Date: 2015-09-23
From: Chairback Gap Lean To

To: south base of White Cap Mountain-stealth
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

It was COLD last night! I'm guessing in the high 30s. This Florida girl has a hard time peeking any part of my body out of my bag when the air is that cold. I shot my arm out and grabbed my hiking clothes and stuffed them in the bag to warm them. Putting cold damp clothes on in the cold is NOT something I have adapted to well.Hauling Oats and Katherine wanted to do a 22 mile day with a 17 mile day as the bailout. They blew out of camp early. I wanted a 17 mile day to Logan Brook Lean to, no bailout planned. Today was the day we would climb the highest peaks in the wilderness, and I would be telling a giant fib if I said I was looking forward to it. My body is starting to yell UNCLE. My left ankle is swollen and has no range of motion. It is both numb and painful to the touch, particularly on the inside of the ankle and radiating to the arch. I am almost sure there has been a broken bone there since PA. But it is OK to walk on once I get started. To add to this, a wasp stung me 10 minutes into the hike today. I pulled out the stinger and watched as my hand blew up like a balloon. "Was it worth it"? I asked the wasp that was now dead from my swat. It didn't answer.I passed Hauling Oats sitting down eating a granola bar and she gave me some benedryl. That helped a lot over the next couple of hours and my hand slowly deflated.The hike today started with a small climb and then extended series of descents. It was a little slow going at first- the knees prefer to climb in the early hours and bark at me during early descents. I passed East Chairback Pond, looking for moose. No luck. But a very pretty view. After a couple of hours I reached West Branch Pleasant River. It was wide and there would be no rock hopping here. Just before I crossed I saw a case of coke. Trail Magic in the Wilderness! I drank one while I switched into my water shoes. What a nice surprise. Fording the rivers in the Wilderness is quite fun. I am very grateful for the weather, these rivers are sometimes unpassable when there has been a lot of rain. They are easy and not challenging this week.On the other side, Katherine was putting on her boots. Everyone has been trying to come up with a trail name for her, but she has rejected every name suggested, apparently since Vermont. There is something very edgy and glamorous about her...I'm trying to come up with one too.Today I saw lots of day hikers. What the heck? The logging roads offer access and Mainers take advantage of the opportunity to hike in these beautiful woods. I walked with a couple considereing a thru hike and they asked me lots of questions. I guess I am nearly a thru hiker now, although in many ways I still feel new and green. With a streak of badd ass.A thru hiking couple heading south warned us of vandals in the woods. One of their hiking poles had been broken during the night. It looked chewed up. They said people came into their camp around 3am and did this. They were hiking back to the road to get out and report it. Day hiker suggested that it might have been a curious bear, a scenario that was rejected by the couple. As we hiked away, the day hiker guy I was walking with said again- it was a bear. Looked like something a bear would do. Whether a bear or a human, I am not at all comforted by the thought of destructive creatures roaming my campsite. Good thing I have earplugs.Todays hike took me past lots of water. Streams, gushing granite chutes, ponds. The beauty of the 100 mile Wilderness is imcomparable. There is a reason Maine is the grand finale. It is so breathtaking and so absorbing. The moss and the trees, the plants, frogs, squirrels, everything is so alive and bursting with energy. You can feel it as you walk through the woods- and knowing I am part of this, that to the earth I will return someday -is comforting. I'm in the club.Then we hit the freakin mountains. Oh sweet mother of mercy- I didn't want to climb. But climb I did. Over Gulf Hags first. Coming down from there was a really nice campsite. But it was in the middle of the day. I kept going. I hit West Peak then Hay Mountain, and was literally trudging. My heavy pack was not helping. That food drop I missed was seeming like a good idea now.I got to the base of White Cap Mountain around 5:30, prepared to climb that sucker and resigned to the idea of finishing my day in the dark for the third day in a row. To my great surprise, Tedzilla was sitting there. "Hey BonBon- Here is a nice campsite. What say we stop in the daylight today?" I didnt want to be the wuss- but I was really happy to stop. We pitched our tents and cooked up dinner.Tedzilla is one of my favorite people on the trail. He is very quiet and usually fades into the background when lots of people are around. He is hiking because of a plan he made with his love of 20 years. They intended to do this hike and were planning it. Then she got sick with cancer. She died in his arms, less than two years ago, and he is hiking for her. We have talked about this on and off. The memory of holding her as the life left her body haunts him. He is stuck and can't seem to move forward. I have told him that in my opinion, that experience is a gift to her and to him. She left knowing she was loved, being held close. I can't think of a better way to go. And he never has to wish he said this or did that. She was not taken suddenly, in the context of a disagreement or something like that. He doesn't have to live with what he wished he had said or done. He said everything, did everything. He is trying to find peace with it, he is trying to find a way to move forward in his life.People hike for so many different reasons, and the trail gives us all what we need.