Date: 2014-07-08
From: Three Mile Rd

To: Lyme-Dorchester Rd
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Three Mile Road to Lyme-Dorchester Rd.¢11 milesOne word¢exhausted! Today was a beautiful day, thank goodness, because it was a tough day. High temps, humidity, mosquitoes (up the nose!), and lots of climbs. We are tired! After a great night¢s sleep in the camper at Tigger¢s Treehouse, I awoke to the sounds of birds around 5 am. I had set my alarm for about an hour later so I just hung out for a bit. I peered down to the bunk below me to see if Siva was stirring and, to my surprise, she was not in her bunk! In fact, I was the last one up!I hobbled over to the house and down to the hiker room where Becky and Rammy were drinking coffee, and Siva was enjoying some tea. We reviewed the day¢s plan then got ready to go and were in the car by 7 with Karen driving us to Three Mile Road.The morning was muggy, but we were in high spirits. We began with a slight descent and then the climbs began. Up to the south peak of Moose Mountain with views of the haze. Then down and up to the north peak of Moose Mountain. Siva stopped to rest on a ledge of flat rocks, but I continued on, hoping to see the summit soon. As it turned out, Siva was sitting on the summit! There was no sign, so we didn¢t know we had reached the summit until we had descended for a while. Then came the next mountain. The trail profile looked like a pyramid¢steep up and steep down. As we began our climb, the oppressive heat slowed our pace. My legs felt as though weights were holding them down and I began to shuffle up the mountain. Sweat poured and the shuffle continued. Becky and Rammy had been behind me but caught up with me as I sat on a cool stone, hoping for some energy to return. Little did I know that the stone was just a few steps from the summit. I continued and the climb thankfully flattened out. The trail was covered in pine needles, and the walk became gentle and enjoyable. I reached Holt¢s Ledge where Siva was relaxing with her lunch. The sun beat down, but the views off the ledges were so stunning that we stayed to eat lunch.   We stayed about a half hour and left as dark clouds were forming.Heading down the mountain, we ran into an elderly gentleman that we had seen on the trail yesterday. He was dressed in a denim shirt and jeans and carried a grocery sack. His panama hat covered his head, giving him respite from the burning sun but I wondered how he was faring in his long sleeved shirt and heavy jeans. We stopped to chat and discovered that he was doing the entire AT in sections, using a car at road crossings and hiking to a summit then backtracking to his car. He explained that he was from Kansas and he could not find a single person who was interested in joining him. The hike down was a relief from the many climbs of the day, so we were ready to tackle the final two miles together. The trail profile showed gentle ups and downs, so we were looking forward to easier terrain. But looks can be deceiving. That was the longest two miles I¢ve ever done. The trail began with a tromp along a brush-choked trail through swamps and clouds of mosquitoes. As I worked my way through the swamp, I breathed in mosquitoes through my nose. Siva commented that she now understood why horses snorted as they walked along trails. They were hocking out mosquitoes! Gradually, we moved out of the root and mud to ascend along a pine needle covered path. But I was so tired that I could not appreciate it. Up and down over slippery rocks and through mud traps. My boots sucked as I sunk in the mud and then tried to pull myself up. Tired. Hot. Where is the end?One foot in front of the other, and we finally reached the parking lot where Siva was rinsing off in the stream. A thru hiker was loading his pack with bottles of cold beer and preparing to ascend Smarts Mountain where he hoped to meet the Boy Scouts who were staying at the Fire Warden¢s Cabin. The hiker explained that he had promised to give a talk at the shelter that evening about his travails. His name was 9 lives, and he claimed to have already lost two of them. He explained that he had had a stroke in his neck, paralyzing him and rendering his hands useless. After overcoming addiction to pain medication and through therapy, he was living life as though he had a second chance, which he did. His gnarled hands still gave him pain, and his back hurt, but here he was in New Hampshire, hiking all the way from Springer Mountain. He was an inspiration, and he made me realize how truly Life is good!