Date: 2017-08-11
From: Mt Black

To: Fitzgerald Falls
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

One of the bits of advice that Shaman, a nobo we met way back in Monson at the southern end of the 100 mile wilderness, gave was not to look at the map of where the AT went because it would only dispirit us. While we've long since learned to ignore anything nobos say unless it revolves around food, this advice was accurate.Shaman's example was a section in the south which does a huge six-mile loop that could be avoided by a quarter mile shortcut. The only reason he hadn't followed his own advice was that he'd been on a ridge above the loop and could see it and the shortcut.On any other long trail, the idea of going without a map would be absurd. But one of the many ways in which the AT is different is it's so well marked with white blazes that many hikers make do with just an elevation guide, advising whether the trail climbs or descends, how steeply and for how long, so the ignorance-is-bliss principle is a feasible option.Today this was demonstrated via a series of PUDs -- pointless ups and downs, an AT speciality. Had I not had a map I might have convinced myself that the several brutal ascents and descents might have been unavoidable from, say, crossing a ridgeline.But I prefer to have a real map and that showed the unpalatable truth: in almost each case, the climb over an isolated knoll was wholly unnecessary."This is all good training for Maine," I told the nobos who came past. But obviously sobos don't need to train for Maine, having already experienced the real thing, which added an extra degree of pointlessness to the task.A section hiker who was pushing dark to do nine miles summed it up rather more succinctly, describing the PUD he'd just done as "this motherf***er".It wasn't all PUDs, though, although there were certainly more than I cared for. Today was also the day we encountered such evocatively-named New York trail landmarks as "the lemon squeezer" and "agony grind".The first one was a convoluted difficulty which the trail specifically routed itself to encounter when there was easy terrain to either side. The next was a series of jumbled boulders for about half a mile."If these were on the Mahoosucs," I muttered to myself, "they wouldn't have names and the only reason why they'd be memorable is because sobos would be thinking 'Oh, the trail's improved'."There was also another hazard on today's route that was truly avoidable but in this case of some seriousness: the bear problem at Fingerboard shelter. We'd been hearing stories about this place since New Hampshire but despite the reputation, there was no bear box provided and the problem persisted. As if to emphasise this, I found the remains of a ripped-open drybag that had been hanging from a tree -- apparently in textbook fashion -- but which had been snaffled by a bear just the day before.All this makes today sound grim but there were certainly bright spots, such as meeting Headley, a local trail angel who runs a food and water cache just before a notorious PUD. He comes by every couple of days to restock the supplies and on this occasion came with apples, bananas and even mangos.He was good value to talk to and it was nice to have the chance to thank him in person.After this day of convoluted difficulties and unnecessary PUDs, I was glad that the final few miles were all downhill to Fitzgerald Falls. I arrived to find Train, a hiker I'd been leapfrogging since Maine, already in situ.This was a popular place, being close to the road and featuring a 50ft waterfall, which meant it took a little while to find a tent site without broken glass from where idiots had smashed bottles.But I finally found a suitable place and managed to put up my tent just as the light patter of raindrops turned into proper rain. Life is good.AT fact of the day: I feel like a failure: today was a day without a deli, in a state so filled with them that they call it "deli-blazing" rather than "white blazing". But thanks to Headley's generosity, I did manage to eat food I hadn't carried. And today's campsite is designed to put me in striking range of a roadside hot dog vendor tomorrow. Win!