Date: 2009-08-24
From: stealth past Moxie Pond

To: ME 4, Rangely, ME
Miles today: 11.2

I got out of my hammock to find it still drizzling, so I kept my tarp up and did as many of my chores as I could underneath it. When I took my feet out of my crocs to put my socks on, I noticed that one of my toes was a bright orange color, and I wondered how it could possibly be so! I finally realized that a slug had made its home in my crocs during the night, and I squished it when I put them on! I did my best to wipe off the slime, and then packed everything up and headed out! It was another grey and cool day and as I walked past Long Pond, the water didn¢t look very inviting! I reached Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to and made my way up the path to collect water and have a proper breakfast. There was one hiker still there, packing up. He didn¢t seem very happy. As I ate, another hiker came in. It was Mischa! I was surprised to see him, as I thought he was well ahead of me, but it turns out that he had slowed down in the Whites to hike with some friends. He would be meeting back up with his hiking partner, Black Bear, in Rangely. She had hiked the first 1/3 of the trail with him, before having to return home, and wanted to come back to finish the trail with him.      I headed out, and was soon overtaken by Mischa, who has one of the strongest physiques of any of the hikers out here. There was a lot of mud on the trail, and I took my time navigating around it. After a little while, I heard someone behind me. It was MudD. He slowed down when he passed me, but then resumed his near-running pace. I couldn¢t understand what he was doing! I thought he was rushing ahead to the hostel to save spots for his entire group!       I soon came upon a tricky scene- a huge, muddy, body of water with half-sunken planks laid out at various angles. I knew from reading the registry that one of the boards was a trick one. I carefully tested out one, which immediately sank into the deep, dark water. There was only one possibility left: step on the end of a vertical log sticking out of the water. There was no other choice. I confidently stepped on this log, which immediately sank and tipped me over to my left! I fell in the deep water and mud splashed all the way up to my upper arm and face! After I righted myself and got back onto land, the only thing I could do was laugh. Since my shoes, socks, and gaitors were now soaked with mud, I figured there was no point in trying to sidestep the mud any longer, so I took after MudD, and picked up my pace. I realized that I had been holding myself back by being so careful!      When I reached the Little Swift River Pond Campsite, I found MudD, who was taking a break and filling up on water. I asked him, ¢Do I have mud on my face?¢¢Yep¢   I took out my compass/mirror and laughed. I had mud on my neck, on the side of my face, and on the side of my nose. I did my best to wipe it off and collected some water for myself. There was a canoe by the pond that was filled with water. I asked MudD why he was moving so fast and he shrugged and said he just felt good. When he took off, he said he¢d see me by the road, as he thought he would still be trying to hitch a ride. I knew he would be long gone, though. Cyborg and Ewok would eventually pass me as well. Ewok had a very determined (almost fierce) look in his eyes as he huffed up the hill. I continued at my own pace and was happy to hear the sounds of the road as I made my way through the final mile of my day. While still in the woods, I came across a bright orange road sign warning of road construction in a hundred feet and wondered if that was really necessary... As I came out into the parking lot, I saw Cyborg sitting down, waiting for the rest of her group. There was an older man standing near a van and I soon discovered that this was Bob, of Gulf Pond Lodge. I had called the hostel and told them when I expected to reach ME 4, but said I would try to hitch. I don¢t know if the message wasn¢t delivered correctly, or if Bob had dropped another hiker off, but in any case, I was happy to have a ride into town! My eyes were already hurting again and they were extremely sensitive to any light. I just wanted to close my eyes and keep them closed! We found MudD and Black Bear waiting at the post office, and picked them up. We warned Bob that a large group was expected imminently, but he didn¢t seem to believe us. Black Bear recognized the fact that it is hard to hike in such close proximity to a big group like this, as they quickly take over all the resources in hostels and towns and end up dictating the pace of those around them. As we drove away, MudD saw Ewok on the road and asked Bob to stop the van so he could talk to him. Black Bear practically pushed him out and told him she would bring his pack into the hostel.   I arrived at the lodge to find Tinman sitting in an armchair...! I didn¢t see Gaspard... I went upstairs to pick out a bunk in the so far, unoccupied room, and then went downstairs to take a shower. I went back up to open my mail drop and eat a little snack. Bob¢s dog ¢Gwendy¢ came up and sat in front of me, salivating over my food.    I put everything on my bed and went with Mischa and Black Bear into town for some real dinner. I saw MudD and Ewok across the street at the ¢Red Onion¢ and joined them as they finished their pizza and I ordered one for myself. Ewok decided that he was going to get his own room at the Saddleback Inn, and soon, the rest of his group followed his direction. The hostel was going to be quiet after all!       When I returned to my room, I found wrappers and all of my ziplock bags of food all over the floor! Gwendy had jumped up on my bed and went crazy eating up all my food! Every plastic bag was torn into! She had eaten a large amount of beef jerky, trailmix, and chocolate bars! She even ate my little Reeses peanut butter cups that Erik sent me! When Bob returned from another pick-up, I let him know what happened. He was distraught about the possibility of the dog hurting itself and kept wondering if he needed to take her to the vet, but he didn¢t seem to care that a good amount of my resupply was now gone...The dog never vomited or showed any signs of illness, but she did jump around and wanted to play more than she had ever wanted to before, especially for an old dog, which could only mean that she had gotten a buzz from the espresso in the chocolate bar!   Bob had picked up Andy and Poptart, and as I did my laundry, I joined them and Bob in the living room. ¢The Phoenix¢ was also there. He had started as a northbounder, but due to an unusual and frightening incident, he was now flip-flopping. I got to hear the story of how he was awakened from his sleep in a Maryland shelter with the sensation of two nails being driven into his skull. He lifted his head to feel a good 12-14 extra pounds attached! A raccoon had sunken his teeth into his head and would not release itself! He threw his neck back and shook him off. The raccoon remained nearby with a bloodstain around its mouth. The Phoenix said that he remembered thinking that it actually looked cute! For the next two hours, he cursed and screamed from the pain emanating down his body. He was particularly upset as he had planned a 30 mile day to get to Pine Furnace Grove and the half-gallon challenge. The following day, he was hiking in the woods when he encountered a policeman who told him, ¢You¢re not going anywhere,¢ and brought him to the hospital for his first of a series of rabies shots. I found it to be an incredible story, and him to be a very smart and witty kid. I enjoyed listening to the exchanges between Andy, Poptart, The Phoenix, and Bob, and was happy to be with this little group.   Andy and I had the room to ourselves and we enjoyed a quiet night¢s sleep.