Date: 2014-07-01
From: Rangeley, ME

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: broken clouds

The day after my fording misadventure I stayed at the shelter a long time laying all of my wet gear out in the sunshine to dry thoroughly before packing up and hiking out. I knew that day's hiking was not too difficult and planned only to go to the next shelter not many miles away. By the time I left it was already 1pm. Now by hiker standards I get started late (typically heading out around 8am rather than most hikers who are on trail by 6am or earlier) but even for me that was late! I hiked a few days until I got to Rangeley and hitched into town to look for a pair of replacement camp shoes. Now I know that it seems petty, but good camp shoes are clutch on the trail. At the end of the day your feet really want to be out of your boots and be able to decompress in comfort around camp. Although I had enough food to make it to the next town I simply had to stop in Rangeley and get something. Rangeley had a few stores to choose from but none really had good options and the only place that had actual Crocs only had kids' sizes. I ended up with a cheap pair of flip flops as replacement camp shoes. Flip flops do not however make good camp shoes. They don't stay securely on your feet, offer no toe protection, have very little grip, etc. I began lamenting their purchase that very night as I went skidding in them on the floor of the shelter and scrapped my shin down to my ankle. Ugh. I really miss my Crocs. My favorite day of hiking so far lay in this section. I was blessed with extremely good weather on the day I hiked Saddleback Mountain. There is a great stretch over three mountains where you are hiking above tree line the entire time. That gave me great 360 degree views the whole day. Normally I am hiking mostly in the woods with only occasional views when I reach the summits or a pond. This day I could see for miles almost all day. So lovely. Really helps you remember why you are doing this.I made it to Andover and got a hitch into town with a very nice local, Leo, who gave me his card and asked me to send him a postcard down the trail. Leo said that he picks up hikers all the time and asks them to do so but very few hikers ever do. That makes me incredibly sad and feel it gives hikers a bad name. I vow here and now to send him multiple post cards. I want to make sure he knows how much those rides are appreciated by hikers. Without the generosity and hospitality of the locals hikers would have a much harder time of things. When in town to resupply on groceries I ran into Bear from the Cabin who lured me back with promises of his wife's shepherds pie. I had originally planned on heading right back to the trail that same day but homemade, hot food in huge proportions has an almost otherworldly appeal to hikers that is hard to pass up. Honey's cooking was good, but it sure wasn't my momma's! The next morning Bear shuttled me back to the trail and I continued on.The mountains around Andover, though not very high, are incredibly steep. Old Blue and Moody Mountains in particular. Rebar and ladders were present repeatedly. I shudder to think about trying those without that assistance. The forecast called for rain and around lunchtime I could hear rumbling. I stopped to talk to another hiker around lunchtime for a really long time. Turns out he had also lived in Nepal for a while! I was so excited to talk to someone else about Nepal that I lingered far too long. Eventually I knew that I had to leave and headed out. I stopped for water at Surplus Pond. I counted the seconds in between the thunder and lightening. When I first stopped it was four seconds. By the time I was done getting water there was only one second in between. A fast moving storm. I decided to just stop there rather than try to make it to the next shelter. As I put up my tent the drops started falling. Just as the rain really started coming down I had the tent up and drug everything inside. Being dry is such an important thing on the trail. I was much happier snug in my tent that hiking in a thunderstorm.