Date: 2004-08-02
From: Bemis Stream Campsite (tent)

To: Rangeley, ME (house)
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: broken clouds

Started at: Bemis Stream CampsiteEnded at: Rangeley, ME (house)Miles: 13.9We camped last night near a stream with Leki. After we had eaten our dinner, washed our pot, hung our food bag, and tucked ourselves into our respective tents we heard a pack of coyotes yelping at the moon. What a sound to fall asleep by.Today I woke up feeling about the same as when I went to bed: on the verge of giving up. It seemed nothing could put a smile on my face. Not the beautiful weather. Not the relatively easy terrain into town. Not even trail magic of sodas and oreos at the first road crossing we came to. The same road crossing where I had vowed the night before to hitch out, off the trail. We sat there next to the road for a while. Arwen and Leki tried to cheer me up, but I wasn't having it. You know you're feeling low when you're staring an oreo and a grape soda square in the face, and the situation still seems hopeless. "You can quit any time you want," Arwen said. Silence. "Are you going to?" Pause. "No," I replied curtly. "How come?" he asked. "I don't have a reason. I don't believe in any of my reasons for hiking this *&%^$ trail any more. It defies all logic and rationality. I will keep hiking because that is what I do. I'm not finished yet." After that, things began looking up. Camel caught up to us on the trail. We hadn't seen him since Andover, when we left all our buddies behind. It sounds like they're all still back a ways. Camel has such a good natured, upbeat way about him I just couldn't feel sorry for myself around him. Shortly after he caught up we came to an awesome place to swim, Long Pond. Even though the sun was shining, the cool temperature and the light breeze tempered my desire to get all wet. But it was too beautiful a pond to pass up. I dug my toes into the sand and waded in.Camel hiked with us a while and then headed on into town ahead of us, to Rangely. Later in the afternoon Arwen and Leki saw female moose with her calf just off the trail. And we came to another gorgeous lake, with a couple of old banged up canoes parked on its shore. Arwen insisted we go for a ride. It did not inspire confidence in the seaworthiness of our borrowed vessel when we noticed several sizable holes patched over with duct tape, but we figured what the heck! What a change from a month or two ago when there seemed to be no time for anything but the daily march. We were so happy when we got to the road to hitch into Rangely. We were even happier when we found beer trail magic by the road where we were hitching in. We've all become cheap dates out on the trail. One light beer, and we were all feeling giddy. Arwen did a little hiker dance in the road, but it wasn't helping us get a ride. Finally we hit up a fellow day hiker on his way back to town after bagging another 4000-footer.He dropped us off at Sarge's pub where we'd told Camel we'd meet him. We found him there wearing a broad grin. Locals had been buying him beers since he'd arrived. We made oursekves at home at a table by the window. Man, it felt good to be here. As I sat there with a beer in hand across the table from some of the finest people I've had the priveledge to know over a basket of the biggest hot wings I've ever seen, I took a huge sigh of relief. I really needed this. Just then a fellow restaurant patron walked up to our table. "Hiking the trail?" she asked. We told her we were. She introduced herself as Pat and told us about her daughter Kate, who just started a southbound hike a couple weeks ago. We told her we'd keep an eye out and say hi if we crossed paths. "You guys have a place to stay tonight?" "Um, well, actually no..." Next thing we know she invites us to stay in her home just down the street. Thanks Pat, it was so nice to meet you and your friends. Camera 1 & Camera 2Heather & Arwenvaughan@pocketmail.comhttp://www.hobbithole.net