Date: 2008-09-06
From: Maine 4, ME

To: Stealthsite .1 north of Oberton Stream, ME
Miles today: 13.4

Obviously I was a little stressed about this long slackpack that I thought was happening today; I had a dream that I was a passenger in a car with some random woman who was high on opium, and we got chased by the cops and I was totally stressed because I didn¢t belong there! LOL I know where the opium reference came from though, I jokingly picked up a bulb on a lily pad when Karen and I were kayaking in Rangeley Lake and said they were growing opium out here. I AM a nerd folks¢¦hands down.I was up and we were outside waiting for the shuttle a bit before 7:30 a.m. I waited, and waited and waited and 7:45, 8:00, came by and finally I had to make a decision. See, to do almost 16 miles in the terrain I was headed into made me nervous even starting as late as 9:00 a.m. (it takes 1:15 to get out to the trail), and I was thinking Bob at Gull Pond probably had to react to requests of hikers staying at his place (understandably so), so I told Karen if he hadn¢t shown up by 8:15 a.m., I¢d switch over to full pack and do the 3 day 2-nite as I had originally planned. I needed to hike today one way or another. So 8:15 came around, and I called Gull Pond. A hiker told me Bob had left and was dropping hikers off at Maine 4, but he had told them he¢d be back by a time that would have made it impossible for him to get me and take me out, so I could see he was busy with the hikers there. I asked that the person give Bob a message that I was canceling the shuttle in hopes he wouldn¢t drive over to the motel. Then I went into the room and quickly switched my pack over to full pack instead of slackpack. I¢ve pretty much had my stuff ready to go in case something like this happened, so no biggie. In a way this took pressure off me, because I wouldn¢t have to worry about nite hiking now, and this will probably be my last 2 nites of solo camping, so I sort of want the time out there to enjoy the woods by myself again. The only logistical issue was that I was originally planning on taking 3 days to get to Caribou Valley Rd., where I had hoped Karen could pick me up, but we¢ve since learned that road is not passable in a low car, so the next option is to hike another 8.4 miles over the Crocker Mountains to Maine 27. Well, I was just going to have to make this happen, it was the least complicated way. I was hiking by 9:04 a.m. I hate getting started this late, especially with full pack and especially when I wanted to attempt over 13 miles to get completely over the Saddleback Range and down into the valley for the nite, but hey¢¦that¢s life right? Wow was it humid today. I was soaked and sweating buckets within minutes of starting. It was a tough tough physically demanding day of hiking for sure. I had Saddleback Mountain (4,120 ft), The Horn (4,040 ft) and Saddleback Jr. (3,655 ft) to get over and then 4 miles down to Oberton River. I took on a lot today, but had a contingency plan to stop short at Poplar Ridge Lean-to if I needed to.First was a 5 mile climb up Saddleback Mtn. The first 3 miles were gradual and not too bad. I hiked past 3 ponds, Ethel Pond, an un-named pond and Eddy Pond. All of which I stopped and looked for moose, but nothing¢¦.BOO HOO!!!!I now started the heavy climbing for 2 miles up to Saddleback, which takes you above treeline. I knew there was a chance of rain today because the remnants of Hanna are heading this way. I was hoping it would hold out till I got down into a lower elevation. I felt the weight of my full pack, but honestly, you get used to it and don¢t notice it after awhile. I was finally above treeline and it was very hazy and windy. I saw 2 women coming towards me, Preacher and Pie, both from NH. GREAT women I wish I could have spent an afternoon talking with. Such a bummer to meet so many great people and not be able to talk more with them. Pie is on her last section of the entire AT, and Preacher has some other sections to complete. I thought I saw the summit of Saddleback, but this mountain is tricky. You see a layer above you, get to it, and see another layer above you, get to it, and you do this about 4 times before you see a sign marking the summit. You¢re above treeline for along time on this leg. I could see Rangeley Lake and the little island Karen had kayaked to. I called her and told her I was literally facing the door of the room. She came out and said, ¢I¢m waving..can you see me?¢ We both died laughing. Of course I could NOT see her!!!It had sprinkled just a bit nothing significant, but enough to put a nice slick layer on all the rocks. I could see The Horn ahead. You dip down and come right back up, all exposed hiking. I was hungry, but told myself I could eat lunch when I had 2 of the 3 major climbs over with for the day. Chug chug chug along slowly as I do, I somehow always make it to the next peak. I sat on top of The Horn and the wind would suddenly whip up super strong. I watched the white clouds swirling around and inbetween the summits of Saddleback and The Horn. It was wicked cool. I now know what it is like to literally sit in the clouds. It was almost 1:45 p.m., and I still had 6 more tough miles to go. I just needed to get my brain ready for a longer later day, because if I could pull off this 13.4 miler, tomorrow would be 10 something and the next day 8 something into Stratton, which give me a psychological incentive.I headed down The Horn, which by now had very little view. I could tell Hanna¢s rains were heading this way, but didn¢t know when it would hit. I saw 2 men coming towards me so as usual I said hello and asked their names. It was Leaping Turtle and Me to Maine (Me to ME)!!!! Now, this was cool, because A.M. was going to hike some with Leaping Turtle, and her and V8 had wonderful things to say about him. I was excited to meet him. I had gotten a message from A.M. today (once my cell service worked up here) that she was back home and ready to come out again so to call her. My situation was ify, and Leaping Turtle said he was planning on calling her when he got to Rangeley, so I was thrilled to be able to pass on to A.M. that it would be easiest for her to hike with him and not me for right now.Me to Maine, another wonderful gentleman, said he was bringing his wife down to SNP in November to fill in a small gap. Well, I told him to get my info from A.M. and to call me when they come down, because Karen and I could put them up, help with slacking or whatever. He seemed happy about this and I¢d love to chat more with him too. These 2 were flip flopping because like me, they like their days off and to enjoy the hike. They said (like I do), ¢If you¢re not enjoying it¢¦why do it?