Date: 2021-06-11
From: Cloud Pond Campsite 

To: Sidney Tappan campsite 
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: moderate rain

19 miles to Sidney Tappan campsite Once again my alarm clock was nature. This time it was birds singing and frogs croaking. I hit the trail at 5:15. I started off in a gung-ho let¢s get it done attitude but it didn¢t take long for my attitude to change for the worst. The trail was a jumble of giant roots and rocks, which are infinitely better than wet granite slabs and huge boulders, but they made for slow going. Plus I felt hungry and in the need for coffee. Later on I discovered that I didn¢t put chia seeds in my cold soak breakfast mix. Things improved for 5 minutes when I crossed a bog on a board and saw flowering Purple Pitcher plants. A Guthook user had commented to keep an eye out for this carnivorous plant. Such beautiful flowers and plant body. My foul mood reared its ugly head again on my first steep climb I think that my legs are getting tired from the cumulative exertion I¢ve put them through since I started hiking through arguably the hardest sections of the AT back on May 23. The Presidentials, Wildcats, Carters and Southern Maine are filled with large rugged mountains. The downhills were even worse. It seemed like I could crawl down the mountain on my hands and knees faster than I was going. I didn¢t want to trip so I had to patiently look at each foot placement. I was rewarded with some nice views at the summit of each mountain I climbed. Once again the it¢s my problem because I set a destination goal and get frustrated when I think that I¢m going too slow to attain that goal. It always seems to work out and I¢ve met my daily goal everyday except one. Right after the start of the descent of Chairback mountain there¢s a rock slide area that some people have commented on as being particularly difficult. It was actually not that bad compared to southern Maine. Past the rock slide the trail started to resemble a groomed trail that you might see in a city park. Hardly any rocks or roots to trip you up. I was able to reach a nice cruising speed. After this my attitude started improving. The trail was so nice that I went too fast downhill and did something to my left quadriceps muscle. I knew better than to push the downhill pace but I couldn¢t help myself because I wanted to make up for the time I lost earlier. I was really worried because I¢ve never had this issue before and I thought that I might have done some long term damage. It was very painful on the steep uphills and downhills. I paused numerous times to try to stretch it out. The finale for the day was a 6 mile climb up Gulf Hagish mountain. The majority of the climb was easy. It didn¢t get hard until the last 2 miles and then it was steep. My quadriceps still hurt which made the climb more unpleasant. I hate to stop hiking once I start a climb because I like to keep my focus on getting one foot in front of the other until the climb is over. This time I stopped, took off my pack and did a series of my favorite stretches. I rested and talked with a few southbounders for about 20 minutes. My quads felt much better and within several minutes the problem seemed to have resolved itself. I was thankful when I finally reached the summit. With all of the southbounders I¢ve seen today I was concerned about finding space at the campsite. I was relieved to find only one southbounder shared the campsite with a southbounder who was getting ready to set up his hammock. He made sure to leave me the best tent site with minimal roots and slope. The hammock setup looked so easy and he didn¢t have to look for a flat campsite without roots. The water source for this site was a nice cold spring coming out of the mountain. Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.