Date: 2005-09-18
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Spring Campsite
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 6:30 this morning. I tried to take a shower but did not know the shower was not available in the mornings, I asked why. It is a matter of fuel, the owners shut the water heater off and only allow guests to use the facility in the evening. Bottle propane is not easy to get where they live, they are out there in the Boonies (I understood and was glad I took one the evening before).    All the guests met up at the same time for breakfast. This morning Bill was preparing pancakes for us all. It was an "all you could eat" thing and I sure did eat my fill. Everyone was happy until we got the bill from Bill. You have to remember that this is a guest house more then it is a hostel. The prices were high however, I had no complaints, I got my monies worth. The food was great and the lodging quite comfortable. The Trolls went out on the first trip back to the trail, the rest of us went on the second. As I wrote, Bill drops folks off further up the shore line taking about a half of a mile of the blue blaze to the AT. There was a bit of an overcast that morning but, it was nice for hiking.   Squid Jerky and I hiked as we planned for most of the day. He has been contemplating on joining the Navy and asked me a lot of questions about the military while we walked. I answered all as best as I could. I never try to tell a person what they should do, I just inform them with what I know (things that could help them if the go forth and enter the service). This way they can make an informed decision. Things like education, keeping records, choosing the right job, the importance of choosing the first duty station and so on. The rest of course is up to them. As far as war goes, yes it is out there, if you don't like this one then just hang around long enough, there will be another one.    We stopped along Lake Nahmakanta for some photos and then pushed on up the trail. We continued on till we came to the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to. Here was where Squid Jerky and I separated and I was joined by another NOBO called "Good Times". At the lean-to, Forever North was trying to start a fire. It was damp out however, the effort he was putting into it I am sure he got it going. One thing to mention again about Forever North, he had no "body fat" on him, Lean and hard from the four thru-hikes no doubt (included was this one). I said good bye to both of them and the dog "Buddy" as well.    Good Times was formerly called Tracker (down south that is). His name was changed because no matter where he went he was prone to have a good time. It looked as if we were on the same schedule so I figured this was the man who would be taking my photo on the summit (and I was correct). We moved on and set up camp at the Rainbow Spring Campsite. We had 26.3 miles to go till the summit and 21.1 miles to the base of the mountain. I was a little behind in the miles for the day however, I had no concern, Things were going well and I had no doubts we would get there. From the beginning I could honestly say I had no doubts I would make this trip (as God is my witness), my main concern was injury. It was only a matter of when I would complete it (six months, six years or what ever). If something pulled me off of the trail I would have returned the following year and section hiked it. I use to tell folks along the way that, "I am already at the finish in my mind, I just got to get my body there as well". Oh there were a few times when I said to my self , "What the **** am I doing here!", especially in the heat of the summer. But my will was strong, the timing in life was right and all glory goes to God. I was just along for the ride.    The water source at the Rainbow Campsite was a spring on the shore of Rainbow Lake. I went to fill up that evening and noticed that the clouds broke enough for me to see Mount Katahdin. The sun was setting illuminating the mountain in a orange glow. It had a bit of high altitude cloud cover but, there it was in all its beauty (awesome).    I went back to camp to settle in for the night. This was the last time I was going to be sleeping in my tent on this trip. The next day I planned on being in a shelter near the Ranger Station at the "Birches Campsite". I remember first setting up the tent during my train up period way back in March. The ground was frozen and I could not even put a tent stake into the ground. I said to myself then, "this will be home for the next six months", and it almost was. Five months, two weeks and two days total.    To quote a song from the Grateful Dead, "what a long strange trip it's been".