Date: 2006-07-28
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.1

Was woken up at 6am this morning by the hut crew as they were getting everything ready for breakfast. Got packed and was on the trail an hour later. The first 8 miles to Crawford Notch were pretty flat, the only problem was that I was the first person of the day to follow the trail, so I was running through spider webs constantly. About 3 miles in I passed another hiker going in the opposite direction and we thanked each other for "breakin' web."When I got to the road at Crawford Notch I decided to hitch 3 miles to a camp store to get some more food. I have been so hungry going over these mountains that I have been eating about twice as much food as I expected. My hitch to the store went great, the first car picked me up. I got my resupply and also called my Dad from a payphone. We talked about my finishing date and then my Dad mentioned hiking the 100 mile wilderness in Maine with me. It was really good to talk to my Dad, after my crappy day yesterday it was good to talk to someone who was upbeat about me hiking the AT.Hitching back to the trail took longer than I thought it would, but I was still on the trail and hiking by noon. The climb out of Crawford Notch was steep but at the top of the ridge I was rewarded with a really cool walk uphill along a cliff with beautiful views of the valley below. It also started to drizzle a little on my hike up but nothing too bad. However, once I got to the top of Mt. Webster the skies opened up and it started to pour. I then ran into a southbounding thru-hiker named Pie who I actually know, I met him back in March when he was trying to hike the AT as a northbounder, but he broke his foot and so he had to get off trail and then decided to hike the trail south. It was really good to see him, he is one of those guys that no matter what the situation he always seems to be in a great mood. Well his great mood spread to me and I had a great hike in the rain all the way to Mizpah Hut.I jumped in the hut to get out of the rain and asked one of the Hut workers if I could do a work-for-stay. So I was put to work and cleaned out two freezers that had ice caked all over them. It actually wasn't too bad of a job, I am just glad to be some place that is warm, dry and where I can get a good dinner.So I don't think I have mentioned this in my journal yet, but I probably should since this has been going on for almost 3 weeks now. I have been having a strange allergic reaction to something (I don't know what) and my eyes have been driving me nuts. When I sleep at night, they ooze this liquid and then when I wake up in the morning, I often find them crusted over. My eyelids are also really red, puffy and have scabs all over them. Pleasant I know. I started taking Clariton tablets before bed and this has helped a lot, however, I took my last one last night and the store I went to today didn't have anymore. Those of you who know me have actually seen my eyes do this before. In the past it was just a matter of keeping my eyes clean, using a hot compress on them, and applying a lubricant to my eyelids. The problem is that out in the woods this is not easy and to make matters worse every time I climb a hill I start to sweat and that gets in my eyes and just irritates them even more. It really sucks and I just want whatever it is to go away. If they aren't looking better by Gorham, I plan on going to a doctor. I want and need my eyes to get better so I can look good for my picture on top of Katahdin!