Date: 2014-08-09
From: Bemis Stream, ME

To: ME 4 - Rangeley, ME
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

I was up very early before it was even light enough to walk since I could not see the rocks or roots on the trail. Since I was down in a valley, the adjacent mountains shielded the sunlight. I cooked up breakfast beside Bemis stream, waiting for it to be light enough to hike.I finally got started around quarter after six. It was a steep rise to the upcoming cross road, ME 17. At road I was greeted by an expansive view of lakes and mountains I had trekked across during the prior days. It was a real pick-me-up seeing what I had hiked over. It is these senses of accomplishment that keep me driving northward. When you are long distance hiking, as I am, there are no instance gratifications. The days can be long and grueling and it is often the one or two spectacular views you get each day that put the wind in the sails allowing the sense of accomplishment to roll over you. I paused for a while taking it all in (see photo). There were no cars on the road at this time so it was very peaceful. This is a bit funny.... Once across the road I had to take care of some, how should I say this, personal business. So I take off my pack, leaving it on the trail, and head in to the adjacent woods. As I am taking care of business I thought I heard the slam of car doors. I figured this was just someone stopping at the nearby car overlook to take in the views.   I finish up and just as I pop out of the woods back on to the trail I walk right into another northbound thru hiker, startling him... He says where the heck did you come from... I wave the package of toilet paper and he instantly understands... It was funny. His trail name was J5 and he was slack packing between ME17 (hence the car doors I heard) to Rangeley, which was also my destination. We ended up hiking together, visiting during much of the trek. He is retired from the navy and now living in West Virginia. However I pegged his accent from NY. Come to find out he was originally from Long Island, NY, my birth place. He knew many of the same places on the island I did. So we chewed the fat much of the 6 hours we hiked. His wife has been providing logistical support at each road crossing allowing him to slack pack today as well as many other days as he approaches Katihdin. We were on a mission blazing the trail passed many large ponds. We took a short break at Little Swift River Pond. Here we also met and visited with four other thru hikers he knew. It was great for me as I had not met any of them before. Since taking those days off to visit family in Gorham, NH, all of the hikers I knew were well ahead of me. We packed up after a quick snack and hit the trail hard. Our pace was around 3 miles per hour which was so much faster than the pace the four days prior. The trail was tamer (no large rock climbs) and it felt good to blaze the trail like I did in the states prior to Maine and New Hampshire. We finally arrived at the cross road to Rangeley around 1:00 pm. At the trailhead, I was met by my mother and Robin and J5 was met by his wife (her trail name was Dragon Lady). Since it was Saturday hotel rooms were hard to find but my mother found an awesome B&B that had two rooms available. This place was over the top. The house was an massive log cabin design set atop a cleared hill providing specular views of Rangeley Lake and the sunset (see photo). We sat out on the large deck with a fire going watching the sky change colors as dark set in and the stars came out. The B&B is the Highland Heath House and the accommodations and hosts were outstanding! My mother gets two thumbs up for finding this gem..... Tomorrow I will hit the trail later than usual, planning to enjoy a big breakfast and catch up on some of my journal entries.