Date: 2009-08-14
From: Trident Col Tentsites

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 143, 14.5 miles, 7:30 am - 7 pm   Today was both good and bad. Early on we walked past Dream Lake, which was very pretty. But then Matt got attacked by a nest of hornets. He got stung more than 10 times and his legs were very swollen. Then there was Success Mountain, the last one in NH. It really killed me but the top was open and breezy. Actually I just got more and more tired as the day went on. Then at 5 pm we ran out of water. Maine proved to be more difficult right off the bat. Maine makes the Whites look like Maryland. It already feels more isolated and wild here. There is hardly anyone on the trail and the woods are so silent. Goose Eye Mountain at the end of the day had great views, but it was very hard hiking. It wasn't a bad day by any means but as the day dragged on, we were hiking slower and slower and it was taking longer and longer to complete a mile. I think our planned 12 tomorrow may kill me. I'm guessing that 281.4 mile Maine will be mostly an obstacle course. Hopefully we'll make it. We are sleeping out tonight for the first time in awhile. The shelter is packed so I am glad we are out here and it's nice enough to do it. * * *Matt   Over the course of the trail there are days that don't go very well. Today easily fell into the top 5 worst days on the trail. I knew it was going to be rough when I got up. I just wanted to stay in my bag. We finally got it together and started out after 7 am. Within the first mile, I fell (not too badly, though.) Then I accidently walked into a swarm of angry wasps or hornets. At first I thought I had thorny vines tangled around my ankles, but when I reached down I could feel all the bugs buzzing around. Then the stinging and burning started and I threw my poles and ran yelling. I was actually scared until I got away. I ended up with a dozen or so stings and they hurt. Tilly doped me with tylenol with benadryl and that made me tired and groggy for awhile.    The hiking went up and down tough rocky mountains all day. You could see the layers of them behind us. Actually, you could follow our entire path since Mt. Washington. Nice day but I'm tired. Today was the first in Maine but hopefully not every day will be this hard. The next few days will be ass kicking, though. Probably more difficult than today. We just have to get through the next week. It may no get easier but we are almost there. I'm constantly amazed that we've gotten this far. Maine--the last state. It's big, it's hard, but it's the end. Hopefully I won't get bit or stung or anything else. * * *Matt's worst days are around this area, but he was pretty philosophical about it. We had finally gotten to Maine. As I progressively hiked slower and slower, I became more impatient about reaching the border. Finally I thought to myself--"Where IS this damn state? Are they making it up?" I climbed over a few boulders and there was the border in a little clearing. The blue sign--"Maine, the Way Life Should Be" was actually much larger than I'd imagined. At that point I wasn't even really that excited. I don't know. I was happy, but everyday you do something--cross a river, hitch a ride, climb a mountain, drink from a spring. That day we got to Maine.