MB on the AT

Here I am, basking in all of the New Hampshire glory:

Everyone else in the lean-to was up and gone by eight. This gave me great hope that I would be, too. I failed myself miserably. I didn't leave until one.

Shanta and Billy Goat came to the shelter just before I left. They were planning on staying there the night instead of heading to the next shelter, which charges an $8 fee. On my way down the mountain, I passed three older ladies who couldn't have been younger than 65. They all got excited when I said the shelter was only twenty minutes away. I then continued down towards the road. I passed a couple of day hikers, none worth mentioning.

I made it to the road in good time, and was ready to head up to the next shelter. The climb was gradual. I made it to the Speck Pond lean-to around 7:45. Whiskers and crew were glad to see me. The shelter cost $8 to stay in, so I headed up to the care taker's area and payed the fee for me and Matt. He showed up about a half hour behind me. We made pizzas for dinner and fell asleep quickly.

We were awakened early today by the German couple at around four in the morning. I quickly fell back asleep, but kept waking up. I finally made an attempt to stay awake around eight. That's when everyone else was up. We chatted for awhile and they headed out. I had high hopes to start hiking by eight, but it was cloudy and misty out, which gave me no desire to leap into nature. After lounging around until almost eleven, I got into gear. I headed out to the trail by noon.

Today's agenda included a larger mountain, which was supposed to have amazing views, but I never got to see them. There were thick clouds all around. I couldn't see more than fifty feet in front of me. The majority of the mountain was above the treeline, which made it a bit difficult to follow the trail. There were rock piles to follow, but most of them were subtle. I almost lost the trail a few times, but I stayed on task.

I made it to the next shelter a little before four. We were hoping to go more than 3.5 miles and hit the next shelter ten miles away, but the clouds seemed scary. I decided being dry was more awesome than being wet, so I wrote a note telling Matt my plans.

Whiskers and crew were already at the shelter and were working on a fire. We were soon joined by Seth, a fellow Southbounder we hadn't met yet. Matt made an appearance about an hour after I arrived. We cooked dinner. It then started to rain. It didn't stop for the rest of the night, which wasn't cool because I had to use the ladies room. I finally was able to at two in the morning. It was not a pleasant experience trying to find the privy in the wet darkness. After getting that out of the way, I quickly slumbered.

We woke from our beauty sleep quite early today. Our alarms were set for 6, but we were up and chatting around 5:30. Everyone in the bunk room was awake, and it was a good time.

Around 6:30, we all headed to the diner for some breakfast. I ordered two eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. The pancakes were easily 12 inches in diameter and quite thick. I was only able to down half of one after eating everything else. I am hoping to one day to be able to clean my plate. Matt and Murphy ordered the cakes too. Murphy almost finished all his, except for the last one that wasn't cooked all the way. Matt and I took our leftovers with us, having learned our lesson after Tim Harrison's breakfast.

After getting back to the hostel, I got horizontal as quickly as possible. Matt went into overdrive, trying to do all his cleaning and drying from the rain. Tom had just purchased a new pack and was figuring out how to pack it and cutting weight in the process. We had originally planned for a shuttle ride to the trail at 10, but pushed it back to 3. We thought Tom was going to go with us, but he headed out much earlier.

While Matt was cleaning, I headed off to resupply. I had very slim choices. There was a better resupply in Monson. After choosing the few things I would eat, I brought them to the register. The poor kid behind the register was a tad confused, and my purchase totaled over $2,500. After running to get the head lady, I had my correct total sorted out, creating a massive line in the process. I then headed to the other store to see what they had to offer.

To give you a picture of what I deal with out here, I actually shopped for groceries in gas stations. One was a Citgo, the other was locally owned, which was also the diner. It was quite an interesting experience.

After touring the town, Matt and I decided that we were super glad we zeroed in Rangeley instead of Andover. Before we got there, we thought it was bigger than it was, especially after hearing Solar, Lunar, Princess Brat, and Alpine talk about it.

After the resupply, I went and sat in the room while Matt packed up. An hour and a half later, (I'm not even kidding), we headed out to lunch. We once again chose to eat at the diner, since there were no other options. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, pepperoni pizza, and some cheese sticks. Matt had an egg salad sandwich, which he described as horrible. My food was a greasy delight, but I would soon regret it on our hike.

After eating, we scurried back to the hostel to catch our shuttle. We went with Murphy and the gang back to the trail. Getting five people plus packs in the van was a tight squeeze, but we all made it.

The actual hike began at 3:30. I had the lead for almost an hour. I was then passed by everyone, but it didn't rain on my parade. We all were sweating buckets on the way to the lean-to. I arrived shortly after 7:30, which was a lot faster than I expected, considering all my breaks and questioning stomach. I had no desire for dinner.

