Date: 2011-08-08
From: (123) Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: (124) Pleasant Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: light rain

I Woke up at 5:30am to get some good miles in. I now hope to finish August 15th for an even 412 months of hiking (This is counting the 33 zero days I have taken!). The trail was flat today, but still contained numerous obstacles such as rocks, roots, and tons of mud. It rained in the morning, which kept me good and wet for the rest of the day, but I am getting so used to the rain that it bothers me little. I am always wet, that¢s the way it is¢¦At 2:30 I reached the Kennebec River, the only waterway on the entire trail that can¢t be crossed by foot. The river, wide with a strong current on its northern bank, supports a human powered ferry service, the last of its kind in America, and the only mobile White Blaze on the AT. The ¢ferry service¢, prestigious as it may sound, is actually a canoe paddled by a man in a fuzzy brown hat named ¢Hillbilly Dave¢, a volunteer who waits every day from 9 to 4 to take hikers across the waterway. After saying hi and handing him my pack, Hillbilly Dave gave me a life jacket and a paddle, and together we crossed the river. On the other side, Hillbilly Dave asked me if I would sign a waiver to cover him in the event that I should drown while crossing the river (He said that he had run out of them on the other bank). And so, even though I had already crossed, and drowning was no longer possible, I signed the waiver. You can never be too careful. I ended my hike after 27 miles when I saw a cardboard sign announcing that there was trail magic at Pleasant Pond Shelter. It was only 4:30pm, but my joints were still sore and I didn¢t want to get too far ahead of Tridub, so I went to check things out and decide whether I wanted to spend the night. At the shelter I found two faces from the past: Twigg and River Rat, Twigg whom I hadn¢t seen since Pearisburg Virginia, and Rive Rat who I hadn¢t seen since playing Frisbee in Damascus Virginia the day that Helm and I zeroed after the 50 mile challenge! Inside the shelter was the trail magic, a Styrofoam cooler full of fruit and soda. Twigg also had a nice fire going, so it was an easy decision that I would stay, as I had essentially hit the jackpot in comforts. Tridub and Hand-Me-Down showed up later that evening, and we all enjoyed a night of roasting marshmallows around the camp fire and talking about our plans after the trail. Tridub, having graduated from Georgia University as a dual major in programming and physics, planned on returning to Georgia, packing up his things, and moving to Boston Massachusetts where he would attend Boston University to get his master¢s in physics. Hand-Me-Down, the youngest of our group, would be going to college in Tennessee for spring semester. River Rat, having only 50 dollars remaining in his name to finish the trail with, planned on returning home to live for free with his girlfriend for a few months before pursuing his dream of becoming a pig farmer, and Twigg said that he wanted to turn a shipping container into a house and live in it. As for me, I hoped to reach the top of Mount Katahdin and self actualize. To dissipate. To have a strong current blow my body like dust into the wind as I faded away into the universe¢¦ (That or find a job. I could go either way). We were all so different, with our varying ambitions and goals and walks of life, yet¢¦ so together.