Date: 2017-06-18
From: Horns Pond Lean-to

To: Carrabasset River
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

My father is a great man. No. not the kind of great that will show up in history books, but the kind of great who bought a new Prius at age 92. The kind of great who, after he lost his shirt in a business venture when I was 3, sold the house he had built with his own hands, paid off his debts, and got an early-morning job ¢ starting at 4:00 am ¢ so my mom could work as a supermarket clerk at decent daytime hours after Dad got home. That way no one else would have to watch us kids. Most of all, I knew and I know, that Dad loves me with all his heart.Ten years ago, before my first thru-hike (Frodo: Ahem... before your BEST thru-hike), I knew Dad thought our hiking was meshuggeneh (Yiddish for crazy, daft), but he went down to the library and checked out all five books they had on the PCT and started to read them. He wanted to understand what his son was doing. He and Mom were quick to offer, ¢Is there any important piece of equipment that the two of you don¢t have yet, that we can buy for you?¢ Dad turns 93 in July. If he were here right now, his first words would be, ¢Happy Sunday!¢ Well, ¢Happy Sunday¢ right back at you, Dad, and ¢Happy Fathers Day,¢ too. On top of North Crocker Peak I was able to reach Dad, though the call was interrupted three times when I lost cell service. I also reached Frodo. She had just spilled the beans by text. The surprise would be the one surprised, and all those I¢d enlisted to help me were in fact double agents serving her plot. More of that in a moment.I had a Fathers¢ Day gift from the universe today. I third of the way up the tough climb to the top of Crocker Peak, I¢d stopped to tank up on the last water ¢ a thumbnail-sized spring ¢ and a woman hiker tucked in behind me. We told stories the rest of the climb up, which made it infinitely less painful. I got to tell her about my Dad, about our wedding anniversary tomorrow, and the First Great Story of our Marriage (How Frodo and I met). We pulled each other to the top. What a gift. But let¢s go way back to that morning when I got flipped around and walked a mile back in the wrong direction. I told you it was Frodo¢s fault because I was thinking about her, but I didn¢t tell you what I was thinking about. I¢d hatched a plan to have our anniversary day in San Diego unfold for her in a series of surprises. A neighbor/friend would show up at 8:15am with mimosas. The big surprise of the day would be next, our daughter Nicky, who lives in DC (Frodo: as do all three of our San Diego-raised kids ¢ go figure), would make a surprise visit and take Frodo to breakfast and then go to line dancing class with her. A friend would take her to lunch and a movie, then her sister would take her for a mani/pedi and dinner, then my brother and his wife would take her to the theater to see a play. All these arrangements I¢d made during my zero day in Monson. (Frodo: sounds like it would have been a lovely but exhausting day. I have a VERY sweet husband.) I had it so carefully worked out. Each person was sworn to keep it secret from Frodo. All the while, each of them knew something I did not: Frodo was going to fly to Maine to surprise me with a zero at a B&B in Rangeley. That¢s why it was so important to her that I come out Monday evening.  Today, from the Atlanta airport she ¢fessed up. When I told her yesterday that I wouldn¢t make it to the highway until Tuesday, she decided to hike in 8 miles on Monday to surprise me at the campsite she figured I would camp at. So she packed up her backpacking gear (Frodo: including a tent in case we didn¢t connect) in addition to the already-packed suitcase. But then when she called the proprietor of the B&B from the San Diego airport this morning, he warned her of severe weather, two inches of rain predicted in Monday night¢s thunderstorms, and said, ¢No one in their right mind would choose to hike in on Monday!¢ So now she plans to hike in a couple miles on Tuesday late morning to meet me. I CAN¢T WAIT.She hoped maybe I could indeed hustle out on Monday, but that won¢t happen. So she encouraged me to stay where I will have a roof over my head, so my plan is to camp tomorrow night at the Poplar Ridge Lean-To, about 11 miles before the highway. Today we crossed a highway after 5 miles and I took a brief break at the side of the road. I needed to sew up my pants. No, I didn¢t tear them, I needed to take in the waist because I¢m losing weight (Frodo: NO!) and they¢re too baggy. A car pulled up and I had my first classic AT trail magic. It was Mark, the Chief of Police from a nearby town. He and his wife put up hikers at their home occasionally, gratis. No, I didn¢t need a ride, but he gave me a huge handful of grapes, still cold-crisp from the fridge.I read a guidebook over dinner tonight and it says the following about this section that Frodo wanted me to push through: ¢These 32 miles are the most difficult along the AT in Maine¢¦.Do not underestimate the time and effort needed to traverse this section.¢ Finally, I texted our three kids from the top of Crocker Mountain. ¢Please send me a photo of each of you. I love you.¢ Within minutes I had all three photos. Here they are. (Frodo: Um... Photobucket has not been cooperating these past couple days, so I¢m not sure when these will actually be posted. I¢ll keep trying, I promise.) Happy Fathers Day, all!Frodo: Okay, not sure what the problem is with photobucket, but I've uploaded the photos of our kids and the trail magic photo to trailjournals.  If you click on "photos" in the menu along the left side, you can see them.