Date: 2004-07-28
From: The Cabin, Andover, Maine

To: Tenting at Full Goose Shelter, Maine
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: few clouds

9.7 miles todayTenting at Full Goose Shelter, MaineI was up late again last night. Whenever I get to town, I'm always up way too late.I went down to breakfast about 6am after getting my stuff all packed up and ready to go. Bear made the same things for breakfast as he did yesterday, but I didn't eat nearly as much. It's always busy there in the morning and they like to get the shuttles going by 7am. That doesn't leave time to mess around. I would be happier if I got to the trail about 11am because I was only going a short way, but you've got to go with the flow.I said goodbye to everyone I could find. The Axe Murderer's were busy trying to decide where or if they were going to hike, so I didn't get to say goodbye to them. Truck and I went in the shuttle with Bear and we picked up Ameoba at East B Hill Road where she spotted her car. We all went to Grafton Notch and Truck and Ameoba walked north and I headed south after I checked the register and saw that the Mad German signed in right after I did yesterday. I missed him this time, but should still see him in the wilderness in a couple of weeks. I may not be able to write the names of the mountains or the areas I'm in until after I get to the NH border. When I washed my clothes last night, my pants still had my Wingfoot page in them that I use to tell me where I'm at. That was the page for the rest of Maine.It was another beautiful day with rain in the forcast.I started walking at 8:10am and it really felt good to get back in the woods. It was fun seeing all those people at The Cabin, but I need more time to myself. At 10am, I was almost to the top of Speck Mountain and came across a place that I remember stealth tenting a couple years ago. I woke up that morning and thought my tent was on fire because it was bright orange from the rising sun. That was the most beautiful sunrise that I've ever seen.Coming down the mountain to Speck Pond, I watched as Rabbit slid about 8 feet on his rear side before he was able to stop.I ate a light lunch at Speck Pond Campsite and talked to Comfortably Numb and Rabbit. I got more water and hiked on.I hiked down the very steep Mahoosic Arm and ran into a couple that were out trying to finish up a hike from another year. Their names are Slow Motion and Patience.I hiked into Mahoosic Notch and I had a fantastic time. I didn't see anyone at all the whole way through. One person shouldn't be able to have that much fun all by himself. I played all the way through it. I was really happy with my backpack. It was small enough that I didn't have to take it off at all to get through even the tightest places where you have to crawl through the rocks. I finally saw ice...I've always heard that there was ice down there all summer, but I had never seen any before. This time, I saw alot of ice. It felt like someone turned the air conditioner on. It was already a cool day and just felt that much cooler with all the ice. When I got out of the notch, I made the steep climb up towards Full Goose Shelter. When I got to the top of the mountain, I sat down on the rocks and ate a snack and watched the clouds blow by me. I had no long distance views, but I could see several hundred yards and it was nice watching the trees go in and out of the clouds. I ended up being there about an hour and when I started to chill down, I got moving again. I hiked on down to Full Goose Shelter and set my tent up and ate dinner. I went down to get water and when I was coming back up the hill, a nobo was coming down for water. We had met in Damascus, Va. a while back. His name is Walk On. He told me that Waldo was here too. Waldo came walking down and I could see the surprized look in his eyes when he saw me. We met earlier this year a few times and then again when he was helping out at the Side Track Cafe in Damascus, Va. It was great seeing him again. He came up by my tent and sat down and we talked for a while. I couldn't stop yawning from lack of sleep, so I told him I would see him in the morning before he left. Another nobo came in by the name of Camel. I remembered him from the Hard Core Trail Crew in Tn.I still can't believe how much fun today's hike was. I'm only 5 miles away from NH and will be there tomorrow. I decided to take an extra day to get into Gorhan, NH because John Galt won't be there until the 30th or the 31st. I'm planning on getting there about noon on the 30th.I have alot of trail food that I want to eat before I get to Gorham. I bought too much again.It's a little after 6pm and I'm going to sleep.I was laying in my tent going to sleep and I heard a voice talking to someone that I recognized. I yelled out and said; "Hey, Cobweb". He said; "Stumpknocker, what are you doing here?"I think that he thought that I would be half way to Gorham by now.He said he had to laugh at an entry I made in one of the registers a ways back about how I thought that I finally passed the Slobo's...I guess I wasn't ahaed for long.I told him I needed to get some sleep and I'd talk to him in the morning.Good night.Another great day on the A.T.