Date: 2018-09-13
From: Secret Stealth Site

To: Woods Road Campsite
Miles today: 9.9

I woke up to extreme stomach pain at 5 am. It felt like someone was stabbing me in the stomach. Curling into a ball helped with some of the pain but it hurt to move or stand up straight. I thought I might have giardia but this stomach pain felt familiar. I have had bouts of this kind of pain before. I never knew what caused it but it usually took a day to clear. I slowly packed up my tent trying not to stand up straight. I ate another one of my dinners for breakfast. One that wouldn't upset my stomach more. Grape and Maga headed out and I took it slow. I got my pack together but trying to hike with the stomach pain was unbearable. I sat on a rock hunched over trying to escape the pain. Around 10 am the pain subsided enough that I could start hiking. I could still feel the shooting pains in my stomach as I climbed. It seemed to be less and less painful as I climbed up. At one point I felt a tweak in my stomach and the pain was gone. Maybe something was stuck in my stomach and it finally broke free.  The climb up Saddleback wasn't so bad. I thought it was going to be mostly root climbs but it was more gradual than that. I hiked above the Alpine zone and the trees shortened so I could see the valley below. Rangely, ME could be seen in the distance with its massive lake that was carved as the glaciers from the last ice age retreated.  At the top of Saddleback I ran into Sunny and Bullet taking pictures. They had gotten stuck in town yesterday and didn't make it very far. I hung out there for awhile admiring the view and watching the clouds dance in the sky. HAM, Rolly, and Fungi showed up. I called Kazi since she had just summited Katahdin yesterday. She was said it was a very emotional day for her since she completed the trail on her late fiance's anniversary. She was now in Bangor with Brittany, Matt's sister. They were getting food and were going to chill for the rest of the day. I got off the phone and called Theresa for a little bit to catch up. Around 1 pm I descended Saddleback and headed for the horn. I could see the trail leading up to the horn about 1.7 miles out. It had its own challenges with steep slick rocks and boulder climbs. At the top of the horn I took a small break to get some calories in my system. The descent off the horn was a little more sketchy. At one point I had to do a hair point turn on a ledge where you could easily fall down 10 feet. I made it to the bottom of the mountain to a campsite. I grabbed some water and ran into HAM and Rolly again. They were flipping a coin to see if they should stay at the campsite. The coin told them yes and they were stopping for the day.  I pushed up Saddleback junior to another excellent view and another snack break. I climbed off the mountain and stopped at the Poplar Ridge Lean-To. In the shelter was a small memorial for a hiker named Inchworm who had passed away a few miles from the shelter. She had gone into the dense woods to use the bathroom had gotten lost in the forest. She had tried climbing a few peaks to get cell phone reception but didn't get any. She survived for a month and eventually died of starvation only a mile off trail. A hunter found her remains a few years later. As I hiked on from the shelter I looked into the forest to see how easy it could be to lose the trail. The forest here is a lot denser than anywhere else on the trail. At the bottom of the descent I ran into a large river where I had to rock hop and balance on logs to not get my feet wet. On the other side was a waterfall and a dirt road at the top of the falls. A whole group of hikers were camped out there. It was the same group I saw the night before. They said Maga and Grape pushed on from here a few hours ago. It was getting dark and I decided to setup camp at the falls. The group had a fire going and I made my dinner next to the fire. I ate chili Mac for dinner. We talked about Inchworm and the Maine hermit. Thumper mentioned that Inchworm got lost right around here. Through the trees we could see the stars. They are brighter here with less artificial light. I finished my food and headed to bed.Tonight I'm listening to the waterfall crash on the rocks.