Date: 2018-07-10
From: Mountain view pond

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 27.7
Weather: clear sky

I woke up to a strong breeze coming off the pond. No moose this morning, or at least no drill Sargent to wake me up for one (Two Clicks). I packed up and got out by 6. As I turned the corner towards Boardman Mountain- the mosquitoes attacked. The wind had died down and they lay in ambush for me. They literally had me running, hopping and slapping down the trail it was so bad. I took a quick deet shower and felt my skin begin to burn but at least they were taken care of!The only significant climb of my day was right in the morning. Up and over Little Boardman mountain then essentially along some nice easy terrain the rest of the day. The climb went quick then I was up and over the other side. A lot of the day was simply walking along the Jo-Mary Lakeside. Sometimes I was close enough to see it and others I was just happy to have nice easy hiking. The terrain was fairly forgiving all day until a bit later when there were more roots and rocks to stab at my feet.I found myself thinking a lot today. Thinking about my favorite times on trail. Thinking about all the people who got me through such a demanding endeavor. Thinking about how lucky I was to be out here and how excited I was to be home. And what I thought a lot about was kind of sad-- the loved ones my family and I had lost in the past few years. I hoped that I was making them proud. My grandparents on both sides of the family and my Uncle Stephen and Dan were on my mind. I imagine they were looking down on me. I couldn't help but remember all the awesome memories I had with each of them. They were my childhood and early adulthood. My mom had sent me a letter with Abby to Bethel, ME last week with my grandmother's name on it. It was a note from her old note pad. My mom had circled her name and said "she's watching out for you too." It made me smile.I thought about these things for a while and the time along with the miles passed by. I had taken a coffee break around 8 then stopped for lunch at a shelter at noon. Here, I drank more coffee and ate a lot. Anything goes at this point in the trail. Not on purpose, I even avoided the quick rain shower that came by at noon and managed to stay dry all day. I'm sure someone's looking out for me.I pressed on the last 10 miles of my somewhat long day and the terrain got just a bit more rooty. I walked along a stream for a while then another lake where there was a view to Katahdin! The sun shone in and out and the temperatures stayed mild as I wore my bug mask. Right as I was getting tired and ready to be done, I came to a campsite. Now I really don't think the 100 mile wilderness is as remote as they say it is and there was a Tupperware container with two Hershey bars in it. I ate one and luckily Apollo and Skutch ate the other. Not sure when I got ahead of them!That fueled me for the last 3 miles and I rolled into camp at 345. Man was it early to stop but I had done the miles I wanted to do and if I pushed further it would make tomorrow and Thursday extremely short. I knew I was summiting Friday and had to spread out the last 38 miles. I sat and talked to some nice section hikers headed south then Apollo and Skutch showed up (apparently Skutch is an Italian word for "pest"). I had found a toy bear attached to a thru hiker tag hanging on a tree earlier today and asked them if they knew who's it could be. Had to be a NOBO just ahead of us. They agreed it may be Shaggy's and said they would continue delivering it forward as they were pushing another 8 miles. Shaggy had hoped to summit on Thursday with all of them so my hope was that he would be reunited with it eventually. It seemed like something important.I hung around camp for a while feeling weird being at a shelter. Still, I tented just because of the bugs. A south bound hiker named "Nature Boy" came by to eat dinner then camp at the lake just a little ways back. He lives on the trail. He has no income and relies on EBT to pay for his food and gear. He kept talking about stories from down south in the cold and it seems he is drastically unprepared for cold weather. Not sure how I feel about him. Anyway, I excused myself from conversation (now I know why I like tenting better) and put my feet up as I lay in the tent writing this. Looking forward to my Mountain House meal I splurged on in Monson tonight then a 19.6 mile day tomorrow where I'll be right near the border of the wilderness and Baxter State Park before hitting the camp store Thursday morning and working out the registration to summit Friday.