Date: 2023-09-21
From: Stealth Site

To: Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to
Miles today: 17.7

Mood: °Today was AWESOME!!Moose Jaw and I woke up to a wet tent due to all of the dew, but that¢s pretty typical. It was really cold this morning (in the 40s), so we were a little slow getting out of our tent. Our noses were cold, but we were so warm and cozy inside of our sleeping bags. That makes it hard to start your day!Once we got hiking, less than a mile into our detour, a gentleman drove down the road from a campsite he was at. We used our ¢beer or hitch¢ sign to flag him down. He stopped and gave us a ride to finish the high water detour. And we were sure glad he did!! A bunch of other hikers at the food drop location also got rides. The detour was over 11 additional miles (so 20 miles total). It was horrible! The flooding in Maine has been really bad. The river crossings are all dangerous. When the gentleman dropped us off, while he went for a short hike with his dog, we happened upon trail magic from Mountain Doctor and Big Foot (Big Foot is 6¢-7¢). We were so happy to see Mountain Doctor! It has been awhile!! And you know who else we were happy to see at the trail magic, Oil Change, Load, AND STOGIE!!!! We were absolutely SHOCKED!!! We had no idea we were going to run into him, and we were so happy to!! He was a day ahead with the other three (who were all planning on summiting before us). Apparently, on day one out in the 100 mile wilderness (the day we took a zero) he fell into the river on one of the crossings and had to dry out all of his stuff. I was horrified hearing this. Those rivers are dangerous. I was so happy that he was okay. Then while Bandit, Toaster, and Bob Ross kept hiking on and crossing the rivers, he did the high water detour. We couldn¢t have been happier to see Stogie, and the same for him! He said he was really down, but then was shocked to see us! We got our food drops at the same time today! So, since we got to our gap a few hours beforehand, the three of us dried our tents out, ate some meatball subs (this reminded me of the wedding singer when the old lady put the meatballs straight into Adam Sandler¢s hands, because the meatball sandwich was put right into our hands), and smoked some stogies. I talked a lot with oil change, Zig Zag, Waffles, and Nacho Jim. It was a blast!! I was so happy!! Long Shot dropped our food off to us. He actually yo-yo¢d the AT a few years back (meaning he hiked from Georgia to Katahdin back to Georgia). He¢s a great guy! We chatted for a long time!! This trail magic was just really cheerful and fun. Everyone was in great spirits. Moose Jaw and I smoked a stogie with Stogie. I had a Fat Bottom Betty. It was just a wonderful time! As we were packing up our resupply, a truck drove by with a HUGE bear on the back!! It was crazy!! It was a big bear too!! Apparently it¢s hunting season! Not long into packing our food, Journey, Twig, and Leaf showed up. We chatted with them for a little bit before they hiked on. Once we packed our food, Moose Jaw, Stogie and I hiked on to the shelter!We talked a bit while hiking, since it¢s been about a week since we have chatted with Stogie. When we arrived at camp, we were the first ones there! We got some awesome tent sites. Twig, Journey, Leaf, and Lucky showed up!! They made a fire, and we all sat around it cooking food and talking about awesome TV shows. We had a wonderful f time! We all kept laughing. Leaf is a totally hoot! And lucky is quite hilarious himself. What a wonderful group to hang out with at camp. Finally, we crawled into bed at 7:19. It gets dark so early! I can¢t believe we go to bed so early! But, you always go to bed when the sun goes down, so that¢s why it has been early lately. Today, I just feel super blessed and super thankful. I am so thankful for today, for the trail, for being out here with Moose Jaw, for the good weather today, for meeting so many great people on trail, and really for everything! Ever since crossing the Kennebec river, my mood has been really good. And I¢m just super grateful and happy.  Today was just wonderful. ¢o