Date: 2018-09-02
From: Antlers Campsite

To: East Branch Lean to
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

I woke up with the sun this morning. This is the first morning with absolutely no crud in my eyes. One more day of eye drops and I should be good. Sunrise on the lake was beautiful! Still no moose, but looking around I saw at least 2 more tents had arrived in the night. I¢d bet it¢s NOBO¢s looking forward to Katahdin. Their excitement spills out with every conversation! I¢m so glad that I get to be a part of their joy! Red Hawk and Cribbage were up early too. I made myself some oatmeal and watched them hurry to get on the trail. Red Hawk was my trail angel again today. He gave me his extra TP to get me through the wilderness. I was worried I may not have enough. In exchange I gave him a couple of snacks. They were out of camp in a blink. I wish them the best!  Hugs lost a tent stake the night we camped on the beach. I looked down, and out of nowhere there was a tent stake. I handed it to her inside her tent, and looked down again to find a penny. Yep, it was heads up!  I put that little gem in my pocket.  We hit the trail. The terrain has been mostly pine straw with a few rocks, creeks, and boulders.  Occasionally I would get a nice strong scent of pine. The pines here are awesome! About 2am this morning I stepped out of my tent to potty and looked straight up through the pines. Wow! The stars were so brilliant! I wish I had taken a picture.  Exactly 2.2 miles down the trail Hugs realized she had left her hat at camp. She toyed with the idea of going back after it before deciding to carry on. I felt bad because just bought it and she loves that hat.  Around that same time some NOBO¢s gave us word of trail magic at Jo Mary road. We had 1.6 miles to go.....please have soda!  Please don¢t leave!  Other than a brief stop to photo a baby snake I was in high speed sloth mode! Then there it was TRAIL MAGIC!!! Oh happy dance!! Happy dance!!  Ginger Ale? Well yes! Two of them! Zebra cake? Yes again! Two of those as well!  Sure I¢ll take some chips and that big fat blow pop...grape flavored please and thanks. What a treat!  Our Angel is trail named Baguette. She was a thru-hiker last year with her mom. That alone is an awesome story! Lifetime memories were made right there.  Anyway,last year she said she was hoping for trail magic right there at that road in the 100 mile wilderness. This year she made it happen for us!  Thank you Baguette!  A NOBO took Hugs¢ information while we were there. If it¢s still at the campsite she¢ll be mailing her hat back soon. Trail blessings everywhere!  One more thing was one the agenda for Jo Mary road. Lloyd our shuttle driver had hidden our next 4 days of food in a bucket in a tree a little further up the road. His orange ribbon took us right there. My Gatorade was at the base of the tree too. This was our plan. Flawless execution Lloyd! Thank you!  I think my lucky penny did it¢s job at Jo Mary road!  I¢ve been meaning to tell my readers that Hugs has a Facebook page anybody can follow. She posts photos, and I post words. Look her up as GOING NOBO on Facebook., and like her page.  We stopped at a shelter for lunch. It was so peaceful there. Neither of us wanted to get going again. But we did... only 8 miles left to go. The trail ran beside a nice stream again today. I was enjoying the music thinking that I had really only seen toads so far.  Then just as I rounded the corner, there was another pheasant. He was a big guy! I watched him fly away with a little struggle getting that tubby body up off the ground. I¢m still on high alert for moose though.  I came to an old logging road with nice sized boulders beside it. I waited there for Hugs. Only 4.7 miles left to go.  From my comfy boulder I hiked straight up Little Boardman Mountain. This was my first big climb with my now full again pack. It was only 2009ft elevation but it was tough. Darkness had arrived by the time we crossed the river just before our shelter. My backpack rubbed the back of my headlamp some way and the wiring went bad. No More Headlamp! Ugh! I followed Hugs into camp.  I cannot go to sleep without wishing a Happy 12th birthday to my granddaughter Charley Faye!  I can¢t believe you¢re 12 years old already! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?