Date: 2013-09-11
From: Gorham, NH 

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

I woke up early, my mind weighed down, burdened by the pressing need to reply to Weatherman's wife's text. I knew it would bother me until I replied, so I got the words out and as I pressed "send," I felt the weight lift. She never wrote back.Slo-go'en fixed pancakes for breakfast and then I decided to check out my financial situation online. I was happy to discover that I was within budget, having spent a little over $3,000 on my hike so far, an average of $1.73/mile. I hope that information is helpful for those of you who are planning a thru-hike. But you should know that I am frugal, don't drink much, and never stay at hotels. After donuts and coffee at Dunkin', Slo-go'en took me to the trail. When I got my trekking poles out of the car, I realized that one of the tips was missing. I was not about to hike on these rocks with a missing tip so we went back to town to get a replacement. Unfortunately the outfitter was out, which was maddening since I had just replaced the other pole's tip on Monday. Grr. Lesson learned: always replace your pole tips in pairs. Slo-go'en thought he had a Leki tip at home so we went back and, sure enough, it worked even on my Black Diamond poles. It was noon by the time I started hiking and it was something like 90 degrees out--and unbelievably humid. The kind of humidity that comes before a major storm, to be precise. It felt like July or August, not September! I put my bandana around my forehead, hoping to keep the sweat from dripping into my eyes and onto my glasses, but that didn't work. I was sweating so much that I had to wring the bandana out twice! To make matters worse, the stream I was planning on getting water from was dry. I rationed what little water I had left, but I soon ran out and truly began to feel desperate. "Must get water, must get water, must get water," I mumbled as I flew down the trail, as fast as I could to the next water source. Around 4:30 I arrived at a campsite with a spring. Despite my thirst, I forced myself to wait the 20 minutes it takes to treat the water with Aqua Mira. An excruciatingly long 20 minutes. Drops had been great so far, but at that moment I would have done just about anything to have my Sawyer Squeeze filter instead. When the time was up I downed the two liters and ate a snack, hoping that I wouldn't pass out, or whatever happens when you drink too much water too quickly. I was still as the campsite when I heard the thunder. Considering how humid it was, I figured we'd be in for a huge storm. I wanted to be protected, so I decided to press on to the shelter, which in hindsight was a mistake. I would have been better off in my tent. The rain felt amazing at first, but after a few hours I was completely soaked, even with my umbrella.When I reached the fourth pond, where the shelter should have been, or so I thought, I realized I was lost. Well, not truly lost; I knew I was on the AT but I didn't know if I had passed the shelter or not reached it yet. It was dark out, so I could have easily missed the sign. I yelled out across the pond, but just heard echoes in reply. I got out my headlamp and studied my guidebook for clues. Everyone on the trail had been ripping on AWOL for all the inaccuracies they found, so it could be that I had found one. After backtracking a ways, I figured that in all likelihood I hadn't yet reached the shelter (it seems on the AT you're never farther than you think you are), so I kept going. Sure enough, I soon arrived and was so happy to find Zeus, Ahvoh, and Fat Man Walking there. It felt like I was home. These people had become my family. As I fell asleep, all I could think about was that tomorrow I would be in Maine.