Date: 2014-07-15
From: Rangeley, ME

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Karyssa posting. The following paragraphs are edited versions of what Spinoza has written on a daily basis. I'll skip the self-incrimination and stick to the safe highlights (lol):6/25In the AT Lodge, Millinocket, ME! Had to pay a cabbie $120 for a ride from Bangor, but he was a fairly cool guy, and I'm really only out $80. A long day of travel with lots of emotional episodes - what am I giving up by this venture? etc. - but the cool and wet north-woods are calming my mind. 2" of rain expected tonight & tomorrow, so may spend another night her to get better views from Katahdin. There are six other SOBOs, all in their 20's, downstairs discussing marijuana legalization... typical. 5 deaf guys share my floor... loud! Is that typical, I wonder?Flying over the Eastern US in 1/2 a day made me think of how I will be like an ant on your patio as I crawl in the opposite direction on the A.T.7/1 - (11 miles hiked)5:00am Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To - 48.3 miles into Beautiful spring, horrible lean to, full of mice and mosquitos... dark and dreary. I did 19 miles yesterday, fell twice, and my feet and hips hurt today. Talked to Dakota Joe, and Phil - great sources of info.5:00pm - Coogan Brook Shleter - 59.8 miles intoMountains and rain in-store for tomorrow. Found my first trail magic -- a clift bar and dehydrated veggie soup in a ziploc, tied to a tree by Jo-Mary Road. I only took 1/2, even though I am light of food. Dakota Joe also passed on the code to a lock on a maildrop box used by HMW-outfitters and I got a pepsi out of it. Best pop ever! My feet are either growing callouses or blistering; I can't tell yet, but they are very sore. I hope my hip is better today. That seems more debilitating somehow.7/4 (11 miles hiked)Mile 99.4 ¢ Long Pond Stream Lean-To11 miles in the midst of Hurricane Arthur was enough, and leaves me only a 15 mile trek to RT 15 and Monson tomorrow. Met a few more NOBOs, including Tree Frog and traded with a section hiker for GORP and a PB sandwich. I was basically out of food, so it was a life-saver!7/5 (6 miles hiked)Mile 115 ¢ Longshore House, MunsonAlmost drowned today crossing Big Wilson Brook with my pack on. Because of record rainfall the creek rose from waist high to chest high overnight, but I was so close and desperate to reach Munson that I tried to cross holding the fixed rope in front of me, upstream. Halfway across, the water lifted my legs off the rocks, spun me around, and filled my pack. I was literally holding on for dear life, and managed to shuffle my hands a few feet further where I got a footing and took the pressure off of my fading arms. I had a second to consider whether to free one arm and try to take off the pack ¢ already loosened and unchipped at the waist ¢ or just drift with it downstream. No option was happy. I had a regional map and it showed a nearby road, which I walked to the Katahdin Ironwork Road, and got a lift from the first car that came along. They shared a joint (wth¢¦ 2 in 2 days) and dropped me here. I left Vulture and Cactus on the other side of the creek and am still worried about them. I found Chad here, however, and Doc Hazard. Goodnight!7/7 (23 miles hiked)8:00 pm. Moxie Bald Mountain Lean-To (AT Mile 132.4)I walked 17 miles on the AT, but add in 6 more on gravel paths and black top. I took a road/bridge bypass to avoid the Piscataquis river¢s branches, in part to mollify Molly and in part because I heard mixed reports of its west branch ford. (It¢s funny how young hikers estimate the difficulty of some stretch of trail only having estimated my age.) I walked thru [Blandhard] and talked to some folks, and was glad for the detour off the trail for a while, but then lost hope of ever finding the AT again until very late in the day. I was surprised to find the shelter empty, as NOBOs are streaming this way. More rain today, but I was able to light a fire and dry everything. I hope to call Molly from Moxie Bald; 2628¢ Summit tomorrow, after a tough 2¢ ¢ mile climb. Goodnight loons.7/21 (12 miles hiked)OMG oatmeal with apples and chocolate (from a hiker¢s box in Andover)!12:00pm stopped at Speck Pond, the highest in ME, for lunch (Nutella and cheese). Considered stopping here as Speck Mtn was a long, steep climb and wicked descent, but I have only done 7 miles and 5 more to the Full Goose shelter, and I will be through the Mahoosuc Notch.7:00pm ¢ Full Goose Shelter (m 276.9) ¢ 5 miles from NH!The hardest 12 miles ever, 10 hours of wicked up and downs and the Mahoosuc Notch, which was very cool actually. Just before I entered it, having descended a very nasty side of Old Speck, I heard children¢s voices. Out of the notch came two cute little Swiss girls, aged around 8 and 10. Happy as pigs in shit, which put my freaked-out mind in its place. Their mom, ¢Swiss Miss,¢ a thru-hiker from 2011 or so, gave me an apple! Best trail magic ever, as it was most opportune, and it came with a great conversation. In the middle of it, one of the girls reaches over and grabs some wood sorrel and pops it in her mouth. So I learned one edible today.