  Beaver Pond is a very large pond. I would call it a lake.  The breezes were making waves today. MI got to listen to the water splash on rocks for miles.  It was near Beaver Pond where I met a couple who flipped from Harpers Ferry.  They came in at the Wilderness, so they¢re going NOBO to Katahdin before the real flip occurs.  It felt nice to know that I¢m not actually in last place.  Today¢s natural wonder for me were a series of brilliant white mushrooms. They were in various stages of growth, but in the end they opened up like a beautifully scalloped birdbath.  Otherwise I saw toads, frogs, birds, and fat red squirrels.   The terrain remained kind as I hiked until dusk.  Hugs and I carefully walked on 3 logs across Rainbow Creek to our shelter for tonight. Supper in the dark again. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?