Date: 2008-08-30
From: Bethel, ME

To: Bethel, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Wow did my legs and hips ache in the nite. No big surprise though. A.M. was upand down eating the continental breakfast (only offered on weekends for anadditional $10.00 per room fee) and Karen and I slowly came to. We got up andwere about to join A.M. when she was headed back, but we talked her intojoining us for some more coffee.Ohhh¢¦forgot to write about this. Obviously V8 didn¢t come back out with us, andwhen A.M. called her the day before, V8 said something that hit us all hard.She said, ¢I have to turn towards this life now.¢ Meaning, she had to checkback in, she knew it, she couldn¢t keep being ¢hiker.¢ Wow, that stuck with meall day by the way. I¢m sure she felt torn, knowing she could drive back, hikeanother day, but I totally understand. I would have a difficult time flippingfrom one existence to the other.I know that might be hard for some people to understand. Like, what¢s the bigdeal¢¦it¢s just going out for a day hike, but it¢s really not when you¢ve beenoff work for 6 months, unplugged from the normal responsibilities, and whenit¢s your time for re-entry, I¢d imagine it¢s a little torturous to stick yourtoes back into that pool when you know you can¢t jump fully into that lifeagain. We missed you though V8. I hope you like the video we made for you,and when you¢re ready to do the Mahoosuc Notch, if I¢m at ALL close, I¢d loveto come up and hike it again with you. You¢re going to love it¢¦.and then we¢llget heli-lifted from the end and skip the Arm¢¦.LOL.We ate breakfast, and then went back to the room and all jumped onto one bed toview all of our video clips on Karen¢s computer. A.M.¢s little camerarocks¢¦good sound too. It was fun, and Karen was most impressed with what we¢djust done the day before.A.M. had to leave today though, so she spent the rest of the morning packing upher car. Boo hoo!!!! I think she¢s joining another friend for a bit, but bothshe and V8 (on weekends) might join me for a day or two between here andMonson.She was already to go and it was time to tell her good-bye. Wow was thathard!!!! I mean, I¢ve been hiking by myself for so long, and the suddenly bysome miraculous turn of events, Auntie Mame and V8 were dropped into my orbitjust when I desperately needed some company and the energy they brought into myspace. They had enthusiasm, and weren¢t as beaten up or depleted as me, so Iwas able to act like a little parasite and steal some of that energy for my ownuse. I was seeing each day as a grind, as the steps, as the logistics, as theroutine, and their presence opened that wonderment of the woods back up to me.They helped me hike out when I was sick, hiked in the shitty bad weather for somuch of the Whites¢¦never complaining, always ready to go but never pushing me.So to Auntie Mame, much like when V8 drove away, I felt my heart sink thismorning when you waved goodbye. I will miss you, miss our talks about life,miss our amazing invention ideas that are sure to make us all independentlywealthy (Little Balsam Hanky), and will miss your insight to the things thatmake life¢¦.life. You are one strong hiker (she was outrunning me yesterday atone point) and I so appreciate your support. Just as I said to V8, this MUSTbe the beginning of our hiking partnership¢¦not the end. You ladies are justTOO MUCH fun!!!!!She drove away, I went back into the room, and I felt a little lost. I mean,now I get to hike by myself again¢¦at least until Monson (and yes, there¢s stilla chance they¢ll come back out for a day here and there too). They asked me oneday if I preferred to hike alone or with someone else. It¢s a tough questionfor me to answer, and I think the answer is, ¢It depends¢¦it¢s circumstantial.¢So, if I know it¢s all leisure and all about a good time and all about a fewdays out to escape the real world¢¦I definitely want people with around me toenjoy that natural space with, for most instances. If I¢m totally overwhelmedand need alone time, then obviously I¢d want to be a lone.As for this particular hike, I like to mix it up. I like having people andalone time. Both use my energy in different ways. Having another person, evenwhen you totally love the person/people, there¢s energy expended on groupdecisions (although, A.M. and V8 were like the most accommodating people whosaid from day one, ¢We¢ll do what you want to do..this is your hike.¢ I can¢tsay I agreed with that though, because I never felt like they were extraappendages on some grand adventure that belonged to me¢¦when they showed up,they were my equal and it became OUR hike).   When you¢re alone, you have toalways hike in front (which usually was V8) which means it¢s up to you to lookfor blazes and stay on trail. When you¢re alone, you decide when to stop, takebreaks, get water, how far to go each day¢¦etc. With A.M. and V8, thosedecisions were shared, and that¢s a load off sometimes you know?So, these next 2 days, my plan is to do my last resupply for the hike. The 14hiking days to get to Monson, the first 4 days of the wilderness, and the fooddrop we¢ll be mailing to Kathy Preble, who will meet us 30 miles into thewilderness. I want to get all of it prepackaged, organized, so when I startthis slackpack-athon to Monson, Karen will drop me off, I will hike, she willpick me up and take us back to room ¢X¢, I¢ll will remove the day¢s bag of foodand insert the next day¢s food bag, take a shower, journal, eat and go to sleep. I don¢t think I¢ll be able to go 14 days straight without at least 1 or 2 daysoff, and there is a 3-day 2-nite full pack section where there¢s no roads too.It¢s like the last big push in my mind. Once Karen and I depart Monson andenter the 100 mile wilderness, that¢s it¢¦.the last leg, the final moments anddays and nites on this journey where I will be living and sleeping in thewoods.I sat down¢¦made a list, got my thoughts organized, and then we decided to blowchores off and go to the rock store and coffee shop! LOL Gosh I¢m such a lazyass sometimes. Actually, it will all get done as needed, but we haven¢t justgoofed off and done just exploring in a while. Sometimes you need a change intopic. Everything for months has been hike¢¦hike..hike. I wanted, at least foran afternoon, to feel like a human being again, so we went to Mt. Mann and thisstore was very very cool. Saw Watermelon Tourmaline, which is one of therarest semi-precious stones in the world, last discovered in 1975 in Newry, ME(next to Bethel). It¢s got pink and green and white in it¢¦beautiful stone.There were pieces for sale up to $4100!!!!   For a kid that was always pickingup rocks, I had a rock tumbler and would polish my own rocks, and a rockcollection, this place was great.We walked around a bit and then walked over to the Mouse and Bean coffeehouse.Cool place too. They have 3 computers with internet but do charge to use them,or you can use your own computer for free. We got some coffee and walked backinto a room with a giant 2 person papason chair that I dove into. It feltwonderful to just sit, good coffee in had, both curled up in this comfy chairand just ¢be¢ for awhile. I could have fallen asleep except for the 4 shots ofespresso in my two drinks.Bethel is a cute town and there¢s a Save-n-Shop store with totally adequateresupply options. Matter of face, Persistent had been sending me these yummylittle Welches snack packs, of fruit bites. I¢ve never seen them anywhere, andshe emailed me saying the first place she found them was in this store, andwouldn¢t you know it¢¦they were here!! I¢m getting some for my final resupplyfor sure.After that, we went back to the room, it was late afternoon, and made somesandwiches for lunch. We love listening to music together, and I had tons ofnew stuff to share from Bad Influence, so I plugged in the ole¢ I-Pod and wespent the entire evening listening to great music, playing cards, and justenjoying the day. It was awesome. Later, we ordered a salad and sandwich froma local place and had some dinner delivered.So that was today¢¦saying goodbye to A.M., looking at beautiful rocks and gems,drinking coffee, and relaxing. Tomorrow will be back to business, and I¢ll beready.~Certain