Date: 2007-10-04
From: Caratunk

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Life is full of unpredictability and it¢s shocking when one¢s situation turns 180 degrees in the span of an evening. Here¢s the ¢short¢ version of how my hike ended:Two days ago when Birdman and I were hiking past West Carry Pond, we heard someone yelling off in the distance. We stopped and looked around and, not seeing anyone, assumed it had nothing to do with us. So we walked on to our campsite at East Carry Pond, four miles down the trail. The next day we ran into Forrest and Spaceman who had stayed at West Carry shelter. They told us that the man we had heard yelling was Granite, a drifter who had been hanging out on the AT, and he was trying to get our attention. Apparently, Granite was irrationally upset with Birdman and I and thought that we had purposefully snubbed him when he was yelling at us. Forrest and Spaceman said that Granite was livid, breaking up huge pieces of firewood and making physical threats against Birdman and I for over half an hour. When we first heard about it, we laughed nervously about the incident. Then we got to the Kennebec River ferry where the ferry operator warned us about Granite, telling us that he had been traveling the AT and its surrounding trail towns causing trouble. Later that night at Northern Outdoors, Granite showed up looking for Birdman and I. He hung out in the parking lot for hours, peering into the windows. He harassed the staff and other hikers while looking for us and even went up to our room to find us. He said he was going to take us away for a while. It was Birdman¢s last day on the trail ¢ his section hike ended at Caratunk. This left me to hike alone in the woods with this weirdo looking for me. It gave me a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I spoke to the staff at Northern Outdoors about Granite, describing the situation to them. We contacted the Maine State Police.   Granite had been floating around for a week and had the cops called on him once already. The state trooper told me that he had an extensive criminal background and had warrants out for his arrest in Georgia and New Jersey. Hmmm¢¦glad I called the police. I guess the feeling in my belly was right. The police threw Northern Outdoors into lockdown and told me not to go anywhere alone. They searched for him with no luck. Granite had no car but he knew the area well and vaporized into the woods. I barely slept that night. I knew that I needed to make a decision about what to do. Finally, I decided that I would only continue my hike once Granite was caught. I called the state police the next morning to see if he had been found and taken into custody. I was told that he was still on the loose. The cop who was assigned to the case had the day off of work and they weren¢t able to tell me if further efforts were being made to locate Granite. He¢d been causing problems for over a week and the cops hadn¢t managed to nab him yet so I was skeptical as to whether or not the issue was going to be resolved in the near future. Forrest and Spaceman kindly offered to let me hike with them. But I decided against it since it¢s not fair to burden them with baby sitting me. Plus, what could they do if Granite overpowered them or had a gun? Or what if I walked just a little too slow or needed to collect water and found myself alone for even ten minutes? There¢s no way I can be with other hikers 100 percent of the time and no way that being around other hikers can protect me. There¢s also the aspect of my anxiety about this whole situation and how it would affect my hike. I had no desire to go out in the woods and feel the need to look over my shoulder every five minutes. Before I left for this trip, I made a pact with myself. I promised that if the trip ceased to be fun or safe, I¢d get off of the trail. The prospect of sharing trail space with Granite was anything but fun and anything but safe. Initially I was concerned that I was overreacting. But I¢m more concerned about what could happen if I found myself in the woods alone and ran into a known criminal who has made violent threats against me and had come looking for me. So I decided to get off the trail for the year. It¢s a matter of personal safety and also one of preserving my sanity and happiness. I don¢t want to spend my last handful of days in the woods constantly looking over my shoulder and being afraid to sleep at night. The whole point of this trip was very much about the journey rather than the destination, Katahdin. And the journey¢s been great. And the trail will be there next year when I return to see the 100 mile wilderness and Katahdin. I do really want to experience the last stretch but not under the circumstances that I was confronted with. My decision to leave was difficult but ultimately good and mature. Just a few years ago, my pride and my urges to complete the trail when so close to the end may have kept me moving. I realize that I¢ve been blessed to spend almost half a year in the woods with wonderful people. Truly, it¢s been the most fabulous experience of my life and I¢m so grateful for it.   In the week following my departure from the trail, I was overwhelmed by the supportive phone calls from friends on and off the trail. The people in Caratunk and the state police were also very supportive and professional about the whole situation. Right before I left to return to civilization, Steve from Rivers and Trails, a hostel and guide business down the road from Northern Outdoors, came to speak to me. Apparently, Granite had been spotted going up the trail. If I had taken the scheduled shuttle back to the trail that day, I would¢ve been walking a mere 45 minutes in front of him. It was then that I fully realized that I made the right decision to leave.