Date: 2006-07-18
From: Rangley, ME

To: Oquossoc, Me
Miles today: 13.1

I woke up at 5am and put my coffee on and answered a couple emails, then packed up and went to BMC Restaurant at 6:30 and had some breakfast and more coffee.I called Hammock Hanger before I left and was hoping to hook up while she's up in this area.I left a message on her cell phone...hope it works out to see her.I dropped Yolanda Vega off at the Rangley trailhead at 7am, then I headed over to the Oquossoc trailhead and started walking north at 7:45am.The deer flies started buzzing me right away and in a few minutes, I was soaked again from the high humidity.I walked by the side trail to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to without stopping, then passed by Yolanda Vega at 10:05.I still had a couple miles to Little Swift River Pond Campsite and I was already out of water.I just can't drink enough to stay hydrated in this humidity.When I got to the spring at the campsite, I sat down and drank a couple litres of water and ate a couple snacks, then packed out a bottle of water.Just before I left, Night Rider and No Cheese showed up.Night Rider is a nobo that left Springer on March 6th and No Cheese left from Harpers Ferry.Night Rider had hiked with Grey Fox, a friend of mine, earlier this year.I heard thunder just before I started walking, then a little rain started, but didn't last long.I was hoping for more rain to cool me off, but also hoping we didn't get too much because the trail is still very muddy.Night Rider was walking in front of me a minute or two. He saw a bull moose that took off by the time I got there. :-(((It did rain a little more before I got to the trailhead at Rangley, but just enough to get things wet, then it stopped.I got to the trailhead at 1:20pm and only waited for 5 minutes before Yolanda Vega showed up.She had stopped and bought me chips and a coke for the ride to Stratton.She wanted to make sure I let everyone know how nice she is....she is very nice. Boy, that was hard to say. Ha!! :-)))When we got to Stratton and pulled up to the hostel, Yolanda saw Yatzee, a nobo she had hiked with back in Va. She went over and talked to him.Turns out I had met Yatzee early on in his hike.It was good to see Don again, the owner of the hostel. He and I talked for a while before I asked about a room.He had to make a phone call to see if a construction worker was coming back and said that he wasn't, so I could have that room.I took a shower and washed my clothes in the shower, then wore them dry while I waited on a special treat tonight...Mailar, a good friend from previous years on the trail lives an hour away and was coming out at 4pm....with Big G sandwiches!!! :-)))Those sandwiches are about 3 times as big as a normal sandwich.He showed up right at 4pm sharp. Guess that comes from being a high school teacher all his life.He brought out two sandwiches...a turkey called a Dudley-Do-Right and a roast beef called a Bill Cosby.I had half of each one and Yolanda had half of each.When I was done, Mailar tossed me a chocolate whoopy pie. It was huge too. :-)))I ate half and gave the other half to Yolanda.We tried calling Chief a few times, but he must have been using caller ID because he never picked up the phone. :-)))Mailar stayed until about 7pm.We talked alot about hiking, but also about his 28th week long canoe trip down the Allagash River.That sounds like something I could handle because they pack in good food for the week...good heavy food that you don't have to carry. :-)))My heel is still bothering me on longer days, so we decided to continue slackpacking for now.Don was a big help with pointing out a shorter route that we could do over the Bigalows tomorrow.Don has internet here and Yolanda came back mad at me after she had checked out my journal. She said I wrote something bad about her in one of my entries. Ha!!...if I only wrote one bad thing about her, I'm slipping. ;-)))It's almost 10pm and the weather is moderating somewhat. It feels much better than it had for the last couple weeks.I'm looking forward to a good day over the Bigalows tomorrow. :-)))Mailar, thanks alot for coming out to see us AND for bringing those huge sandwiches. It is always great seeing you.