Matt amazingly made a fire out of mostly wet wood. It was more smoke than fire, but it at least kept the mosquitoes away. I decided to head to bed a bit early, (about 9), because today I learned that town food and fatigue don't mix.

We're doing ten miles tomorrow, and we're hoping to catch Tom. I'd like to do a bit more, but after this lean-to is the hardest mile on the entire trail. I'll be climbing and squeezing between boulders. There should be many great photo ops. I missed one today. It happened when I asked Matt if he thought he could fit inside his 90 liter pack lighter. He gave it an honest effort, but was able to only get about 75 percent in. It was an enjoyable sight.

Today I had an ambitious goal: 15 miles. I even started at the respectable 8 o'clock.

But I was met with rain. Shortly after I started hiking it started to sprinkle. It then started to pour. Climbing mountains in the rain was no fun. I managed to survive the steep downhill climb without any falls. I made pretty decent time to the first lean-to, and took an hour break waiting for Matt. He never showed, so I continued hiking, in the rain. I didn't stop hiking for the next three hours. It rained the entire time. Luckily I was going to pass a road that went into Andover.

During my walk I had decided that I would like to go to town to dry off, but kept hoping Matt would pass me so I could discuss the option with him. That never happened. I waited by the road for an hour before he emerged from the wilderness. We had a chocolate bar to celebrate the cessation of the rain.

We knew the number for the hostel at the Trailhead, but we didn't get service. We then walked about a half mile down the trail, trying to get service along the way. My battery was dangerously low, which is a result from it constantly getting accidentally turned on in my pack. Matt's phone had been defeated by the rain. I eventually was lucky enough to get a signal, and our ride was on its way.

We got to the hostel a little before nightfall. I hopped right into the shower and delighted in the warm water. We then ate some delicious burgers that another hiker was cooking. It was quite the packed house. We had already met everyone there except for two Northbounders, Compass and Doc (who may be battling giardia). The rest of the crew was Tom, Shasta, and BillyGoat. Murphy, Emily, and Whiskers joined us later in the evening.

After another huge burger, I was delightfully full. I then ran down to the general store to purchase some Cokes to wash down the cow I just ate. It was dark by now, and I threw my wet clothes into the dryer. I didn't care about washing, but I did learn that warm clothes plus body odor does not equal a pleasant smell.

While I was waiting for my foul garments to dry, I sat on the porch and chatted with David (the Indian man who worked at the hostel) and Tom (who we had met over a week ago when he was taking zeros because of a hurt foot - we're still in disbelief that he passed us). David was a little drunk at this point. He is in search of a man for me, and even offered up his 26 year old son, who by his account is cool. I told him my only standards for men were they had to have a job and a car, and he brought up the fact that he had two cars and two jobs. I had to let him down and explain to him that he was over qualified. He then admired my toes.

Later in the evening, Tom apologized on David's behalf, saying that in the three days he stayed here, he had never acted like that. That's when Matt explain to Tom that I attract weirdos. Tom said I created one, which is a new thing for me.

The evening wrapped up in the bunkroom, where I stayed with Tom, Matt, and Murphy. I tried to get everyone to push the beds together for a snugglefest, but I had no takers. We talked to Tom for a bit before falling asleep at midnight. It was a happy end to a rain-filled day.

We were in town all day today. We did laundry and ate delicious food.

I ran into Murphy and Whiskers when I was out on one of my many shopping trips. They were staying at the hostel. We told them we'd probably see them around.

Matt ran into Treats. He works at the restaurant where we had eaten the previous night. He was apparently having a mini-party that night and we were invited. We continued running around town, doing all our errands.

For dinner, we returned to the same place. We wanted to see what job Treats was capable of. Right after we ordered, Whiskers, Emily, and Murphy walked in. We all sat together and chatted. We parted ways - they were off to the Thai restaurant, and we were headed back to the room to rest up for Treats' fiesta.

At ten, Matt and I head out to find Treats. Our journey was fruitless. We ended up walking the dark streets of Rangeley in the rain. It was not a great way to end a zero day.

Today was the big adventure into town for our zero. We only had 1.8 miles to walk, and were in no hurry to do it. Everyone else we had camped with was in no hurry to leave either. No one left before nine.

I actually was out of the tent by 9:30, which was an amazing feat. We all chatted and then headed on our ways. Matt and I were the only ones planning to stop in Rangeley. We made it out to the road at 11. There was a flyer for the hostel, but we didn't have cell service. We started walking towards town, which was nine miles away. We half heartedly tried to hitch hike, but had little success. Eventually someone pulled over and we hopped in.

He was from Poland....Maine. He was building a cabin down the road and was on his way to the lumber store. He dropped us off in front of the post office. We then decided to go check into a hotel, because I had no desire to try and locate the hostel, which was six miles outside of town. We dropped off our packs in our room and went to go get our packages. Matt's maps weren't there, which made us a little panicked. We retrieved our other packages and headed back to the room. We then devoured the brownies from my mother.

