Date: 2007-10-21
From: Wilson Valley Lean-To, Maine

To: N. side of W. Pleasant River, Maine
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up around 4am and could not believe that I fell asleep like I did. I am usually the last one asleep. I was the first one asleep. I was the first one up this morning. Right around Daylight. Two girls, one of whom was a thru hiker from 2005, were up early and heating water. I went over to "Lentil" who slept on the ground, close to the shelter. I shared my coffee with him. He was all smiles. He said, "isnt it nice waking up to all these smiling faces and tight long underwear?" I just smiled and went back to the shelter and made my breakfest. As I was packing my pack: I was watching all the girls flying by. Man, I have to get back to civilization. I kidded the boy that slept next to me, "Boy, you are a cuddler." Just kidding I said. The girls laughed and he was embarrased. Lentil and I got going. All he could talk about were those girls. Every guy thru hiker I meet and talk to at this point: cannot wait to get back and just enjoy the company of the finer sex. He even found a big piece of birch bark and took out the inner sheets and wrote the girls a letter with his phone # and e-mail. We got going and of course; he was back at his antics. He picked up the rhomboid rock about 2 feet long and walked doing curls for an hour or so. He said that he would like to take this rock with him. I just shook my head and then he threw it up into the woods. He told me that when he started that he used to do curls all the time. Then this girl that was supposed to come out and see him; did not come and he quit. We walked down to a beautiful water flugh and waterfall and walked down and ate brunch right next to it. It was spectacular. I told him about meeting "EarlyBird"; the SOBO, the other day. He said that Earlybird said that he met me last February. It was the same guy. Man, that guy is nuts. We talked about the scam of BSP and the closing of Kathadin. Back at The Lakeshore House, I talked him into sending his -40 degree bag home. He was wanting to climb the mountain illegally and camp up there at night. I could not resist spreading the BSP psychological warfare propaganda. I told him that my guidebook said that they would give him a court summons; seize his gear; fine him; and forever ban him from the park. Now, you know what a guy, like Lentil who was on the fringe of society sarcastically said, "oh, a court summons, a fine, not that; but, seizing my gear? They would have to earn that! and forever banning me? What are we living in Russia? You cant close a mountain!" I told him that they give you daypacks to climb up. He said, "what are they trying to do, kill me! What if I am up there and a storm comes in?!" I said, "Easy dude, Im just telling you what ive read!" I then grabbed my toilet paper to "do some business". He saw the toilet paper and went off on me! "Do you know all the trees and landscapes that were destroyed to make that roll; all the peasants or minimum wage employees efforts it took to first make roads into the forest, then cut the trees down, then pull them out, then load them on trucks, then drive them to the sawmill, then make the pulp, etc, etc, etc." Lentil, I have to have toilet paper. I can go without in the south where there is Mulein(Rabbit Tobacco). It has very soft leaves. Anyway, we got going and had a day of climbing up and over fairly steep mountains: Barren, 4th mountain, 3rd moutain, West Chairback, Columbus mtn, Chairback, and several "no names". Who was that who told me that the 100 mile wilderness was flat? On one of these ascents; Lentil got ahead and when i caught up, he was talking with a familiar looking fellow. It was "Rambling Rose". He was a NOBO that spent St Patrick day at Miss Janet's Hostel with me. He got off at 19E in TN with an ankle injury. He owns a horse farm in the area and said give him a call if we need anything. The trail is soemthing else, it seems that you will eventually meet everyone again. I got dark and we kept going. We were trying to do 20's everyday. We went up on top of West Chairback and he called his ride from Kathadin; his "Winter Squaw"(his term) which had dumped him and now he had to live in a snow cave by himself; and some friend that gave us a weather report of rain Tuesday. My phone did not have reception; so, I did my push ups, sit ups, and arm curls. We then went over to the Chairback Gap Lean-To and scared a guy who was doing the 100 mile widerness southbound. It was around 10pm and the guy said, "you fellas are hiking late, come on in, there is plenty of room." I said that we were not staying. He said, "you cant go down the north side of Chairback it is straight down. I said, "man, you dont even know?" We got going and went down that steep climb. My shoulders, knees, elbows, feet, and mind were all hurting. We finally got to the banks of a long ford across The West Pleasant River. We both decided to do the ford in the morning and camped right under a no camping sign; too exhausted to care. It was 1am; we had been hiking since 9am.