Date: 2017-07-14
From: Stealth site on Mink Brook island, NH

To: Hexacuba Shelter, NH
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: broken clouds

7/14/17, Hexacuba Shelter, NHMiles hiked: 1458.4, Miles to Katahdin: 413.5 Miles to go: 731.4I was the first one up this morning in our little tent city on the island. I quietly packed up and got ready to head out. When I activated my SPOT tracker, I realized my batteries were low. The SPOT tracker is a GPS device that allows Marguerite to track my progress during the hike. It also has an SOS function were I to get into trouble on the trail. It's very nice because it gives her a certain peace of mind. I sent her my standard "heading out" message and turned the unit back off to preserve what battery life was left until I could replace them. It was another blustery, gray, chilly day. The trail was still mucky and muddy from all the rain we've been having and the trees were dripping water. All in all, another yucky day of hiking. It was also a pretty tough day of hiking. There was a lot of up and down. Smarts Mt proved to be much steeper than it looked on the profile in the AWOL guide.  At one point, about ten miles into the hike, I crossed the road that led into Lyme, NH, about 3.4 miles away. I decided to hitch hike to the Lyme General Store to buy batteries for my SPOT. My one other attempt to hitch was with 1st Sgt when we were trying to get from Port Clinton to the Cabela's. It was an abysmal failure. This road looked like a much better hitching road. It was a two lane road with a nice long straight away so you would have plenty of time to put on sad puppy dog eyes that the driver would have to intentionally ignore. There was also plenty of room for someone to pull over. I put on my best puppy dog face for the first car to go by. It was a big empty Suburban with just the driver in it. The woman gave me a shrug as she drove by, as if to say, "Sorry. No room."The next car came by in the opposite lane - from the direction of Lyme. The woman stopped and put down the window. "Where are you wanting to go?", she asked. "The Lyme General Store!", I replied.  "It's back that way", she said, pointing over her shoulder. "Yes. I'm aware of that. That's why I'm on this side of the road" I replied. "Sorry. I can't take you there" she said, as she drove off. The next vehicle to come along, going the proper direction, was a big old worker man truck. He stopped and said, "Hop in!" He didn't bat an eye at the kilt (or the hiker smell) and whisked me away to town. On the way down the mountain, we had a pleasant conversation about the AT and thru hiking. Before too long I was standing in front of the Lyme General Store. It was the quintessential Yankee store - white clapboard building with big windows and a big front porch and gas pumps out front. Pure New England. I went in and found the batteries and went to check out the deli offerings. The lady at the deli said, "It's your lucky day! It's Thai Friday! We have a lady who escaped Laos in 1975 that comes in every Friday and makes Thai food!" Not what I was expecting; but, it turned out to be really good.  As I was sitting on the front porch of the store, eating my Thai food and charging my phone, this man comes puttering up to the pumps on his riding lawn mower. He's probably in his 70s and has a bit of a beer gut. He's wearing boots, shorts, a bomber jacket, and a straw cowboy hat with slots cut in the brim to fit ear protectors. He looks at me in my kilt and I look at him in his get-up and we both kind of 'hmpf' at how silly the other one looks. After I finished lunch, I started back across the town green and had not even reached the road when a young woman pulled up and asked if I needed a ride back to the trailhead. Wow! Easy Peazy mac and cheesy! After the young woman dropped me off, I was tempted to put my thumb back out and do it again since it was so easy the first time. However, that "miles to go before I sleep" thing kicked in and I started hiking. The rest of the day was spent climbing and dropping back down on sloppy trail in the clouds.  All the overlooks I passed were blank white screens - not a thing to see at any of them. The Smokies all over again. Bummer.Eventually, I arrived at the Hexacuba Shelter. The shelter was pretty full, so I set my tent up. Shortly after I got settled in I heard, "Hey! There's Beaker's tent!" It was Sitting Bull and Hoops. They had cranked out a big mileage day to catch up so we can go through the Whites together. Woo hoo! Now all we have to do is light a fire under Wizard and Pluck to get them to catch up!