Date: 2003-10-20
From: horns pond lean-tos

To: andover guest house
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

i'm on a bit of a schedule here. I've got places to be. i've got two words for you: lord of the rings movie marathon in winston-salem, nc, december 16 & 17. (i guess that might be more than two words). so, the initial goal is harpers ferry by december 15. that will give me enough time to get back to north carolina and get geared up and ready for a whole heck of a lot of middle earth movie madness.since this is the case, by taking the zero yesterday i am now behind schedule. that is okay. we can fix this. when we put plan b into action we will just tack on a little adendum to the end of it. (why do i keep saying "we" like i am hiking with someone? there is no one else. it is just me). so, plan b had me hiking five miles to route 27 and hitching into the town of stratton to get some good food from the diner there.it was 18 degrees when i woke up just before sunrise this morning. from where i was in the shelter i only had to slide my sleeping bag over a couple of feet to watch the sun come up over the horizon. the sun took its time, but finally did break the horizon and shown its early morning rays right into the shelter and right onto where i was watching from the warm depths of my sleeping bag. it was a great way to start the day. i finally made myself break free from my little cocoon and get packed up and start hiking. it wasn't long before i was warmed up to the point where my frozen boots thawed out and i was shedding layers.the hike down to route 27 was quite nice. it was easy going and it wasn't long before i'd reached the road and was walking toward stratton. a car or truck would drive by and i'd stick out my thumb and the driver would either try so hard to not make eye contact or swerve into the other lane or both. i walked about a mile and a half and saw a guy working in his yard on the other side of the road. i walked over and asked him if he knew how far it was to stratton and he asked if i really wanted to know and i said probably not since he was putting it that way. he told me that it was still about 3 1/2 miles. he said that he would give me a ride, but his girlfriend had his truck and was out running errands. then, he offered to let me go up to the house and take a shower or whatever else. i thanked him for the offer, but politely declined. we chatted for a while and i helped him move some rocks into place for the wall that he was building. after a while two women pulled up ! and the guy told me that my ride had just arrived. and, he was right. these two women gave me a ride into town and dropped me off at the stratton diner.i leaned my backpack up against the wall outside beside two other backpacks. two other backpacks? say what? exactly. that's what i thought as i walked inside. there were two hikers sitting at the counter and we were immediately drawn to each other on account of that common bond that we share. i walked over and sat beside them and knew that i recognized them from somewhere but couldn't place it. after a couple of minutes of talking we realized that we'd run into each other on mount katahdin a week and a half ago. laffy taffy and jj had just hiked a section of the trail that they missed on their thru-hike. now, they were hitching their way to the town of bethel to visit some friends. we talked for a while and then they left and told me that they might see me when i got to gorham in a few days.and, then i had good food. a nice, big, juicy cheeseburger and a huge order of french fries. it was so good. it hit the spot. it was just what i needed. after i was completely full and fat and happy, i made a couple of phone calls and bought a few provisions at the grocery store. then, i started to put part 2 of plan b into action.i walked to where route 16 and route 27 split and i stuck out my thumb. the plan was to hitch to the town of rangely and then hitch to the town of oquossoc and then hitch to the trail crossinf on route 17. this way, i could still be in the twn of andover on wednesday and still be on track for the original schedule. it wasn't long before a logging truck stopped and i climbed up into the rig and was introduced to russ barnett. he'd just finished dropping off a load of logs at the local mill and was now headed home to get his snow chains ready for the snow that is supposed to be coming tomorrow. i told russ of my plan and he told me of another plan if i was interested. russ said that he could give me a ride all the way to errol, nh, and that from there i could either get to grafton notch or to the town of andover. i told russ to let me check my maps nd to let me think about it and that i would give him an answer by the time we got to rangely.we got to rangely and russ asked me what i as going to do and i told him that i was going to take him up on his offer. i figured that this way i could get into andover a couple of days early and be on my way and add a little cushion to this schedule of mine. russ and i parted ways in the town of errol. i thanked him for the ride and he wished me good luck.i walked down the street to the errol general store to buy some ice cream on a stick. there, i met bob and bob's wife- owners and operators of the errol general store. bob and i chatted for a while and it wasn't long before he was scheming on how to get me a ride to andover.in walks stan. stan works at the nearby state park. bob talked stan into giving me a ride to east b hill road, which leads into andover. bob told me that he would work on securing me a ride from there all the way into andover with one of the guys that he knew would be stopping in the store on their way home from work. i thanked bob for the conversation and the free cups of hot chocolate that he'd given me and for the help in finding a ride. he told me not to mention it.stan and i hit the road, stopping off at the park where he worked so that he could tell his boss (who was about 40 years younger than stan) that he was going to give me a ride. stan decided that he was going to take me all the way into andover instead of just dropping me off at the road that leads into andover. he said that he would hate to drop me off and then have me get stranded because no cars came by. i told stan that was very thoughtful of him.stan dropped me off at mills market in andover. i walked across the street to the andover guesthouse, where i am the only person staying in the bunkroom (or, the entire house for that matter). i have had a shower, am doing laundry, and am trying very hard not to dive into the vast collection of movies that are available to watch. i am now two days ahead of schedule. now, i should have no problem making it to harpers ferry, in order to make it to winston-salem, in order to watch the lord of the rings movie marathon- all three lord of the rings movies back to back to back.