Date: 2006-09-03
From: Rainbow Stream Lean_To

To: Hurd Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

Well, I made it here! ¢ 11.5 miles on a bad knee, but I think that it held up a little better than it did yesterday.   Last evening I spent some time soaking my knee in the Rainbow Stream. Actually the stream is not deep enough to stand in knee deep ¢ so I sat on a rock, slanting down to the stream, and poured cold water from the stream over my knee, using my coffee cup ¢ everything has at least two uses! It actually seemed to help the pain.   A German couple ¢ Peter and Marsella ¢ arrived SOBO and tented out. They are on a year¢s sabbatical and are spending a month on the AT, then on to Yosemite, and then to Patagonia, Australia and New Zealand! Quiet the world tour, and I think that they have a year¢s supply of stuff in their enormous backpacks!   Wondering Bill and Slim arrived late, but despite that pushed on to the campground at Rainbow Springs ¢ 3.8 extra miles. They still intend to stay at the Birches and then summit on Monday ¢ despite the Native American festival in the park.   I was up and away in yet another perfect hiking day. Cool and sunny all day long. Once I got going the knee at first did fine, and I had a good walk along the banks of Rainbow Stream ¢ I love streams. There is a dam that blocks the stream and creates the ¢Rainbow Deadwaters¢ above it ¢ a sort of a narrow lake extending above the dam.   As I was passing the Deadwaters, I heard splashing, and lo! ¢ a cow moose and her calf were walking out of the water on the opposite side! I grabbed my camera, but because I was under the trees and in the dim light, my flash went off ¢ and so did the Mooses!! I didn¢t get much of a shot because of the flash, and the rising mists in the early morning over the warm Deadwaters. [I have posted the photo in the archives] ¢ but it was a definite Moose Sighting!   The trail then skirts Rainbow Lake. At this stage, the knee started to bother me again. It rapidly got worse, and soon I was hiking in severe pain with every step. I decided than I should mentally repeat a mantra over and over again, to distract myself from the pain. So I started to say the prayer of the Hail Mary in the form of the Catholic Rosary ¢ using the Sorrowful Mysteries of course! Believe it or not, it worked. I think the thing of it is, to repeat a phrase ¢ of significance to you ¢ over and over again, in time to your hiking stride and you will start to focus on the mantra phrase and not the pain.   I have also been taking Ibuprophrin, 2 tabs every 4 hours ¢ but they only have an effect on the pain for about 2.5 to 3 hours. I am debating the risks of taking 2 tabs every 3 hours ¢ which would exceed the upper limits of the therapeutic range. Spent some time mentally reviewing the effects and symptoms of a Vit I overdose!!   I was soon past Rainbow Campsite ¢ I did not go in, but I did smell lingering wood smoke from the site. Just beyond I met with Pilot ¢ a young woman SOBO on a month long hike.   The trail then continues along the edge of Rainbow Lake, at the end of which a motorboat was tied up. These constant reminders of civilization make the point that this is not a true Wilderness at all.   The side trail to Rainbow Mountain did not tempt me, or my knee ¢ despite promises of easy going, and a spectacular view, on a note left by Mystic [The Nuclear Nighthawk]   I finally came to Rainbow ledges, a slow climb up to some exposed ledges, with an excellent view of Katahdin ¢ very, very impressive, up close and personal.   Got a good signal from the ledges and spoke with KT ¢ all is well.   It was then a long gradual descent ¢ oh my painful knee ¢ down here to the Lean-To, where Stitches and Mr. Sox were ensconced. Not alone ensconced, they were trying to set traps to catch squirrels! ¢ with every intent of skinning, cleaning and eating them!! They have constructed elaborate traps, from bent over saplings, to catch the peanut seeking squirrel and spring up to suspend the creature in mid air. No luck so far!   Stitches is from Evanston, just outside of Chicago and so a neighbor of mine ¢ and Mr. Sox is from West Virginia. They flip flopped at New York and are now ¢ very slowly ¢ hiking back south. Like me, they intend to go slow and enjoy the journey. We spent an enjoyable afternoon talking about all things Irish and Ireland.   So I am well pleased with the day ¢ 11+ miles in very good time. The left knee is still very swollen, painful and tender, but with a combination of mantra, prayer and Vit I, it did better than I thought it would do. Once I stop however, it just freezes up and I hobble around with only 15-20 degrees of mobility in the joint. It gets better when I hike on it!   It has started to rain a little at the moment. The forecast is for some rain, but the major part of the storm is now supposed to pass to the south. Stitches and Mr. Sox are staying here for the night, after a fruitless quest for stewed squirrel. The closest they came was a mouse, who successfully ate the peanut butter, but never set off the trap.   I feel much better, good miles despite the knee. It is a short hike tomorrow, with a chance to rest it some more at Abol Bridge. The trail to The Birches is smooth, per the SOBO hikers, so it still looks like a set-up for Wednesday, but we will see. Step by step, day by day.Thought for Today ¢   We are reminded that we should pray only for our DAILY bread!