Date: 2010-07-23
From: Rangeley, ME

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to, ME
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

July 21-23Here's the recap. Today is July 23 and I'msitting in the Sabbath Day Pond LT after an eventful but slow day with a couple more SOBO characters.However, on July 21, Guillermo and I hiked 16.9 miles over some of the most beautiful landscapes yet. We started out from the Spaulding Mountain LT with a nice five mile walk downhill, which was not appreciated by Guillermo's knee. Guillermo started complaining about his knee at the Orbeton Stream ford, and I didn't know what to tell him. I was going to hike on; I just hope he won't force an injury to keep up with me.Anyway, after a few more miles, we summitted Saddleback Jr (3655 ft.) just in time to meet Appy and Pappy at the sign. Turns out, these were the same two section hikers that my parents told me to look for. Well, we were already behind schedule for the day, so we stopped and chatted for a few minutes. It was good to exchange some talkin' with another Tennessean. Yet, we could see only part of what we had to go over in the distance, so we got moving.After much to do, we arrived up on top of the Horn (4040 ft.), shared a few words with yet another negative and disheartened NOBO, and then moved on up. Just in time for the cold front to hit the warm front over our heads.On the Horn, we had time to take pictures and eat a snack, but on Saddleback Mountain (4120 ft), it was more like scrambling to take pictures and then leave before the lightening came down to light us up like light bulbs. Dashing down the mountain in the rain towards tree cover wasn't easy. Since the Horn, we had been above tree-line, so the trail was little more than a rock slip-n-slide in the rain.After counting ten to fifteen seconds between the flashes and the thunder, I knew the storm was 2-3 miles off, but when there was a near miss with a lightening bolt, Guillermo and I took to the wind trying to find more tree cover and the shelter that was still over 3 miles away.I didn't think I was that afraid of lightening, but those 4.1 miles from Saddleback to Piazza Rock LT were the longest yet. However, when I got to the shelter, it was practically full. A sight for 6 pairs of already sleepy eyes was I! I walked in at 7:30 pm, which is late on the trail, dripping wet and exhausted. Well, Taterchip, Geo, Creamsicle, Churchill, and two other section hikers made room. So, in the end, I survived the lightening and met up with more SOBO friends.The next morning, I thought I would check-out the privy that was the talk of the trail. First off, privies on the AT are not always the best places to stay more than a few seconds. Yet, the MATC has proven it can only do one thing right: privies. This privy had a sign on the outside that said "Your Move, and I found out why. The privy is a double seater without any divider but a cribbage board game, which is some strange card game played in the North. Needless, to say, I took more than a few seconds in there. If only I had had a buddy to play cribbage with...Well, after searching for Guillermo's tent, we beat it down to Rangeley, where we refueled, went to the PO, ate some good food and stayed at a hostel that smelled of a dead, mangy dog that wasn't dead yet. By far, the highlight of the town was the movie theater, and it was just my luck that Toy Story 3 was playing. I can't say it did this to me, but it certainly brought several grown men to tears. Wonderful.So, here I am. All caught up on journaling after one day of exhaustion and the other of gluttony. Today, however, was the day of the tortoise because we were slow to move out of town, especially after breakfast at the diner, and we were slow on the trail. We had planned to hike 17 miles but made only 9.4 because we hit the trail so late. Tomorrow, we have to hike a 21 mile day to catch up. Great... The shelters are not spaced well and my guidebook says that there's no good camping. So, it's either 8 or 21. We're opting for 21. We'll see how that goes.Also, a momentous occasion happened today. We found the AT Rambler, or better known as the SOBO trail hottie. After hearing rumors for 2 weeks, it was nice to finally meet her, but as it turns out, she already had a guy bending over backwards for her and being her personal sherpah. So, Guillermo, Creamsicle and I decided it would be best to move on, quickly, before we met the same fate.