Date: 2008-07-28
From: Northern Peaks Motel Gorham NH 

To: Gentian Pond Shelter NH
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 162 Monday July 28 ¢ Gentian Pond Shelter NH - Miles Today: 11.8 Total Miles: 1890.1We had a leisure morning in the motel before checking out. We were up around 7:00 and were hitch hiking just before 8:00. It took our full 10 minutes to score a hitch. We had walked down the street as we hitched and were in front of Dunkin' Donuts when a man pulled in and asked if we needed a ride back to the trailhead and we said yes. He said he needed to get his coffee and donut first and then would pick us up. He went through the drive-thru, came around the other side, picked us up and off we went back to the trail. Our Trail Angel winters around the Ft. Myers Florida area and summers in this area. He works at the White Birches Campground, which has a big barn that they just recently converted into a hostel for thru-hikers. The hostel business is doing better than the tent sites in the campground. With the economy not doing so well, fewer people are coming from the Notch area and the other side of the mountain. We were hiking by 8:15. We did not see too many people today, which was unfortunate because at one point in time we were concerned that we were no longer on the trail. We had not seen any white blazes for quite a while and were concerned that we took the wrong trail at the last junction, which was about 1/2 mile back. We'd stop; say we need to head back to the junction; question our confidence that we read the signs correctly; and then continue hiking north. Thru-hikers HATE to backtrack!   Well, this stop, debate, and continue heading north occurred about three times until we finally decided to backtrack to confirm the direction of the trail, knowing that it was going to cost us about an hour. Luckily, after 10 minutes of southbound hiking, we ran into another thru-hiker, 5 Bags, who confirmed for us that we were indeed on the right trail. Good deal. Obviously we were not the only ones that have had this problem because in the register at the shelter tonight, another hiker came up with a new name for AMC - A**hole Maintenance Club. This hiker apparently counted 7 blazes in a 1-mile stretch and was none too pleased with the maintenance. We¢ve been spoiled with all the blazes on most of this trail!The trails today were drier than before but were still very muddy in places and had some very big puddles, which make it very slow for hiking as we tried to find dry routes around them. In Gorham, Grasshopper switched her Gortex trail runners for mesh runners. She¢s given the mesh shoes a good test today, as both of her feet slipped into the mud. These muddy conditions sound like the normal conditions from here to Katahdin, so it¢ll be interesting to see how the mesh shoes do over the long run. She's not the only one out here with mesh shoes so it is doable; it's just going to be a bit dirtier. But, perhaps in some cases, drier. We got to camp about 4:15, which was about 45 minutes later than it should have been due to our confusion of the trail location. We got the tent set up on the platform, ate dinner, hung the food bag and then heard a group of girls arriving at the shelter. Apparently they have taken it over as 2 southbounders, a young couple from Arizona, after seeing the situation decided to tent. High Life and another northbounder have also arrived and are tenting beside us. High Life did not zero in Gorham and has caught back up to us. Brakeman is excited because he saw a squirrel today. We're going to wing tomorrow. The game plan was for us to go to Full Goose Shelter, but in looking at the guidebook we see a camping spot on the north side of Mahoosuc Notch, that may be feasible. When we get to Full Goose Shelter, we¢ll determine if we have 4 more hours of hiking time and energy and make a go or no go decision. If we make a ¢go¢ decision, we will hike through the slowest mile on the trail, Mahoosuc Notch, and camp just past it. Everybody's talking about how fun it is to go thru the Notch and that Mahoosuc Arm is actually more difficult than the Notch. The following day is a nearly 16-mile day, so it¢d be nice to do some of those miles tomorrow if possible.   It's 7:15 and 70 degrees. It¢s not too terribly buggy but we are in our tent relaxing anyway. We did not feel overly energetic today. I think hanging around the motel doing nothing and eating a lot of unhealthy foods took a toll on our bodies. Today we're back to our normal grub and normal schedule so perhaps tomorrow we'll feel a little more energetic.Tomorrow we'll enter Maine! As we enter our last state, listen for our scream, which should be loud enough to be heard worldwide. Goodnight from just short of sweet ol¢ Maine.