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8/23/01, day 161. 9.7m. Chapman Inn in Bethel, ME. So the day started out with the long-feared "Mahoosuc Notch" - a long stretch of huge, moss-covered boulders. It was a damn lot of fun, not nearly as treacherous as yesterday, but it was extremely slow going, probably 0.5 mph, and tiring, as I had to use my rarely-used upper body muscles quite often. So by noon I had only done about 5m, and by the time I got to Grafton Notch I was fairly sore and I figured it was pretty late (which it wasn't). So when I got a ride with some nice folk and a very friendly dog and I realized that it would be an obnoxious hitch back I decided to get a room. Actually what I got was a hiker bunkhouse to myself, with kitchen, sauna, gameroom, the works. 3 stories. So I had an entire cheesecake (3,000 calories!) and stayed up late watching bad movies on TV. Even with all that, I think I would have preferred the old mac and cheese and rat-infested shelter. 8/24/01, day 162. 10m. Andover Guest House in Andover, ME. Woke up and had a nice breakfast with some folk at the B and B, some difficult hitching, and some hiking. It was a perfectly splendid walk, with leaves on the Trail, the smell of impending autumn. And a bunch of folk showed and suggested coming here, only 10m from the last town, which I eventually decided to do, as I wanted some company. The whole gang was here, and there was much jollility. 8/25/01, day 163. ~10m. Camping at some place. So this morning we all lounged around, pretty much looking for excuses for not hiking, until the WOD and Gobblin suggested watching the "Star Wars" trilogy end to end, which got us all outrageously excited, so we began. But, since sometimes things suck the guy that runs the place told us we had to be out by 11 or pay for another night. So, with much disappointment we headed back to the Trail. The first part of the day sucked, maybe because I was a little too bummed about the Star Wars thing, but things turned around when Greenlight gave me cookies. I was going to stay at a shelter a few miles back, but the WOD was talking about people who had finished and Katahdin, the Holy Land, and it got me revved up enough to zoom over the PUD from Hell and come here, where me, the WOD, and Greenlight talked about life after the K, or lack thereof. 8/26/01, day 164. ~14m. Claire and Don's House in Oquossic, ME Had a nice walk this morning, eventually running out of water as one source was a lie and the other was dried up. But after some hydration the WOD, Greenlight, and I sat at a road contemplating going into Oquossic, pretty much just because it was a cool sounding town, so we squeezed into a truck with some hunter and had a good old time eating Mexican seafood and talking about stealthing in town. But we stuck our thumbs and this couple, Claire and Don, pulled over and offered us a place to stay at their cabin! So here we be staying up late and talking to cool people. Life is good. 8/27/01, day 165. 13.1m. Gull Pond B&B in Rangely, ME. So Claire made us some luscious pancakes this morning and Don took us back to the Trail on a warm, drizzly morning. Today was the first easy hiking day in a damn long time - no mountains, so I was able to make decent pace. I ended up caravanning with Smiles and Fiddlehead, Greenlight, the WOD, and Gnome for most of the day, hitching into Rangely in mid-afternoon. We got our food, mail, etc., had a nice dinner, then called for a shuttle to the B&B on a lake, where we did Moxie shots and had ourselves a good enough time. I've been spending an awful lot of time in towns lately and I really don't know why. 8/28/01, day 166. 10.7m. Poplar Ridge Leanto. This was a good day because it ended with dinner. So last night I woke up with a sore throat and meandered downstairs, eventually sleeping with a kitten. Upon awaking we all had a nice breakfast, and I alternately considered a 2 and an 18, eventually heading out early with 18 on the mind. It was easy walking at first, but I realized about 2m in that I was developing a head cold. I sat and sat and sat then decided to trudge 2m more to some pond with campsites. It took me for ever as I took breaks every 10 minutes and moaned. Once I got to the pond, I found a loud-mouthed civilian with a "fucking hangover," a campsite, and a place to take a nap. So I lay down until a coupla civilians come by and asked if I was the Mary Poppins with the head cold, which I was and am, so they gave me this neet herbal sinus relief deal, and I laid down to sleep. One of my friends ahead must have sent them, and when I figure out who it was I'm going to shower them with contagious kisses, 'cuz that herbal thing worked. So I got a good part of my mojo back, albeit late in the day, and I charged over some beautiful mountains. Near nightfall, I met a coupla civilians and hiked with one for a spell as she's planning an AT hike and had some questions. So a just after dark arrival arrived at the shelter and now some unconsciousness. Life is good. 8/29/01, day 167. 14.2m. Crocker Cirque Campsite Today I just trudged along with my damn cold, although it was a splendidly wonderful day. Trudged up to the campsite, disappointed with the presence of two damn college orientation groups. The Trail is saturated with 18-year-olds doing their thing, an it plain sucks. Anyway, I found the thru-hikers hidden in the woods, pleasantly surprised to find Cy and Badmoon hangin' out. Bad things: others seem to be coming down with the same symptoms that I have, and everybody seems to be in a funk, which is odd. We all thought that when we were in Maine, we would be on some high, but that just isn't the case. Trudging along, as usual. 8/30/01, day 168. 12.4m. Horns Pond Leanto The day started with a trot to Stratton to do the hiker stuff and hang with the folk. After that it was a wonderful climb up to this place on a pond. All day I've been loving the Trail and thinking about all that I'll miss when it's over. I thought a lot today about the sound of the Trail: heartbeat thudding in your ears, your ple clanking on rock your shoe thudding on the Earth. Sounds I've heard all day, every day for as long as I think I can remember. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to the other side, but it sure as hell won't be easy to sit still. 8/31/01, day 169. 10.2m. Little Bigelow Leanto Okay, today was ass. Pure, demonic ass. Planned a 17, barely made it here. The terrain wasn't that hard, but there was this odd humidity in the air, a slick goo on your skin, a palpable feeling of ick. A big fat yuck. But I'm planning big stuff tomorrow to make up for today's sissiness. Hope my illness duddn't hold me back. 9/1/01, day 170. 21.5m. Caratunk House B&B in Caratunk, ME Okay, so I woke up at the asscrack of dawn 'cuz I had to catch this ferry. As seems to be the case with such things, I grossly mis-estimated the time, and got to the river 2 hours before the ferry stopped. The terrain today was pure cake, like I haven't seen in a damn long time, so I made a good 2.8-3 mph for most of the day, which felt pretty damn good. Anyway I got to the Kennebec river, where this guy in a canoe takes people across all dry-like. After that myself and some folk got lodging at the B&B, cleaned ourselves (except me - I always seem to forget to shower), and headed off to din-din, where we had a blast laughing and eating too many expensive entrees. I'm gonna miss these people.
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