Date: 2003-08-22
From: Little Wilson Stream

To: Monson - The Pie lady
Miles today: 11.1

" No I was never lost but I was confused for a few days once."                     Daniel Boone Slept like the dead, tented on a bed of pine needles. Absolutely my favorite. Woke around 6:30, slowly packed up and hiking by 8:45. Chloe had been running around the woods like a mad woman since 7. After falling several times yesterday, my body was quite sore, so it was slow going. About 10:00 AM or so as I as cresting a pretty big hill, I bumped into some french folks. As I was heading down the hill, I called Chloe and she headed in the same general direction as me. I walkd a good 15 to 20 minutes and realized I didn't hear her. I called her several times and listened, not a sound. I had gone down a fairly good hill and was standing near Mud Pond. I don"t think she heard me. I was 500 feet or so lower than when I last saw her. I went back up the hill and called, but again - nothing. 20 minutes had passed and I was getting a little nervous. I thought it best to sit near my pack at Mud Pond and call until she realized I wasn't around. Nothing. Back up the hill and some more calling frantically. Nothing. I thought maybe she headed south, so on my way back to my pack I thought maybe she was ahead of me. On my way back, I ran into 2 nobos. I asked if they had seen a black and white dog. They said they hadn"t. Chloe is very friendly and seeks people. Now I new she was behind me. I asked them to tell her I was looking for her and send her my way. I was really frantic and on the verge of tears when several other nobos passed. I told them what was happening and they all felt badly and said they would tie her a tree if they saw her. I was very thankful. About an hour later a sobo walked by and said a hiker found her and was tying her to a tree about a mile back. I quickly got up and tore up the same 500 foot hill for the 4th time. Not far up I heard someone yell "Molasses". I sprinted up the hill and ran into the first hiker I saw. He had her on her leash. I almost cried I was so happy. She seemed happy to see me too. I thnked the hiker endlessly and realized I had met him way back somewhere. He knew Mtn. Dancer and John E Smokes. I wish that I had gotten his name - he really made my day. By now it was almost noon. The rest of the day Chloe was on the leash. It is much slower going with her attached, but I wasn't going to lose her again. Hiking back I realized a sense of comfort in hiking a trail I have hiked before. It also seems to go a bit quicker. There were several pretty steep ups and heading out of the shelter 3 miles before the road I came across a 10 foot drop into the creek. I didn't remember it being this tough on my way in, but this directon it was down 10 feet - straight down a rock face with hardly any foot or hand holds. The way back out was no picnic either. There really should be a bridge of some sort there. I fell several times today - but the most memorable was the header into the Mud Bog foot bridge. It's simply a tree cut in half and resting on two round sections of tree on both sides of the bog. As I was trying to avoid a big mud puddle I somehow fell directly forward. I didnt have a chance to get my poles down when the next thing I know my face is firmly planted between the two logs, my left foot was completely submerged in mud, my ass was in the air and I couldn't move. I could not lift my head due to theweight of my pack. I couldn't move my arms because they were under my waist. After severl attempts I finaly got my torso up high enough to get my arms out and managed to push myself up. It was very difficult, a little painful, but overall pretty funny. It takes the cake in the best fall department. Had someone video taped it, I could be a millionaire. Again saw several toads, Chloe saw 3 million red squirels. I hit Rte 15 around 4 pm and began the 4 mile walk into town. At last 50 cars, trucks and SUVs blew past and finally about 2 miles later a nice couple from Bango picked me up in their pick up truck. I said that I smelled real bad and offerd to get in the back but they insisted I hop up front. They were great and Chloe jumped up on the womans lap and fell asleep. They dropped me at The Pie Lady. She helped me locate an outfitter with doggie packs and will take me to Greenville tomorrow. Bless her heart. Also here are Kakamandi and Sundance with their dog Mr Spencer. Chloe now has a new boyfriend. The two of them sat quietly outside as we all had the fish fry dinner at C&G variety. It was exceptional, fried haddock, shrimp and scallops with french fries. It was huge and I ate it all. Tomorrow I am looking forward to their breakfast and a trip with the Pie Lady to Greenville.   peace and positivity,Molasses