Date: 2006-07-11
From: Katahdin

To: Monson
Miles today: 114.5
Weather: haze

Well, I have successfully made it out of the 100 mile wilderness. Yippee! It was a long, arduous adventure filled with blood, sweat, and tears.Courtney, Jeremy, and I spent the day after arriving in Bangor tooling around which is a nice town and getting some last minute tasks taken care of and then got on the bus to Medway. We met another hiker named Alison S. and she joined us in the cab to Baxter State Park. We are now a day behind schedule, but glad to be where we are supposed to be to start this adventure. The next day we start up Katahdin, we get 1/2 way up and electrical storms start. Courtney and the other Alison race over the boulders to get out of the rain. I am too chicken and fall cautious to run over the boulders, but we all make it safely down the mountain without getting struck by lightening. I am disappointed that I didn't make it to the top, but realize that this journey is not about one mountain and photo op, but the entire pilgrimage. The other Alison decides that she will try and make it up the mountain again the next day, after all she does not have to be in Monson on the 9th (C & J do in order to make their flight home). After some debate, we decide that I should go for it again and C & J will go ahead of me and I will try and catch up with them later. So I go for it. After all July 1 was my original planned start date anyway. It could not have been more perfect. I met up with a 70 year old NOBO who was so encouraging to me as we climbed Big K. He was by far the best hiking partner I have ever had and was very interesting to talk to. Here's to you Grizzly Dave! The sky's opened up and the sun shined down on us. But of course Big K was not done with us. It rained across the table land and the wind was strong enough to knock you down (which it did to me) as we descended. Later the sky cleared up and I enjoyed a nice lunch break on the boulder field. It took all day to get up and down and I wa! s the most exhausted I have ever been in my life. But it was all worth it. Kelli, if you ever really want to earn that trail name, Katahdin is the mountain for you!!!!!! Alison and I stayed at Katahdin Stream Campground for a third night and then the next morning headed out in the rain. This was the last I would see of Alison (so far) as she is a speed hiker and I am a turtle. It was a nice easy walk, but I took my time as my legs were still weak from two days of Katahdin. I did get to see my first MOOSE! Very exciting. I thought I was hearing a fish surface out of the water - a very big fish, and then I saw him, a big bull moose eating the lake grasses.Courtney and Jeremy had decided to stay at Abol Bridge and wait for me and I was delighted to see them there and get a cold beer and a hot cheeseburger! WE moved on another three miles where we met another SOBO Lee. Lee and I have been hiking at about the same pace for the rest of the trip. He's a neat kid just out of high school from TN. We are starting to call him Buddha but he's about the skinniest Buddha you ever saw.   The next day was one of the worst of my hiking experiences because it was all bogs! I hate bogs! It's the nastiest muddiest, smelliest sh##t you ever saw and it hides the roots and rocks and if you step in it it sucks your shoe off of your foot. I fell many times this day. (I think I have fallen at least once every day. Some days I look like I have been through a war zone I am so bruised and scratched). But we made it to Pollywog Stream where C & J's baby to be got her trail name - Pollywog. The next day was our longest yet - 17 miles. I had to hike into the night time. I am just not as fast as the rest of the gang. WE stayed at a nice shelter with the best spring. Jeremy was King this day as he went the extra miles to get $8 Whitehouse Landing hamburgers. It was so big, I could not eat all of it for dinner. So I ate if for breakfast the next day and did not have to eat again until 4! The next day, Lee and I leaped frog each other to get to a lean-to with a swimming hole. On this day we decided that C & J should go on at a faster pace than me so that they could make it to Monson. I just couldn't keep up with them. It was sad and depressing to be with out them (and to think that my pregnant sister can out hike me!) The next days were hard. Lee and I stayed together for a few more days of camping and then I hurt my quad muscle doing too many down hill rock avoiding miles and could not keep up the miles. These last three days alone had me in tears quite a bit as ME is very hard hiking and I was all by myself. I did meet people on the way and at shelters, but it wasn't the same. I was homesick. So on the 10th, I was trying really hard to make it to Monson to see C & J one last time before they left. The sky was thundering all day, but it never rained. A good thing as water makes the rocks even more slippery. Nonetheless, I did not want to be up on the exposed ledges any longer than I had to be and in my rush, I slipped and banged my chin hard on a rock. Later I found out that I had gashed my chin open (thought I might need stiches but luckily I did not). I had also fallen earlier in the day and broken my trekking pole. It did not look good for me making it out of the woods. Finally at around 7 with just 3 miles to go, I called it quits and settled in for the night. HOwever, I didn't sleep a wink.The next day I came out of the woods and immediately felt like a celebrity. It seemed every one knew of me. I began walking down the highway trying to get a hitch (my 1st) into town and a guy in a red Bravado pulls up and asks me if I'm Allison? Cautiously, I answer him and it turns out that he is Buddy from Shaw's and C&J have informed everyone about my arrival. I do get a hitch and when I get to Shaw's even more people have heard of me. It was very welcoming and they immediately took me to a dentist to get my jaw checked out. Everything is fine, blisters, cuts, bruised jaw are all healing fine. I have met other SOBO's and some NOBO's and even though Lee has left and will be a day ahead of me, I am confident that I will catch up with him soon. The best part about Shaw's was finding out that other's (even my "perfect fast-hiking" sister) struggled with the wilderness and had doubts about this journey. It is amazing what real food, a shower and clean clothes and compassionate, understanding people can do for your spirit. I have more chores to do today and then I plan to get back in the woods tomorrow. Love from the trail,Happily Hiking again,Allison