Date: 2013-09-06
From: Horns Pond Lean-to

To: Campsite near East Flagstaff Rd, ME
Miles today: 11.5

So instead of 33 degrees last night it got down to 18 degrees. We could not believe that we survived. We were actually fairly warm. We were the only tenters so we were spooked especially given the missing hiker. There was one young man in the shelter. We were so cold we cooked in our vestibule. Suddenly Badonkadonk zipped the screen and fell back into the tent. A fat mouse decided to get warm by joining us. We scared it away but it kept coming back. I was worried it would eat our shoes or chew into the tent. I placed our food bags in big, heavy duty industrial buckets that were provided. We set out into the freezing day. After 20 minutes we were roasting hot and sweaty. All day we put gloves, hats and jackets on and then took them off. We could never regulate our temperatures. It's a weird feeling because we feel hot yet clammy. It makes you feel like you are sick and feverish symptom wise but of course you're not. Eventually the sun came out and it was heavenly. We tried to stand in any patch we could find. When we are on the AT we are usually in tree cover so it stayed chilly. It is impossible to say, yet again, that we had the most spectacular views ever. From the top of the Bigelows we could see a huge river with islands in the middle. The river was a deep blue contrasting with a yellow shoreline and dark green trees. There are no signs of humans anywhere except the trail. We could see glistening lakes. We walked next to serene ponds and cascading waterfalls all day. How could life get any better?We resupplied water from a spring that passed over the AT. Someone had built a box over it so that we opened the lid and the pooling fresh water was there. I will miss the sweet fresh water of the trail. We were thrilled to run into Clevergirl and Dumptruck. They flip flopped because of work constraints and were SOBO. Clevergirl had her hand wrapped. It is broken due to a hard fall but still she pushes on. Whenever we run into them it makes our whole day. They are so perfectly matched I think it makes everyone around them happy to be in their presence. They always say stuff that makes us laugh for miles after we depart. This time Dumptruck told us that when my husband meets us at Katahdin we ought to make him leave for the summit at 4 am and then we leave around 9 am and pass him. This being because we have our hiker legs on, we will be sad to see them go. We read a sign announcing amazing trail magic. It was without a doubt the most impressive and magnificent trail magic we've ever had the pleasure of partaking in. Four men who are hikers meet at this same time every year since 1998 or maybe they said 1989. They cook big meals and feed all the thru hikers for free. In addition they had just about every food item we've dreamed of; ccchip cookie cake, candy bars and chips of every variety and lots of fresh fruit. They had all kinds of drinks iced down. We were sad to smell the burgers roasting, and also mightily tempted to cheat(except Cub who was furious that we'd be so weak) when the guys offered us veggie burgers. Badonkadonk ate 3! The guys also offered great conversation. Nice to talk to real Mainelanders! They know all kinds of details about moose, the trail and the weather. One guy had binoculars pointed to the star laden sky. Blueberry you would love the skies here. We cannot thank you guys enough. Sherpa drove up with Buddy Backpacker and D. We were all so happy to be reunited. We slept right next to each other. If anyone out there thinks its bad that young buddy is out here they are mistaken. He gets into his tent with the two people he loves the most and they giggle, read stories and snuggle. It's heartwarming to witness. This kiddo is surrounded by love and affection. He's very happy out here. Like his mom said, before he was in day care all day and then home with weary parents and now he has their full time and attention. We love buddy and seeing him and his family makes our day. Sherpa is taking our bags forward tomorrow. She'll leave them at a road 3 miles before the canoe ferry. We have 3 miles to carry but we have to make the 20 miles to the ferry before 4 pm. We gotta run so wish us luck!=