Date: 2007-09-19
From: Monson, ME

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I didn't walk any miles on the AT today, so it was a Zero for me. After an excellent breakfast at Shaws I saw a number of friends hit the trail and head towards Katahdin, then I began the task of repackaging the food I bought yesterday and repacking my pack. This extra day off is really needed to rest my ankle but I am loosing all the folks I have hiked with for most of the past month and I hate to have to stay behind. The only good thing is that other friends I haven't seen in a while may catch up as I gimp along thru the 100-mile wilderness. Even so, it was hard to say goodbye to JB, Popeye, Lightweight, Speaks Little and Iceman.At about 10.00 I went over to the post office and my missing box had finally shown up, the one that had not arrived in Gorham or in East Andover or in Stratton as it was supposed to. By this time I had already bought enough supplies to cover the contents of the box so I didn't open it and just forwarded it home at no charge.It took me the rest of the morning to complete the repacking task but by 1.00 PM my pack was just about ready to go. It is as heavy as it has ever been on the AT with 7 days of food and a full load of water. I plan to stop at Whitehouse Landing overnight and can get a few basic supplies there if needed if my pace is slower than I hope. If all goes well I still have a chance to make it thru the 100 mile wilderness and arrive at The Birches campground by the night of the 27th, then climb Katahdin on the 28th. I also gave my boots several coatings of waterproofing, cleaned and lubed my water filter pump and replaced the filter.I visited with a number of hikers I saw at the post office when I mailed my bounce box home. I hadn't seen Mello Yello since the chairlift at the top of Wildcat. His shoulder is really bothering him so he will not hike any further but will skip on to Baxter and climb Katahdin a day or so before I hope to arrive. He also told me that Walker is not too far behind and I may see him somewhere in the wilderness enroute to Katahdin. I haven't seen Walker since Virginia before he left for Africal. I also saw Gypsy Spirit. She told me that Tumbleweed had taken a nasty fall on a wet bog bridge before the Kennebec River crossing and had broken her wrist. I remembered the bridge because I had fallen hard on it too. It was simply 2 very narrow logs nailed together but on a bad angle and they were treacherous from the rain. It appears that injuries are still taking hikers off the trail, even this close to the end of the trip. It's got to be hard to leave the trail almost within sight of Katahdin after walking for 5+ months to get there. Hopefully my last week will be somewhat less eventful!I spent the rest of the afternoon doing a variety of odds and ends, typing up journal entries and actually managed to get a short nap in a quiet house! Tony Tiger was about the only other hiker around and he has been sleeping all day, still recovering from the tooth surgery he had yesterday morning.Maine has been a very tough state for me and several stiff mountain ranges and river fords still await in the 100-mile wilderness. But Maine has also been my favorite trail state. Maine has taken its toll on me, but the views and peaks and remote wilderness feeling to the trail has been superb. Tomorrow I will enter the 100-mile wilderness, a stretch of 115 miles with no roads or towns to stop in and no way to contact the outside world. With a little more than a week to go I am ready to head home to Colorado and enjoy the comforts of civilized life. However, I also hate to see this wonderful trip nearing its end. The leaves are just beginning to show some color and fall is definitely in the air. The weatherman is predicting fine hiking weather for the next week or so. Its time to finish this journey and return to Brenda, Riley and the Colorado mountains that are my home.