Date: 2005-07-07
From: Rainbow Springs Tentsite, ME

To: Lake Shore Cabin, White House Landing, ME
Miles today: 19.6

19.6 miles todayLake Shore CabinWhite House Landing, Maine It would be hard to have a better day than today!!! I woke up at 5am and made my coffee and layed in my tent and enjoyed it while eating breakfast. When my coffee was gone I made a cup for Quincygirl who was just starting to wake up. I woke up a few times last night and layed there and listened to the loons in the distance. I also had to get dressed and put on my windshirt and cap because it was in the 40's and my quilt didn't keep me warm. Once I got all my clothes on I slept good the rest of the night. We packed up and headed down the trail at 6:15am with hamburgers on our minds for the end of the day at White House Landing. It was very nice walking this morning. There weren't any bugs dive bombing us, the sun was shining and there was a nice, cool breeze. We ran into 3 nobos early. One was a thru hiker just about to finish his hike. His name was NTN...I think. At least that's what it sounded like he said. One other was Indiana Jones who had already thru hiked before and the 3rd guy was just finishing a two decade plus section hike of the A.T. We hiked on to Rainbow Stream Lean-to where a good friend of mine by the name of Rainbow Slick got his trail name when he didn't make it across the bridge...Oops. ;-))) There were 4 sobos there. Chocolate, Kirsten, Steve and another girl. We met Chocolate the other day at Katahdin Stream. Quincygirl recognized him and said; "Hi Chocolate." He didn't seem real thrilled with that name anymore. He said he was going to try and find another one. While we were talking to him, he said that he always thought he was a tough guy until he tried this backpacking stuff. He had been on the trail for 4 days. His exact words were; "I thought I was a tough guy, but I'm just a squeem." Ha!! New trail name...see ya Squeem.  ;-))) We hiked on and walked by Crescent Pond then up Nesuntabunt Mountain. I like to think of that mountain as John Galt's mountain because he renamed it in '03, but I can't write the new name he gave it here. We took a short break up there and enjoyed the views. We hiked down to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to stopping for water at a nice spring on the way down. I signed the register and we kept going because we still had hamburgers on our minds. We got to Nahmakanta Lake and ate lunch. Quincygirl went swimming and I got wet up just past my knees...Hey, I'm from Florida and that water was cold!!! Quin still thinks I'm pathetic. We stopped and talked to three other hikers after we hiked on. Crow and Frank were two nobos. My friends Moosie and Goldilocks had rode on the same train last March with Crow to Gainesville, Ga to start their thru hikes. Back then Crow was known as Wess. The sobos name is Matt. We stopped at Woodrats Spring and got some really cold water then kept walking. We only had about 5 miles left to Mahar Tote Rd where you turn on a blue blaze trail and in about 1/2 an hour you come to the dock on the other side of White House Landing. When you get there, you use the air horn to let Bill know to come over by boat to pick you up. When Bill got there he said; "Stumpknocker, You've cleaned yourself up!!" It must be because I only have a gotee (sp?) and not my usual full beard. It was great seeing Bill and Linda again. Linda put on 2 one pound hamburgers for Quincygirl and me. Quincygirl said all day that she wouldn't have any trouble eating it. Well, she was turning green by the end of the burger, but she made it!! Linda brought out some watermelon for us and I had a couple pieces, but I just couldn't get Quin interested in any. I showed Quin where the showers are, then I went and did my laundry by hand with a wash board and lake water. This is my favorite place to rest at on the whole trail. I wish we could stay another day, but we knew when we started that Quin had to be back in Monson by Tuesday. Matt showed up later and then Kirsten and her father, Steve showed up. Kirsten remembered seeing my radio on my backpack back at Rainbow Stream Lean-to this morning and found it laying on the trail. She was nice enough to bring it back to me!! Thanks alot Kirsten. Quin and I sat on the couch for a while before we went to bed and planned our strategy for the last 70 miles of the wilderness. The loons have been puting on a real show tonight with all their erie songs while I've been writing this entry.