June 13-16
After being out in the wilderness for a million days, my phone went dead, and I could not write updates. I thought about writing on paper, but nothing ever came of that thought. I'll try to recap the last few days, but I'm sure I'll forget some things.
I believe I left off on the day Willie showed up pantless. That night was pure torture, as he kept us awake until midnight talking about himself. The next morning we broke free. He said something about his knee, so we sped ahead.
The morning walk was quite easy. The trail was wider than normal and pretty flat. It was a popular part of the trail - Gulf Hagas and the Hermitage. We met some day hikers that offered us bottles of water. We thanked them but did not accept their offer. Something seemed a bit off: why would two men, who weren't from the area, be out during the middle of the day in the middle of the week in the middle of the woods? I explained to Matt that they were probably hiding a body.
We had to wade across a stream that was about fifty feet wide, but it was only a foot to a foot and a half deep. After we made it across, Matt sprinted ahead. This is where the sad part of the day happened. The rest of the way seemed like uphill. Everytime I climbed a hill, there would be a taller one next to it.
The goal for the evening was to reach the chairback lean-to. I thought I had reached the peak at mile seven, but then I turned and saw the next mountain. I also saw the rockslide I was going to have to climb up. Luckily, Matt had waited at the top of the mountain, to make sure I made it up safely. I finally did make it up at around 8:30. It was one of the most awesome climbs ever. It wasn't too hard, and the views from the mountain as the sun was setting were absolutely beautiful.
Getting to the lean-to was a little less than fun. It was getting dark quickly, and we were out of water. The shelter was only supposed to be a half mile away downhill. We made it there in darkness. We once again had the shelter to ourselves. Now we had to find water.
There was no steam, but a spring instead. We thought we had to get water from a bog that we had crossed, but luckily we saw the sign for water. The water source wasn't much better. Matt's water filter got clogged, but we managed to get a couple of liters.
We cooked one of my backpack meals for dinner. I wasn't too into it, but he loved it. Even more fun began after we went to sleep.
The lean-to is old, and on a steep hill, so it's not exactly square or level. It also has mice. I felt the first one by my feet right after we turned the lights out. I then listened to them scurry about. I was paranoid for most of the night about them getting into my food bag. I barely got any sleep. When the sun came up, I saw one run along the inside wall of the shelter. It was not a very good night, or morning.
At seven, Willie showed up. A little piece of me died.
He told us how he stayed at the bottom of the rock slide for the night. He then blabbered about how he didn't have any food. I have him my jar of peanut butter and some peanuts that I hadn't eaten. Instead of saving them for later, since he was in the process of making breakfast, he started eating it right then.
We were also joined by Murphy, who had prosthetic feet. He had broken some bolts on Katahdin, and finally got the parts. He was dropped off at the beginning of the trail and was hiking backwards to meet his friends and then start hiking again. Everyone who he told his plan to told him he was crazy, because this plan involved him hiking over four or five mountains. We told him the info we had about his friends, and he decided to go down to the stream we had forded and hitch a ride out.
There was a parking lot close by. Willie hiked on ahead of us and we tried to put off starting for awhile. The day involved going up and down some mountains. We saw two Northbounders. The day ended at the Cloud Pond lean-to. Willie was there.
I don't have the time to go into detail about the other days, so I'll try to hit the highlights:
We camped by a waterfall, forded a steam, met a crazy old man from Texas who calls himself Chuck Norris, successfully lost Willie (but only for a few days), saw a deer run away, tumbled down a rocky slope, did a thirteen hour day of hiking, but only made it 11 miles, two full days with only eating 200 calories, and the joy of never having to step foot in the 100 mile wilderness again.
Hopefully I won't have to go so long between charges again.
I believe I left off on the day Willie showed up pantless. That night was pure torture, as he kept us awake until midnight talking about himself. The next morning we broke free. He said something about his knee, so we sped ahead.
The morning walk was quite easy. The trail was wider than normal and pretty flat. It was a popular part of the trail - Gulf Hagas and the Hermitage. We met some day hikers that offered us bottles of water. We thanked them but did not accept their offer. Something seemed a bit off: why would two men, who weren't from the area, be out during the middle of the day in the middle of the week in the middle of the woods? I explained to Matt that they were probably hiding a body.
We had to wade across a stream that was about fifty feet wide, but it was only a foot to a foot and a half deep. After we made it across, Matt sprinted ahead. This is where the sad part of the day happened. The rest of the way seemed like uphill. Everytime I climbed a hill, there would be a taller one next to it.
The goal for the evening was to reach the chairback lean-to. I thought I had reached the peak at mile seven, but then I turned and saw the next mountain. I also saw the rockslide I was going to have to climb up. Luckily, Matt had waited at the top of the mountain, to make sure I made it up safely. I finally did make it up at around 8:30. It was one of the most awesome climbs ever. It wasn't too hard, and the views from the mountain as the sun was setting were absolutely beautiful.
Getting to the lean-to was a little less than fun. It was getting dark quickly, and we were out of water. The shelter was only supposed to be a half mile away downhill. We made it there in darkness. We once again had the shelter to ourselves. Now we had to find water.
There was no steam, but a spring instead. We thought we had to get water from a bog that we had crossed, but luckily we saw the sign for water. The water source wasn't much better. Matt's water filter got clogged, but we managed to get a couple of liters.
We cooked one of my backpack meals for dinner. I wasn't too into it, but he loved it. Even more fun began after we went to sleep.
The lean-to is old, and on a steep hill, so it's not exactly square or level. It also has mice. I felt the first one by my feet right after we turned the lights out. I then listened to them scurry about. I was paranoid for most of the night about them getting into my food bag. I barely got any sleep. When the sun came up, I saw one run along the inside wall of the shelter. It was not a very good night, or morning.
At seven, Willie showed up. A little piece of me died.
He told us how he stayed at the bottom of the rock slide for the night. He then blabbered about how he didn't have any food. I have him my jar of peanut butter and some peanuts that I hadn't eaten. Instead of saving them for later, since he was in the process of making breakfast, he started eating it right then.
We were also joined by Murphy, who had prosthetic feet. He had broken some bolts on Katahdin, and finally got the parts. He was dropped off at the beginning of the trail and was hiking backwards to meet his friends and then start hiking again. Everyone who he told his plan to told him he was crazy, because this plan involved him hiking over four or five mountains. We told him the info we had about his friends, and he decided to go down to the stream we had forded and hitch a ride out.
There was a parking lot close by. Willie hiked on ahead of us and we tried to put off starting for awhile. The day involved going up and down some mountains. We saw two Northbounders. The day ended at the Cloud Pond lean-to. Willie was there.
I don't have the time to go into detail about the other days, so I'll try to hit the highlights:
We camped by a waterfall, forded a steam, met a crazy old man from Texas who calls himself Chuck Norris, successfully lost Willie (but only for a few days), saw a deer run away, tumbled down a rocky slope, did a thirteen hour day of hiking, but only made it 11 miles, two full days with only eating 200 calories, and the joy of never having to step foot in the 100 mile wilderness again.
Hopefully I won't have to go so long between charges again.
