ElizabethClose

Aug 18- up and out by 7. Lady from yesterday said she wanted to hike a bit with me but she never caught up to me all day. I managed the mornings water crossing semi-gracefully and then came to a rock climb I couldn't manage. I had to take off my pack and heft it up over my head onto the ledge then haul myself up and put the pack back on without falling over the edge. Once that little bit of excitement was over I basically just trudged through the day. It was partly cloudy with a nice breeze. Great hiking weather. There were a few views but just "meh" ones. I find myself thinking about how small I am compared to the mountains. Fairly late in the day I met a a guy coming north who recognized me. I didn't remember him until he said his name was Mule. I hung out with him at that swimming hole the one day I took time off to swim. It was pretty awesome to see him again so close to his finish. I guess I should start looking for people I know! I made it to the poplar ridge lean-to around 7:30 and there were a bunch of people camping and nobody in the shelter. Somebody had started a fire so I got water and hung my hammock - poorly because rain-fly was too long for the trees I used. I made dinner and hung out to eat and talked to a SOBO named "I don't know". Got tucked in by 8:30 and I was too dark to hang a bear bag so I'm going to gamble that bears will stay away because there are so many people. The bag is so small now I can hang it off the ridge line in the hammock and sleep. So I'm at mile 209.7 which is 13.1 miles of hiking today.

Aug 19. - Friday. It was pretty cold in the morning so a little hard to force myself out of my cocoon but hearing other hikers breaking down motivated me. I was going to sit and eat in the lean-to but "I don't know" had the sound on his phone and the pook-pook-pook noise of his keyboard and bwoock of texting just bugged me so I packed quickly and headed out. Found a little clearing about a mile away and did my morning business and ate some granola. Today was big climbs but the wetness had abated a bit so I didn't fear for life and limb quite so much. Hazy skies so pictures were not super but there's a feeling I get when standing on a summit, wind gusting enough to knock me a little off balance, looking at layers of mountains reaching way off in the distance. It's incredibly humbling. I met several NOBOs and the lady from the other day (happy feet) caught up to me on saddleback at 1:00 and we hiked together down to the parking area near Rangely,Maine. Her hostel had left her a cooler bag with ice and a Gatorade and a beer in it. She shared the Gatorade and gave the beer to a hiker just getting on trail. The man dropping off that hiker was going to the Farmhouse where my packages were so he gave me and two other hikers a ride. I squished in the middle of the back seat with the other guys pack across his and my lap(whee! Stench!!) farmhouse inn had space in the basement bunk room. Two walls unfinished with sheets hung across one of the walls and a dehumidifier running. An IGA was half mile away so I walked up and spent $100 on groceries for sabbath and resupply. Called home and let everybody know I'm still alive! Asked Kyle to come slack-pack me and he agreed. Gives me hope of actually finishing this thing before snowfall!! 11 miles today

Aug 20- sabbath. Didn't do much of anything. I made myself lunch and realized I have finally got a hiker appetite. I ate 12 pierogies, a summer squash, small pkg of mushrooms, and hunk of beef stick washed down with iced tea. Hah!! Happy feet showed up and we chatted while I soaked my feet in Epsom salts. Got a little long winded so I decided it was time for a naaaaaaaapp!! I'll pack my food bag tonight and catch the 6:30 shuttle to the trailhead