Date: 2016-08-15
From: East Flagstaff Lake Campsite

To: Stealth Camping Spot / Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 19.1

Aug 15, 2016 - Waking up this morning reminded me that while my mind may not want this hike to end, my body is begging for rest. I don't have any serious injuries, but the little things add up. My hands, forearms and even upper arms look like someone attacked me with several sharp forks. My knees and feet constantly and relentlessly ache like they've just received a beating. I have pack rash (blisters and open sores) on my hips and my back just above the tail bone that won't go away. My plantar fasciitis has been status quo lately, but at least a few times a day the muscle in the bottom of my foot has the disturbing feeling like it's a frayed rope that is slowly having its threads snapped - it's not especially painful, but that can't be good. Lastly, I most definitely have nerve damage in both my feet because many (not all) of my toes constantly tingle and have delayed, tingly responses to contact. Despite all of this, I hiked 19.1 miles today to Caratunk, ME. My situation is far from unique because every thru hiker at this point is suffering from similar maladies. Slam's pack rash makes mine look normal. New Hampshire Bob definitely has a broken toe judging by the size and color of it. At the age of 66, his response to the reasonable suggestion of going to the doctor was, "Ah, I don't give a shit" (this guy is great by the way). Peach's knees are far worse than my own. Cookie's feet look like she's walked on broken glass for 2,000 miles. Everybody still gets blisters. Whatever the problem is, you deal with it and keep walking - that's thru-hiking. Anyway, this morning was the easiest terrain I've had since PA (minus the rocks of course). All I had was 2 small hills to warm me up and then it was about 16 flat miles into Caratunk, ME. There was a catch, however: just before Caratunk was the Kennebec River. Now, the Kennebec is about 400 feet wide and is extremely dangerous to ford because there are 3 hydro plants upstream. When the hydro plants release the water, which they do at least once a day, the water level and current increase very rapidly.For this reason, an outfitter in Caratunk provides ferry transportation across the river and hikers are warned not to ford the river. The ferry runs between 9 am and 2 pm so I had to hike 19.1 miles by the early afternoon if I didn't want to be stuck on the south side of the river. I left camp 6:15 am and stopped for only 10 minutes to grab a snack and refill on water. This will sound crazy, but walking on flat ground all day made my legs ache more than walking up and down. In fact, any small hills I encountered throughout the day made my legs feel a bit better. I guess the changes in elevation force you to use different muscles while walking flat uses the same muscles the whole time. I made the ferry by 12:45 pm - it turns out, the ferry was just a small canoe with an operator. The canoe had a white blaze in the bottom of it signaling that it was officially part of the AT. I actually helped row across the river so I definitely earned those 400 feet.Once in Caratunk, i yogied a ride to Northern Outdoors 2 miles down the road to attempt the Exterminator burger challenge: 2 8 ounce beef patties, 1 fried chicken breast, 1 fried egg, a ball of fried mac and cheese, onion rings, fried pickles, bacon, tomato and lettuce served with 1 pound of steak fries in 30 minutes. I failed yet again, but I did get through the entire burger and half the fries. Regardless, the burger was actually delicious and may be the best I've had on trail so far.Northern Outdoors was also home to the Kennebec River Brewing Company (no, they didn't have a sticker). I still managed to take down a beer after the Exterminator destroyed my belly. This place was amazing though - hikers could take free showers, there was a pool with volleyball (it's disgusting how useless we all are at anything other than walking), and a hot tub. I'm pretty sure they had laundry, too, but I figured I would just take care of that in Monson. After all these shenanigans, I got a shuttle back to the trail head and stealth camped right next to the parking lot. I tried to read a bit, but fell asleep almost immediately.19.1 Stealth Camping Spot / Caratunk, ME