Date: 2015-07-10
From: Shaker campsite

To: The Cookie Lady
Miles today: 21.0

We knew we weren't going to sleep well and we didn't. The light shower of rain lulled us to sleep. But, the downpour of rain woke us up. It was a downpour!!! For almost 3 hours from midnight until 3:00am, the rain pounded our little tent. It rained so hard the drops splashed the area around our tent causing it to become wet. It must have rained 2 inches. We finally went back to sleep. We slept a bit later because of being awake last night. There was no sound of rain when we woke!!   It is always harder packing up when we have to pack inside our tent. We did manage to pack everything except the tent without being outside the tent. The mosquitos were busy this morning sucking our blood. So we hurried and attempted to dry off the tent and pack it quickly. The ground cloth was wet and muddy. But, we folded it quickly and hit the trail running, literally running!   We had a wide trail to start the days hike. This was good because with all the rain last night, if the trail would have been narrow, we would have been soaked from the plants.   The trail opened into a meadow. Again, the trail was wide but we hiked in grass which caused our boots to become damp. We walked across a wooden walkway over a big area. Even though we have lost weight during our hike, the boards looked a bit questionable to hold our weight. We gingerly stepped on the boards hoping they would hold. And they did. Good thing as we wouldn't have wanted to go into the dark black water.    We came to a road crossing. Guess what we found?? Yes, trail magic!! Red Panda strikes again. This time, we did graciously accept the trail magic. We each had a Gatorade and a power bar. We needed these extra energy boosts since we didnt have a good night's sleep. And, we had a big climb across the road.   We climbed and climbed and climbed, 1000 feet. The trail was good for the climb, smooth trail at a nice incline; not too steep. We were able to keep a good pace. Even though we were huffing and puffing, we completed the 1.6 miles of climb at 2.5mph. We were very happy with this pace. Maybe, just maybe, we will be able to climb the Whites of New Hampshire.   We passed several ponds today. Unfortunately, the trees blocked our view of the ponds. We understand keeping the trail wild and natural, but it would be nice to have views of the natural elements we pass.   In the distance, we could hear the sound of speeding vehicles as we were hiking around the pond and down the trail. We came into a clear where a footbridge crossed the Massachusetts turnpike. Clank, a fellow thru-hiker, had been tenting in the rain last night also. He was using the chain fence on the bridge to dry his wet stuff. We, of course, joined him. We hung our tent and everything else that was damp, including our sleepware on the chain fence. There was a wonderful breeze and the sun was shining on the fence. All our stuff dried out very quickly. We certainly looked like hobos instead of NoBos. We had lots of vehicles blow their horns and wave as we stood on the bridge. We also ate our lunch on the bridge. But, we sat in the shade. A local woman and her 2 daughters were walking across the bridge. We explained what we were doing. We didn't want her to think we were totally weird. Although her daughters couldn't believe we had hiked from Gorgia to here. Guess we are sort of weird!! The afternoon hiking was another 1000 feet climb in a 1.5 miles. However, this time is was rocky. And, it was halfway through our hiking day. Our pace wasn't as good as this mornings. We still made it to the top - eventually.   The rest of the afternoon was climbing down that 1000 feet. But, the trail had lots and lots of roots. Huge roots. We hadn't ever seen roots so large. And there were rocks. And there was mud - black, oozing, sloppy mud. It looked like tar. The trail was so, so muddy. It slowed us down. Then, if our foot went into the mud, which it did too many times to count, it felt as if your boot was going to be sucked into the mud. It was so nasty. The trail really wasn't a trail at all. It was more of a get through the mud somehow hike. We did make it to the end of the day. Our boots were muddy, muddy, muddy. Our legs were disgusting, covered with dry mud. The mud was caked on our legs. We had decided we were going to stay at "The Cookie Lady's". We could clean off with water from a spigot. And that is just what we did. We walked to her house, 100 yards off the trail. We set up our tent in her yard. We washed off with clean water from a spigot. We ate our dinner at a picnic table. We were joined by Why Knot and Black Bear. Black Bear's husband, who isn't thru-hiking, joined us also. The Cookie Lady had fresh red raspberries which we ate and really enjoyed. She also had soda and ice-cream, which we also enjoyed. We had a relaxing dinner and enjoyed the conversation. It turns out Black Bear is from Maine. Her husband will help us get to wherever we need to in Maine once we summit at Katahdin. It is amazing how the support we need on the trail seems to just work out. Now, we hope we really do make it to Katahdin.