Date: 2007-08-07
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Just a quick check in. I am in Gorham, NH at the library. Just have a couple minutes on the computer. Whites were great. Still no internet service on my phone. Will update journal when I get a chance.Weighed my self at Rite Aid: 145 lbs.Only 298 more miles.Have to go hike!The Rest of the story:I woke up around 6:30 this morning. I took my shoes outside and applied some more water proofing on them. The last stuff I used didn't seem to work very well. I took a shower and went over to the restaurant at the motel. I had 3 eggs, bacon, homefries, toast, three pancakes, and orange juice. The guy who runs the place told me just to let him know if I wanted more pancakes, but three was plenty.I went back to my room and finished packing. I am sure my pack is over 40 lbs. Again with 6 days of food. I went to the post office to mail some stuff back to North Carolina that had been in a bounce box. I decided I wouldn't be needing this stuff. There was a different clerk there today so I asked him to check for the box from Glencliff. He went to the back room and came back a minute later with the box. It had been there since July 30th. Now I have my filter purifier back. It is a good thing too. I saw Widow Maker, Gut, and Walking Cowboy on the way to the post office. Widow Maker got Giardia and has been sick in Gorham for 5 days. He said he hasn't always been treating his water. I admit there has been a time or two I skipped treating or filtering water, but no more. Gut is ending his hike at Gorham. He was only out for a month and decided this was the best place to get off the trail. Walking Cowboy is taking a zero.After the post office I stopped at the outfitter, Moriah Sports, and then went to the library. I could only use the computer for 30 minutes because there were other people waiting. I checked emails and put a short message in my trailjournal. I still haven't been able to upload entries from my phone/pc. Then I went to Subway for lunch. I was standing outside a convenience store drinking an energy drink, when a guy came out and asked if I was heading back to the trail now. I said yes and he said "let's go". Steve drove me back to the trail and we talked about my journey and biodiesel and vegetable oil. Steve drives a truck with a CAT 3208 engine in it. It is a box truck and he has a portable rock wall and bungy jump apparatus that he takes to various carnivals. He wants to run the truck on Biodiesel or vegetable oil. He would like to collect oil at the carnivals and use that oil in his truck.Squirrel was at the trail head when I got back there. I talked to him for about thirty minutes. I had planned to hike 11.8 miles today, but it was 1:30 before I started hiking. It was in the 80s and humid today. I had to climb three hills today and the gnats and flies were out. I passed a couple southbound section hikers. They told me they had passed 357 Magnum, AAA, Ben, Amanda, Rodeo Clown, Trashbag, and a couple other nobos all headed for Gentian Pond Shelter where I was headed. A little later The Beav and Osama Bin Walking passed me headed north. Wow, that's about 11 nobos pretty close together.It was getting late so I stopped near Dream Lake for the night. It is a little over 2 miles short of Gentian Pond. It would have been dark by time I got there and I still needed to cook dinner. I cooked instant mashed potatoes for dinner then discovered that I lost my spoon somewhere. I emptied my pack and couldn't find it. I ate my potatoes with my toothbrush handle tonight. It is 5 more days before I get to town again. I will have to get creative in finding/making a spoon tomorrow.Its time to get some sleep now.