ElizabethClose

August 13- sabbath morning I checked the weather and it looked like it would clear around noon. I packed up, checked out and moved my stuff the the porch in preparation for getting across the Kennebec. By 1:00 it was still raining and Paul checked his computer weather which showed a big front coming that would last until Monday. Well, poop and touch it (as Aunt Chele would say). One of the drinkers came into the living room and said he was going to stay another day. We all looked at each other and Steph(NotABear) said "the dominoes are going to fall" and sure enough we all went out and signed up for another day. I had to go to a different room and my bed was right by the rattley doorknob/lock in the bathroom. I got 8oz block of cheese, rice crackers and some beef stick. Steps brought her snack in and we sat in my new room with my new roommate and ate and talked for a couple of hours. It felt so nice to hear steph talk about her emotional roller coaster. I don't mention it much In my journals because it feels like whining but it's not all "fabulous adventure" out here. All in all I had a very pleasant cold, rainy day. It rained really hard a couple of times, making me even happier with my decision to stay inside another day. I signed up for breakfast tomorrow as it smelled so good this morning. Paul let me lock the rattley lock and hang a sign saying not to touch it so when I went to bed I didn't have to wake up every time somebody used the bathroom. I snuggled under the quilts by 8pm and slept like a baby.

August 14- today was splendid. I got up at 5 and went downstairs. Paul was already up working on breakfast so I got tea and got out of his way. People started rustling around and the vibe was definitely "pack up and hit the trail" for steph and her two buddies. The 6 who signed up had eggs , potatoes ,French toast , muffins, bacon, OJ and water. Nobody left the table hungry! Afterward I went up and stripped my linens, brushed my teeth, packed my gear into my backpack and took it to the porch. I had to wait until 9 for the ferry so I chatted with Paul as he totaled my bill. Apparently he was in hospice at one point in his life and somehow it felt right to tell him about Bob. I cried, he hugged- it was good. I hiked out to the ferry and got there just at 9. There were three ladies already waiting for the guide to put in the canoe. We all had to fill out a disclaimer form. Then the guide took two at a time a cross the Kennebec river. He pointed out the white blazes in the bottom of the canoe. Cute. Wish my camera was not triple wrapped in ziplocks down in my pack. It was supposed to rain after noon and I wasn't taking chances. I hiked south with my mind churning through memories. More crying but not in a bad way. More of a cleansing way if that makes any sense. I stopped for my hot meal on the shore of east carry pond around 4 and realized that when I cleaned my filter with white vinegar the taste stuck in there. I dumped the 2 liters I had filtered and stood on the shore of the pond filtering until the taste was gone. I cooked and ate as fast as I could because the clouds looked quite ominous. Thankfully it passed over and I managed to make it to west carry pond shelter. Mile 165.2 so I did 14 Rain Free miles for today.


August 15- up at 5 and lay in my hammock listening to the loons calling. I should have gotten up and out but dilly-dallied until 6:30. Eating breakfast and watching Sunrise over the pond was worth the wait. I wish my camera translated the colors better. Maybe when I put them on the PC they will show more vibrantly. The trail was wet in spots so I went cautiously all morning. Just before noon I was going down some stone steps and somehow my foot slid and I landed on my sit-upon. Nothing broken thankfully! Stopped and ate at the stream at the base of Little Bigelow mountain. I made it up and over the 6 miles to Safford gap campsite without falling again. Campsite was .2 off trail-felt like .5 because of the boulders and bogs ... Plus I was tired! I got set up near a couple of young guys who hiked in from flagstaff lake and are hiking out tomorrow because it's going to rain. I didn't know there is a big bad weather front coming in. I hung my bear bag and got water and went over to sit at their fire. Through hikers don't seem to make fires anymore. Too much effort at the end of the day when everybody is exhausted. Another hiker came to sit and eat at the fireside and said he hiked the saddleback mountain in rain and it was treacherous. Gah! I am going to run out of food if I sit out the rain. Or I could go into Stratton tomorrow, buy more food and take a zero day. Decisions, decisions... Today I hiked to 178.0 which was 12.8 miles. 13.2 if you count the side trail to the
Aug 16- I slept horribly last night. The rodent population at that site seemed determined to scramble through everything I had, run across my rainfly, even run through my under quilt (which felt way too much like it was running on my skin). I finally got up at 5:30 and shoved everything in my pack and left at 6:30. I summited three mountains today. On Avery peak a guy named Bloodman took my picture for me and gave me a handful of snacks he had extra. I needed the extra calories today. It took me until 3:00 to do 5 miles which was pretty disheartening. The views were hazy but I still took pictures. I made it to cranberry stream campsite at 6:00 and saw ginger tiger getting water. He told me he had fallen and broken one of his poles. I feel bad for him but glad he wasn't hurt. I decided to set camp even though I only hiked 8.3 miles. Mile 186.3. Anyway it was starting to spit rain and I wanted to get tucked in before the forecast thunderstorm hit. So glad I stopped as the rain came on as I hung my bear bag. I dashed back to my hammock and changed into my dry clothes and climbed into my sleeping bag. I SO hope the rodents leave me alone tonight. I am thoroughly exhausted!!


Aug 17 -Wednesday woke up at 4:30, heard a light sprinkle and dozed back off. At 5:30 my bladder insisted I get up and take care of my morning business. The rain had pretty much stopped so I got my bear bag down while I was out. As I sat on the edge of my hammock deciding on breakfast it started to rain again so I tucked back into my sleeping bag to wait. It's not entirely a laziness thing. It can get pretty scary on wet trail and hard rain gets on my glasses and reduces my visibility. Ahead of me I have two big peaks and a stream with a high water warning. I can't afford a zero with my food situation as tight as it is. If it gets too late I'll have to go into Stratton. << tried to sleep >> at 8:00 am I heard the guy in the next spot tearing down so I got up and started packing. The rain had eased to a fine drizzle and it was so late I didn't even check my watch when I started. I got to the road to Stratton and stood there a few minutes trying to decide. I hiked on about a half hour and the rain started to come down again as I saw a lady coming down the hill. She said she left some stuff in Stratton and was going back for them. One of the guys from my campsite came up and said the rain was supposed to stop at 11. I decided to go to Stratton and took about 5 steps following the lady and she said she had to get to rangely by Saturday for some reason that made me turn back around and hike on in the rain. The trail was a gradual incline with no big rock climbs and I went slow and careful so I would minimize slipping. Over both peaks by 2 pm and down the other side carefully as I could. The sun peeked out a few times but not for long. I made it to the carabasset river crossing about 5:30 and made dinner and talked to the CCC girls. Three chipmunks plagued us the whole time. I decided to camp on this side of the river and maybe the water level will go down overnight. The thought of being swept downstream freaks me out a little. As I hung my bear bag the lady from this morning hiked up. She got back to Stratton and sat and watched tv until the rain quit and still made it as far as I did. Tchagh! I know I'm supposed to hike my own hike but that makes me feel like a huge loser. I made it to mile 196.6 which is 10.3 miles of hiking for today.




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