Date: 2018-09-04
From: South Arm Road

To: Bemis Rd Campsite
Miles today: 12.2

Well let¢s pull the curtin back and reveala little bit of ¢how the sausage gets made¢ out here....It¢s 19:00 hours on Tuesday night. Just finished rapidly setting up camp in the waning light of the forest. Hung the bear bag line¢Bed set up¢Boots off. I¢m sitting in my tent (to escape the vicious blood sucking mosquitoes) set up in a little hollow beside a babbling stream near the Bemis Mtn road. No cell service here so this journal entry will have to be posted at some point tomorrow.Deliberating where to start and how to describe the last 24 hours. First, I¢d like to apologize for yesterday¢s negativity. One of the goals here is to be as positive as possible. Yeah, it sucks out here a good bit of the time. Sweaty, achey, hungry, stinky, buggy, muddy, bruises, cuts and on and on and on. But if you look at things in the negative light, it doesn¢t matter where you are; work, school, etc...Finding ¢the suck¢ in life really ain¢t that hard. What can be truly difficult is seeing the positive in tough situations. Consequently: the positivity goal.The trail is grueling physically and that is obvious. Basically there is sweat dripping off my nose in the first half hour everyday and it doesn¢t let up for 8 hours. Hence I¢ve lost 4 pounds this week and I¢m eating like crazy (for example today: ayce pancake breakfast, 3 packs of crackers, 2 full size snickers bars, 1 stingerwaffle, 2 bags of cashews, 1 kind bar, 4 Little Debbie Swiss cake rolls, a hamburger, 2 hotdogs, 1 venison/cheese sausage, chips, a tomato, 2 cream sodas, and 6 liters of h20)But the physicality is nothing compared to the mental challenge. Concentration is part of it (eluded to that previously) however, the real test is mastering your thoughts. Yesterday, could NOT master my thoughts. No matter how hard I tried. When coupled with pesky emotions, the darkness grasped those thoughts and I simply couldn¢t shake it. Could not center myself ¢in the moment¢. Negativity got the upper hand with every turn. I just wanted to quit.And then y¢all showed up. Yes, you. The people in my life. My family, my friends, and even the journal readers I¢ve never met, that sent words of support & encouragement. And more. In the last 24 hours things turned around immensely in this hike. It wasn¢t just Chance or happenstance. My wife was unequivocal: we got your back. Keep walking! Managed to beat out the rain last night. Ate a good meal. Got texts and emails all night. Keep walking! Slept great in a comfy bed. In the morning found a new trekking pole. Pep talk from Dad. Keep Walking! Got a rendezvous with old tramily planned out later this week. Keep walking! Shoot, even got a full trail magic dinner tonight at a dirt road in Maine from a man that called out my name when I stepped from the woods ...though we¢d never met before. Such is the support of community. You did this. Yes, you. The miles seemed to slide by today. Sure, it was muddy after last nights storms. Sure, the first drop of sweat rolled off my nose at the 17 minute mark of the hike. Sure, even fell a few times today. But the miles just rolled by. Met new friends. Saw the splendor of Maine laid out like a carpet. Did 12+ miles and then sat in a lounge chair while Snowman & Teddie worked their trail angel magic on us. Even saw Gandalf smoking that giant pipe (but he didn¢t do any smoke ring tricks).Thank you for being here. For being the positivity in my life. Would not be able to chase the dream without you. There are technical terms in thru-hiking for a supported or unsupported hike. Technically speaking, what I¢m doing is ¢unsupported¢. Hogwash. Utter Hogwash! Without my wife and kids, parents, siblings, friends...well, I wouldn¢t be here. Wouldn¢t be sitting in a tiny tent in this dark hollow by the stream in Maine, covered in mud, stinking of sweat, with a big ol smile on my face. Life is Amazing. Keep walking!