Date: 2018-07-22
From: Little Swift River Pond campsite 

To: Poplar Ridge shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: moderate rain

This morning¢s hike was a nice reprieve from the usual. It was a swift 5 miles to a road - I was moving at nearly 3 mph! Glad to know I haven¢t completely lost my stride. I did fall into a mud sink hole though nearly knee deep on both legs. When I pulled myself out, there was just mounds of mud caked onto my boots. That definitely slowed me down. The road lead into Rangeley, ME, which was about 9 miles away. I didn¢t need to go into town, so I didn¢t bother hitching. But just 0.3 down the road is the Hiker Hut Hostel, which I read sells snacks! So I did the walk. And glad I did! I got some Sour Patch Kids, a free banana, and a picture of me with a chipmunk eating right out of my hand! I hung out there way longer than I should have. I was mainly stalling the inevitable climb I¢d have to make up Saddleback Mt. Saddleback Mt is a 4,120ft climb with 3 miles of exposed ridge line over the peaks (which I was highly unaware of). On my way up, I passed by this older, SoBo guy having a snack break alongside the trail. As I passed him, he wittingly asks, ¢You know it¢s gonna storm, right?¢... Bro, if I stopped hiking every time the weather said it was gonna rain I wouldn¢t get anywhere! Also we¢re thru-hikers! Rain, shine, cold, hot - it¢s what we do! I didn¢t actually say any of this, but it¢s what I wanted to say. And yes, halfway up the mountain it started pouring down rain. It wasn¢t until I got to the top and read a sign (¢No Camping for the Next 3 Miles¢) that I realized I was gonna be hiking in a storm with no tree cover for 3 damn long miles. And let me tell you, that was some scary shit. It was so freaking windy, like blowing me straight sideways. I had to lean into it while I hiked in order to stay standing. And the rain, the cold cold rain. It was so hard to see where you were going. Since there¢s no trees, there¢s no white blazes to mark the trail. So instead you follow these little rock pyramid things. But when you¢re in the middle of a cloud during a storm on top of a mountain, you can¢t see shit! Eventually, I ran into a SoBo hiker. But like literally, we almost collided straight into each other. His exact words were ¢Holy shit! Thank god someone else is up here! I was starting to think, if I died no one would find me!¢ Lol! I was surprised to see him too. And also glad I wasn¢t the only one stupid enough to be up there. The sketchiest part about hiking mountains though is the hiking down part. It¢s just a bunch of huge, jagged rocks on a steep, steep wall. And then add rain to that and you¢re just fucked. I was moving at 1 mph. Sliding on my but as much as possible. Eventually I make it to the shelter/campsite. The shelter was not surprisingly very full. I sat on the outer edge barely under the roof. I wanted to wait for the rain to let up a bit before setting up my tent. I tried to cook my dinner while I waited, but my fingers were so cold and numb I couldn¢t use the freaking lighter to light my stove! Luckily someone helped me. I¢ve been cold a lot on trail. And wet a lot on trail. But cold AND wet, that shit will break you. I set up my tent in the rain and then got inside it with my soaking wet clothes on, so now everything is wet and muddy. I ringed out all the water in my shorts and socks, and then put dry clothes on. But since my body is still wet, my sleeping clothes are now wet too. My rain jacket is laying in a lonely puddle in the corner of my tent. My hair is dripping all over my sleeping bag. I¢ve never felt so uncomfortable in my life. And guess what? I get to do it all again tomorrow.