Date: 2003-09-12
From: Gorham, N.H.

To: Trident Col Tentsite
Miles today: 6.9

Breakfast at the sit-down restaurant down the street. Make a quick stop at the Mini-Mart for more sandwich stuff and hitchhike back to the Trail where it crosses US-2. Rats! Where the Trail crosses the Hwy., it's not clear which way it goes. (There are a number of places like this, you just back up and work it out.) Well, I cross the little stream twice and back-track out of some guy's garden before I figure out the Trail doesn't cross the road, but continues down to the next intersection before it hangs a right and crosses the Androscoggin River. Who knew?Looking back, I'd recommend that anyone who wanted to do this get some maps. They only weigh a few ounces and they would have saved me several wrong turns! By the way, the Androscoggin River is yet another case of government "Spin-doctoring, (that is, putting the absolute best face on a bad situation). All around Leadmine Bridge are posted bulletins warning against eating fish caught from the river. Only the bulletins warn pregnant women and young children "Don't eat the fish" and then they go on to say that healthy adult males CAN eat the fish up to twice a month, and not have to worry about heavy metal poisioning (for the rest of their lives.) Then the bulletins tell everyone what a great job our government is doing cleaning up this once heavily polluted river so that the residents of New Hampshire can enjoy delicious fish twice a month. (Makes me hungry just thinking about it!)It's a wonderful sunny day and I take a lunch break on the ridge overlooking the river. Everywhere there are sparkles like little diamonds, but is is only the mica flakes in the rocks. Red Dirt and Pay Phone from Oklahoma hike past. It's good to hear some southern drawls, as everyone talks funny hereabouts. (heh, heh!) It turns out to be a right smart walk to where I'm headed this day (more than 5 miles) and while I'm taking a rest break on the top of yet another scenic vista, some locals hike past with a message from God that they want me to hear. I tell 'em that at this point I think I'm close enough to the Lord, that if there was something He wanted me to know, He would tell me Himself instead of sending errand boys with a promise of eternal damnation in the event that the listener didn't see things their way.They also didn't take well to me asking 'em what made THEM any different than all the others who promised the firy pit to anyone who didn't buy their particular version of "The Truth". Well, it turns out that her daddy had founded some little church hereabouts, and after listening to fire and brimstone for her whole life, she felt at ease explaining "Who was gonna be saved and who wasn't." (I don't think she had me in the first category.) Well, we jawed at each other for a bit, and finally settled on that it was a fine and beautiful day to hike, and so we did...in opposite directions. I believe she went on down the mountain to find someone else to explain things to, and I continued on to Trident Col Tentsite, where I camped with 6 or 7 others that evening under a clear, starry sky and I gave thanks to the Lord that He had allowed me to be there and healthy. Praise God!