¢ Right on brothers!!! So we all happily went our merry ways, but it was cool to meet them. We all agree, A.M. and V8 are just top notch women and wonderful hiking friends. It started raining a little harder, so I finally stopped and put my packcover on, but no raingear¢¦too humid and hot. It was in the low 70¢s and overcast today and I was absolutely soaked through and through. Gosh do I stink in these conditions¢¦my pack is beyond help I think. I was finally confronted with Saddleback Junior, the last major climb of the day. I¢m pretty exhausted by now honestly, so I got my iPod out to help with some energy. It was about half a mile up, so not as bad as others, and I had to laugh. Just as I was getting near the summit, the song that came on my iPod was ¢Rise¢ by Herb Alpert, a trumpet player. Seemed fitting really. It was a very steep climb though, and I snapped a pic at the top with a horribly exhausted look on my face that was not intentional, but I couldn¢t muster the energy to really smile. The sky was getting dark grey clouds in it and I wanted the hell off this mountain for sure. It wasn¢t t-storms or anything, so I wasn¢t overly stressed. Now it was a steep 1 mile down to Poplar Ridge Lean-to. I was so happy to get there, and it was about 4:20 p.m. Wildflower and her dog Duncan were there, as were Ghost (NH) and Dr. Dick (VA), very nice men. I got water and chatted a bit. Dr. Dick lives near us and is out completing his last section of the AT. Him and Ghost have 2 vehicles they keep driving up the trail and hiking to. I asked if they¢d seen Racoon (Lipstick¢s hubby who I keep missing) and they had, but I¢m always just behind him or just in front. Right now, he¢s behind me. Wildflower (who I met on the Mahoosuc Notch) said ¢I¢m being lazy today.¢ I was thinking about that later and it occurred to me (and I wish I had said), I think at this point in the GAME (pun intended LOL) there¢s no such thing as being lazy. I think we¢re all in exhaustion management mode. I mean, if I have ¢only¢ hiked here from Front Royal this year, not from Georgia, granted I¢ve been out here as long as many people who started in Georgia, and I can feel my body is absolutely fatigued in a deep deep way. I think now we are all in the most danger of injury because we¢re all running on psychological energy and stubbornness. Yes, our bodies are stronger in some ways, and totally torn up in others. There is no such thing as being lazy out here. It¢s all about not running yourself totally into the ground.I moved on at 4:40 p.m., and was excited that I was indeed going to pull off this crazy day with a later start that I really wanted. Makes me realize I¢m probably a stronger hiker than I give myself credit for, but I also know I¢ll pay for a day like this. I could have stayed at the shelter, but the weather was holding, and this guarantees lower miles the next 2 days. Besides, I really wanted to camp by a river tonight. (notice how I can say I want to camp ¢here¢ and I don¢t have to worry about finding a place to camp? Ah¢¦.the life of hanger).It was a long 2.4 miles down to Oberton Stream. Some rocky straight down trail, but I just kept plugging along. Oh, Ghost had told me of a great stealth site near the river, but I thought I¢d see what the scene was before heading there. I finally got to Oberton Stream (which was really a river) by 6:03 p.m. It was straight down and straight up on the other side¢¦a sort of rocky V, so not the best places to hang right on the river, so I headed .1 up towards the old railroad bed and hung a right turn. There¢s a beautiful waterfall and stream I went across and I found a fantastic spot to camp. There was a firering already there, so lots of people use this little site. Just as I got here, the rain picked up. I quickly hung my tarp and then the rain really started coming down. Whew¢¦.JUST made it. I set up camp under cover of my tarp, hung my bear bag rope first try (YIPPY!), and sat under my tarp and cooked dinner. Everything was dry¢¦how I like it. It¢s getting dark earlier, so I had to finish cooking and eat my dinner by headlamp. I didn¢t realize I had picked my canteen up and drug it over my cookpot, and stuff from the ground had dropped into my cookpot. I only realized this once I got a very piney bit of pasta. Apparently I had dropped some pine needles into my pasta, but I can¢t say it was horrible! It was a sort of ¢taste sensation¢ if you will. Made me laugh. By 6:30 p.m., it was pretty dark under treecover. Wow, I miss my 9:00 p.m. daylight summer hours. I¢m all tucked in now, it¢s 8:37 p.m., 70 degrees still, and it¢s absolutely POURING outside. I don¢t mind when I¢m snuggly warm and comfy in my hammock. I rather enjoy it. I do hope, however, I won¢t have to hike in this crap in the morning. Hey¢¦206.5 miles to go. Tomorrow I¢ll be UNDER 200 miles!!! I¢m proud of myself for pumping this out today. This particular range is pretty nasty and I pushed, but here I am, dry, hanging about 150 feet away from an awesome waterfall, listening to the rushing water and pitter patter of the pouding rain. Go Hanna go¢¦get it out of your system tonight and release us all from your rage by morning.~Certain