Date: 2009-07-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 70.0

Dear readers,Life has been good to us since leaving Salisbury a few days ago. What little rain has fallen has been in the middle of the night. The sun has been shining, temps have been comfortable, the only thing negative to speak of are the mosquitoes which have been horrendous. You are probably tired of hearing me talk about them, but they continue to get worse and worse. My head net gets donned every evening around 6pm these days. They simply swarm! At times, while hiking in the evening, you can't stop to drink or do anything without getting attacked. Even when covered in 98% DEET. Oh, which, by the way, started to eat at the plastic on Gangsta's watch-- and she only uses the 30% formula. I'm so glad I'm dousing my skin in that stuff multiple times a day... Seriously, the bug spray goes on the minute I step out of my tent in the morning and gets reapplied 3-4 times throughout the day. I am almost through my second big bottle. The good news is, the bug spray seems to help. Despite feeling like they are attacking me constantly, I have relatively few bug bites to show for it. And of course, the bites are located everywhere that I obviously missed with the spray-- the backs of my thighs and arms, through my shirt on my shoulders, and on my face. The highlight of the past few days was far and away our stay at Upper Goose Pond cabin. It is a cabin that has been converted into a shelter for AT hikers. An on-site caretaker is there to manage the place and make pancakes in the morning. They have bunk beds upstairs with mattresses, and a gas grill hikers can use. When we heard about the blueberry pancake breakfast, Gansta and I decided to push some big miles to get there Thursday night. We did two 21 mile days in a row... I can't remember the last time I did two back to back 20+ days! They were grueling days that entailed some un-fun night hiking through horrible mosquitoes and muck (my new shoes no longer look new), but it was worth it!Our plan was to do big miles to get there, then hang out all morning the next day. Let me tell you, it felt like vacation. We slept in 'til 8:30 and awoke to the smell of blueberry pancakes wafting from downstairs. I walked (hobbled?) out onto the porch to a heaping plateful waiting to be eaten by yours truly. Gangsta and I were the only thru-hikers there, along with two other sectioners. After breakfast, we went down to the lake and hung out on the dock and even went for a swim! It was the closest thing I'd had to a shower in 6 days and felt awesome! A little Doctor Bronner's lavender soap and I smelled squeaky clean. Then, Gangsta and I ran an "errand" for the caretaker which involved canoeing across to the other side of the lake to fill up water jugs from a spring on the opposite shore so they can provide unfiltered spring water for hikers at the cabin. It was a fun little adventure and Gangsta got to show off her stellar canoeing skills by takin' the rear and steering us in the right direction. That being said, neither one of us had the balls to bring our cameras with us- both under warranty that covers everything EXCEPT underwater submersion. No tipping occurred, though. After dropping off the 128 lbs. of water on the cabin dock we paddled back out to the lake, laid back and soaked up the sun! It was hot and wonderful. For the first time, it actually felt like summer and I felt on vacation. All I needed was a margarita in my hand. After an hour or so we realized we had nearly drifted into the rocky shoreline far from where we had put down our paddles, so we decided to paddle back to the cabin and call it a day. Afterall, we still had 8 miles to hike.It was hard to leave, but we both felt refreshed and were glad we put in some big miles to have been able to enjoy a relaxing morning. Currently, we are now in Dalton, MA staying at "Tom's house". He has been hosting thru-hikers in his home for 30 years and is a wonderful friend to the AT community. It's been a wonderful, relaxing afternoon. Oh! And, this morning, Gangsta got up super early so I hiked the 11 miles into town solo and saw a momma bear and three cubs! It was my first bear sighting being alone. I captured photos and video footage and was very proud of myself for staying calm. It's amazing what 1550 miles of hiking in bear country can do for one's fears! That puts my bear count up to 13 so far! Also, I ran into a weekender who when discovering I was thru-hiking, assuming I was headed south. I'm not sure why they thought that but it was a first! I feel pretty happy and healthy and I guess I don't look like I've been out here for almost 4 months and nearly 1600 miles. We're starting to cross paths with a couple southbounders, too, it's always fun to share information about what's to come with each other.Alright, time to go. I'll be in Vermont on Monday. Scary stuff. I continue to be in disbelief at how far north I've come. The end seems so close, yet so far.Happy Trails,Wags