Date: 2009-09-27
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-To

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-To
Miles today: 8.0

Highlight: Racing our way through the thick rain as a group of 11 and PILING into the shelter before the weekend warriors could arrive. We woke up in our tents, cold from the changing temperatures. There was a huge group at the shelter ¢ Dah Wah He, Spice Rack, Bottom Bunk, Odin, Jungli, Buttchiz, Big Camera, Beechucker, Chef, Ramble On with some people outstanding. We knew that it would be rainy today, with each person checking their cell phones to determine how much rain would be coming and, more importantly, at what time. In the end, we determined that it was best to get our asses in gear, so we left into the murky beyond as quickly as possible. On the way out, I passed a 75-year-old woman who was climbing up a very steep side of the cliff, heading southbound. She told me that she had been a big hiker in her day and that she was just out to do a small 300-mile section. Damn...Fortunately, the Orbeton Stream that was supposed to be a stream crossing was nothing more than few rock jumps. Our real fords would await us farther ahead in Maine. The rain first started to come down as a trickle, but we had predicted correctly that the deluge would fall later on in the morning. We all had to keep pushing on to ensure that we could secure a space in the next shelter. I swear, it seemed as if it were out of a movie. We were nearly single file, one hiker passing the other and then that hiker overtaking the former with the same process repeated over and over again until we arrived at the shelter. Beechucker and I met up and chatted away. Most of our conversation is about useless stuff, but sometimes....on the rare occassion, we will have a period of seriousness, in which we discuss politics, love, the world at large and beyond, and our the future of our own lives. I got on with  chucks, as I called him, very well and although he sometimes overdid it with his crazy ways (as did I), I knew that when it came down to it, he was a standout, honest guy. The eight miles that I pulled that day may have been the one of the fastest. It was cold, wet, and with constant rain. At the shelter, I was one of the first to arrive and I quickly took our my stuff to claim a spot. Then, I went down to the stream below to fill up my water for the rest of the day and evening. Within the next 30 minutes, the entire tgroup that was at the previous shelter had made their way to Spaulding. There were some weekend warriors at the last shelter and we wanted to ensure that each thru-hiker was able to claim a spot first. Soonafter arriving, Chef and I noticed that there was a leak in the shelter roof so Chef, being the Eagle Scout and MacGuyver that he is, managed to use his Tyvek to collect the water that was dripping from above. The rest of the day was spent hanging out and talking, drinking whiskey, playing games, listening to music, and eating food. I had started to run out of food again and had to be very careful of my rations. Fortunately,  chucks gave me some cheese and half a bottle of Ragu marinara sauce, which I turned into a soup and drank along with an extra tortilla that I had. When you are on the trail, you have to make ends meet : )This was probably one of the most interesting days on the trail and I feel that this was the day that The Vortex group was formed.