Date: 2014-07-29
From: Andover, Maine

To: Sawyer Notch
Miles today: 7.5

I awakened at 4:30 AM, but didn't get up until 5:45. The pounding rain, thunder and lightning had stopped during the night and now the wind had picked up. The pop-up had taken on some water during the night, so when I went to the hostel, I carried my damp sleeping bag in with me and put it in the dryer. While it dried, I recharged my phone and myCharger for the 4 day hike into Rangeley.Beerdra came in soon after me and we headed upstairs for breakfast at 7. I had mentioned yesterday that I loved hash, so Bear had made corned beef hash with eggs for us this morning. Of course I also had Bear's signature blueberry pancakes, fried potatoes, and some of everything else that was on the table. You don't ever leave Honey and Bear's table hungry!The 3 hikers that had come in out of the rain yesterday; Dr. Zoom, Cornwall and Lyon, were going on the shuttle with us back to East B Hill Road. Don had us on the trail by 8:30 AM and we were hiking up Wyman Mountain minutes later. Two miles in, and only an hour and 10 minutes later, we came to picturesque and quiet Surplus Pond. Such an unimaginative name for a beautiful place. Across the pond, nestled in the trees sat a windowless cabin. It called to me, but we moved on.After 3 more miles of uphill, we reached the top of Wyman Mountain, then started back down. The first snack stop of the day was at Hall Mountain Lean To. It's always nice to have a privy in which to do your business. We were there for about 45 minutes and moved on. There is water and mud everywhere on the trail today, with no getting away from it. My feet are soaked, but it wasn't cold, so it didn't matter.I fell again today. One second I was upright and hiking, the next I was on all fours with a bleeding knee. It happened so fast I didn't know what happened! I was happy that it didn't hurt as it was my good knee.Viola, my constant companion of the last 5 days, was well behaved today. She is tender, but no longer filling with fluid. I was tired of her calling to me constantly, "I need a bandage", "I don't like your hiking pole touching me", "Do I look fat?", "My bandage is falling off", and on and on and on. Shut it Viola! With the help of my Purification oil, she's drying up nicely and hopefully won't be back. My bad need did great after having 2 days off. I really needed that break. What doesn't feel good is my back. Yesterday while zeroing, I had a massage in town. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have let her walk on my back Around 3 PM, we arrived at our planned stop for the night...Sawyer Campsite. It was a beautiful area next to deep and running, Sawyer Brook, with nice tent sites and a picnic table. It's a real treat to have a table on which to eat dinner. For dinner I ate a Clif Bar and 2 Tuna tortillas, trail mix and a Nutri Bar. I would have had cheese on the tortillas but DAMN, I did it again, and left my cheese and pepperoni back in the fridge at the hostel. Four more days without it.After eating, we scoped out the brook for our water crossing first thing in the morning. It had been raining for 3 days, but it wasn't too deep, so I planned to just do it barefoot with my shoes tied around my neck. I turned in at 6 PM and could hear the running brook from my tent. I hung my wet socks from the top of my tent, hoping they would dry by morning. With journaling done, an hour later I turned my sights to sleeping.