Date: 2007-08-23
From: .5 miles beyond Abol Bridge

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept in until about 8:30 today because I was completely sore all over my body. Everything aches. I guess a 20-mile day including a climb and descent of Katahdin will do that to an out-of-shape SOB such as myself. I packed up, chuckled about the events of the previous night, ate some oatmeal and hit the trail, intending to hike the 15 miles or so to Rainbow Stream lean-to. My left knee hurt something fierce, but at the start of any long hike I've done, my knees and tendons have always alternated hurting. It's like they're on a pain relay race passing the flareup baton back and forth. After three weeks, the race is usually over, and I hike relatively pain free. After about a mile of walking, my body warmed up to hiking, and I made the three miles to Hurd Brook lean-to relatively comfortably. After a break, I scooted up to Rainbow ledges for a nice view of Katahdin and a little lunch break. It was a fairly uneventful trip to Rainbow Stream lean-to, unlike the previous day when I saw two moose. The trail follows the ginormously large Rainbow Lake for a good six or seven miles before crossing the lake's outlet stream right near the shelter. I made it to the lean-to at about 4:30 and briefly debated pushing on. Briefly debated might be too strong of a phrase because a northbounder told me there was a 70% chance of rain for the next two days, and with the clouds rolling in all day, I really wasn't going an extra eight miles to the next shelter. I don't mind tenting in the rain, but in my haste to pack, I managed to forget a ground cloth and a few tent stakes to properly pitch the damn thing. When I rolled up to the shelter, there was a fellow already there (never did catch his name) who was hiking the 100-mile wilderness to MOnson and then turning around and hiking back to Katahdin. He said it was a test run for a potential thru-hike next year. It's a good thing he decided to take a test run because the kid had a heavy load. He said he started with 12 days of food but he also had a 3-man tent, a big hunting knife and about four sets of clothes. He asked a lot of questions of me and the other four guys that rolled into the shelter about what to take and how our particular gear was working out. He seemed genuinely interested, taking notes at times, and I hope he learns much on his trip. One of the guys that rolled in was Camo who was heading up Katahdin when I was coming down. He told everyone about his brother who had hiked the ECT (a continuation of the AT from Springer to the Flordia Keys) to Springer and then up through the AT to Katahdin, only to break his arm 1.5 miles from the summit. He hiked over 4,000 miles and was beat down when his external frame pack got caught in one of the metal rungs that are screwed into the rocks to help people climb the mountain. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that story. Imagine hiking all that distance just to get shat on 1.5 miles from the top. Camo, who incidentally hiked the AT in 2000 as well though we never met, was back with his brother who finished his massive/short section hike, and Camo decided to hike the 100-mile while he was in Maine. It was actually a good story to hear because you really never know when the poop will hit the fan and throw a monkeywrench into your entire plans. I could break my ankle tomorrow and have a nice 3-day hike to think about as I headed back home. Life is temporal but there's no use worrying about the what-if's until they turn into the what-ares. After dinner, I pretty much turned in at 6:30 p.m., too tired to do much else than fall asleep. I've brought two books along with me, Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf and Demian, but I haven't had a chance to turn a page in either one. I'm hoping as the days wear on and my body becomes assimilated to hiking once again that I'll have time to read.