Date: 2018-08-09
From: Milinocket, ME

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0

So Monday was Katadhin. On Tuesday I spent most of the day with Kidska and Potato. We ate breakfast at the hotel then went back upstairs and napped until checkout at 11am. Then we went and hung out at the McDonalds down the street and etched out a plan to get from Milinocket to Bangor (60 miles). My flight was gonna be out of Bangor the next day and they both had buses to catch there. We decided to try and hitch the whole 60 miles. I had very little faith in the whole operation. It was about to rain, so I kept trying to convince them to just split a $100 Lyft with me. But they¢re cheap AF. Cheaper than me surprisingly. So I entertained the idea with them for a bit. And glad I did because by the end of the day, we all got to Bangor completely free!It took only two hitches. The first ride picked us up instantly and took us about halfway. It was an older white guy with a truck who played classical music the whole way there and talked about his long, lost dream of being a musician and joining a touring orchestra. Lol The second hitch was also from an old white guy with a truck, but it took some effort. We made a sign out of an old pizza box that said ¢BANGOR!¢ and stood along a busy access road, twirling our trekking poles in the air. Hitching is hard enough, and when you got 3 people it takes even longer. Took us about 40 mins to get a ride, but we did it! Little thanks to me though. I was bitching the whole time. It was hot. Lol The guy who picked us up made sure to tell us that he never picks up hikers. Kept calling us a bunch of ¢granolas¢. While driving, he FaceTimed his wife, who he called a ¢hippie¢, and told her how proud she should be of him for giving us a lift. Lol What. However, the guy did drive me directly to the airport, which was nice. I said my final goodbyes to Kidska and Potato, and then we all went our separate ways. It was 4:30pm and my flight wasn¢t until 6am the following morning. Since my flight was so early, I didn¢t wanna pay for a motel and just figured I¢d sleep at the airport instead. Solid plan. Except I go to the counter to check-in with United and no one is there. I ask the attendant at the Delta counter where all the United people are and the guy just stares at me and says ¢You¢re not from around here are you?...¢ Dude, I¢m at a fucking AIRPORT. NO I¢M NOT FROM HERE! Apparently, Untied people go home at 4pm, so I couldn¢t check my bag and go through security until they returned at 4am the following day. Minor set back. I quickly became content with sleeping in the airport lobby. That was until I got a text at 10pm saying that my flight was CANCELED due to ¢air traffic control¢. What the actual fuck. Long story short, I ended up not being able to fly out of Maine until Thursday (Today) at 1pm. I did spend the night at the airport on Tuesday, which was an experience for the books. I befriended a nice security guard who sat with me until I refigured my flight plans and then showed me the quietest and warmest part of the airport to sleep in. #Love. Wednesday I stayed at a motel in Bangor and watched a lot of shitty TV. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to be hiking. Today I finally flew back to Harpers Ferry, but not after getting fondled by a TSA agent. They did my body scan in the little machine and then pulled me to the side. This old, white lady looks at me and says ¢We got a red flag in the crotch location, so I¢m gonna have to do an inner groin pat down using the back of my hands. Do you want to move to a private location for this?¢ ... Wait? WHAT. I was fucking speechless. And so confused. I¢m literally wearing running shorts with no underwear! I told her to just get it over with. It was tempting to not make sexual noises the whole time. Lol Fuck TSA. Staying at The Teahorse Hostel tonight in Harpers Ferry. It¢s weird staying at a hostel without other thruhikers around. The only other people here are two middle-aged women who just hiked the AT for a couple days and then a father and son on a biking trip from DC. During peak season, this place is packed with thruhikers, but since I¢m currently the only one everyone is treating me like a celebrity. One of the women told me ¢You aren¢t my daughter, but you should know I am so proud of you.¢ Lol! They¢re all really nice. Excited to get back on trail tomorrow. Even though I was only off for 3 days, it feels like it¢s been forever. I¢ve never taken more than one day off at a time. I¢m worried my body is just gonna crack in half when I start hiking again. Lol South, here I come!