Date: 2011-08-05
From: Rangeley, ME (well actually back to Stratton)

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 44.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Well August 2nd turned out to be another zero... I got to the trail head in Rangeley with Jennifer and it started pouring, so I just said screw it and we went back to Stratton, again, and I had another wonderful night with Jennifer. I also had another wonderful hot tub, but got to bed very late so the next morning was a little rough.August 3rd Jennifer and I had planned to get to the trail head by 7am, but we actually didn't leave the house until 7am. I didn't mind being late because I was so tired, but at the same time I knew that I had to hit Grafton notch by August 6th to meet up with my mom, nana, and Nate. And because I took a zero the day before and didn't hike the 5 miles I was supposed to to the Little Swift River Pond Campsite, I was going to have to hike 17.6 miles to get back on track. Well... I got on the trail at 9am and said another sad goodbye to Jennifer (who I love now as an aunty and is probably the best trail angel out there). I made great time through the rain to Sabbath Day Pond lean-to which was 9.3 from the road and got there by 1pm!!!! This is when I met Wrong Way for the second time. He is an extremely experienced hiker, having hiked the PCT, CDT, and the AT (some multiple times). I told him that I really wanted to make to the Bemis Mountain Lean-to but it was going to be a really long day for me. I told him how long it took me to get to Sabbath Day Pond and he seemed willing to slow his pace slightly to hike with me to Bemis Mnt. (I must have been just fast enough) While hiking we talked a lot about what else... hiking, gear, shoes, our lives, etc. He gave me a lot of really great advice and also pushed my pace as we headed the 8.3 miles left to the lean-to. Wrong Way also told me about his plan for his trip, which actually started in Washington state, where he biked across the country to Maine, is now hiking down to Florida on the AT, will hang out for while, then will bike across the country to the base of California and will then hike north on the PCT back to where he started, doing a large loop of the 48 states!!!!! Absolutely amazing!!! When we got to the actual Bemis mountain, it was tough to climb, but we still pushed a really fast pace up to the shelter, however, the last mile dragged and I thought we would never make it! Alas we made it and I got to drink the 24 oz Mikes Hard Lemonade that I had toted for 17.6 miles!!!! Hiking took a total of 8 hours over 17.6 miles which put my pace at 2.2 miles per hour!!!! It was a hard day, but I am extremely proud of how I hiked and am grateful to Wrong Way for pushing me.August 4th I found that my energy was pretty much drained from my hard day hiking on the 3rd. I hiked with Serenity (BMW), Super Turtle, and Crash Test for the first time, but I only went 8.8 with them until we hit South Arm road because they needed to resupply in Andover and I was carrying food until Grafton Notch, where my mother was going to bring me my resupply. As we were coming down the steep slope to South Arm road it started raining pretty hard and didn't stop until I was over Moody Mountain. Why did they put the trail over this stupid mountain I don't know... but it was rough. Coming down off of Old Blue Mountain was steep, then up Moody was steep, down Moody was even steeper, and then up to the Hall Mountain lean-to was steep again!!!! This was one of the hardest 4.5 miles of my life!!! I made it to Hall Mountain Lean-to around 5pm and shared the lean-to with a young guy named Ghetto, who is a section hiker and had a lot of experience with upgrading on gear. It was really nice to have his company that night, I even had a nightmare and had to scream to get myself out of it. (Of course it was a stupid nightmare)August 5th Ghetto left really early in the morning so when I was packing up I felt pretty lonely and a little scared so I played some music on my phone to keep me going without freaking out. While I started hiking I could tell I was the first on the trail in the morning because of all the spider webs, so I sang to myself as I got down the trail. At one point I was really singing at the top of my lungs (The Lion King song: "Can you feel the love tonight") and all of a sudden I am about 5ft from a man. I stopped singing and he said, "That was the most beautiful singing I have heard on the trail yet..." Haha!!! I know I'm not a great singer, but I was flattered to have a compliment on my voice. As I kept hiking I came across some trail magic!!!! Cold soda and chocolate!!!! Now it was about 9am and I wasn't really ready for a soda so I put it in my bag and decided to tote it to lunch. On my way to much lunch destination of the Frye Notch lean-to, I started talking to myself... all of a sudden a guy was about 10ft from me! First he asked if I was southbound, I said yes. Then he asked how far, I said that I wasn't sure, he then jokingly asked, "Until the voices stop?" Woops, that's what you get when you talk to yourself in the woods!!! I made it to Frye Notch lean-to by around 12:45pm and ate lunch, met a couple with their daughter who were also hiking south, and Stanley Thermos (who I gave some food to so he could make it to Andover for his resupply). This is when Wrong Way comes around the corner saying "I hear you slinging them babies" (or something to that effect). Wrong Way and I hiked up Baldpate Mountain and hung out at the top where I met Grasshopper, a guy my age hiking north who had decided to take his time through the last state of his journey. He was very nice and we talked for a while, Wrong Way still had to make some miles so he headed on... I'm not sure if I'll ever see him again. I was only 1.9 miles from the lean-to so I hung out on top of Baldpate for a while. That night at the lean-to I met some nobos named Grandpa, Orange Blaze, and Five. It was a really fun night, and I was in good spirits because I knew that I would get to see my Mom, Nana, and Nate tomorrow, and was also not going to have to hike too many miles. It was such a relief to know I had made my timing just right to meet them the next morning!