After our mini-feast, we both attempted to get pretty. I succeeded, but Matt is still trying. We then headed out for a proper meal. After dining, we hit up the shops around town, followed by a wonderful ice cream dessert. Nothing else remarkable happened the rest of the afternoon.

The real fun began at nightfall. We hit up a restaurant near the lake. I ordered some beef. After finishing it, I ordered chicken tenders. I then polished off an ice cream cone on the way back to the room. We then got our jackets and headed back to the lake. The town was having a fireworks display. It was actually decent. It lasted for twenty minutes, and they didn't play cheesy music.

Although they celebrated on the 3rd, it was a pretty decent 4th.

It was another lazy morning for me. Matt got up around nine, and went to continue his girl chat with Alpine and Princess Brat. I tried to get more sleep, since it had finally warmed up. I woke up when they headed off. I joined Matt for breakfast. We had the last of the poppy seed bread and some hot chocolate. I then began the process of packing up.

I hit the trail at noon, and Matt said he'd be an hour and a half behind me. I summitted Saddleback Junior, and it was quite windy at the top. The elevation was only 3,600 feet, with two more peaks to climb, both at 4,000 feet, I knew it was only going to get worse.

As I was going down and climbing back up the Horn, I came across Treats. He asked if I had seen Castle. When I told him I hadn't, he seemed a little concerned. Apparently they had separated in Stratton with plans to meet on July 3rd at the next shelter. I wanted to tell him we were tired of seeing his used condoms everywhere, but I kept my mouth shut and continued on my way.

The views from the tops of the Horn and Saddleback we're great. Luckily the rain held off, and all I had to deal with was the wind, which was easily 30 to 40 miles per hour. I was at the shelter a little past seven. There's a caretaker here during the summer, and he offered to give us a ride to town for pizza and beer. Alpine, Bluebird (a Northbound hippie section hiker), her dog, and I jumped at the chance. Matt still hadn't arrived at the shelter, so I had to make the executive decision to pick up town pizza instead of having our ghetto pizza. It was a quick .8 miles down to the dude's car. We had to go down part of the old trail.

Our first stop in town was the supermarket. Alpine and Bluebird picked up a couple packs of beer and I picked up some cokes. We then headed over to the Red Onion to order the pizzas. The ranger dude and I looked through a Where's Waldo book with little success. I washed my hands at the restaurant and felt like a new person. We were all excited when our food was ready. We headed back to the lean-to with huge smiles on our faces.

The trip back up the trail was slower than the trip down. No one remembered to bring their head lamps, but luckily the ranger had a not so very bright flashlight, which did not offer much aid. We had to stop for two beer breaks on the way back from camp. At one point Alpine fell, but sacrificed his body in order to save the pizzas and beer. Bluebird also displayed her fancy footwork on a rock. We all made it back safely with the food. Although the pizza had cooled off a bit, it was still delicious.

I finally met the girl that knows Ms. Ramer. She went to Hume-Fogg. I didn't get her real name, but her trail name is Solar and her husband's name is Lunar. The trail is their honeymoon. We all sat around the fire enjoying our town food and chatting. The party ended around midnight. Apparently Matt and I are the only ones stopping in Rangeley. Everyone else is planning to zero in Andover in a few days. We had originally considered that, but since that is where Willie's from, we didn't want to chance it.

Today was freezing, in our opinions.

Not a warm welcome to July.

We were both too cold to get water, but were quite thirsty. I eventually psyched myself up and made the daring run to the stream. I returned to the tent, but was in no hurry to go anywhere. I lounged around until 10.

I finally got inspired to hike out. I hit the trail at 11. I blazed through the first two miles in less than an hour. I was quite impressed with myself. I did the next three miles in two hours. I had high hopes of making it to the lean-to by four. After crossing the river, I had a little less than three miles to go. I only had 1,400 feet to climb, so I thought it would be a breeze. Apparently I was supposed to climb all of that in the last mile.

I finally got to the lean-to at 4:30, which was acceptable. I then had to wait on Matt, so he can put up his supertent, and I can attempt to thaw out.

After writing a few updates, I sat by the fire and tried to keep warm. I listened to the Northbounders talk. They seemed deep in conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt. Around 6, they both headed to bed. She set up her tent, and he went inside his hammock, which he had set up inside the lean-to.

At around seven, Alpine (Princess Brat's boyfriend) came running up. He had run up the entire mountain. He took a look at the dude in the hammock and was pissed. He had wanted to sleep in the lean-to, but didn't want to share it with a selfish bastard. He decided to set up his tent, and put it in the spot I had been eyeing. A couple minutes later, Princess came running up. She was excited because she made a great time up the mountain. She was being all loud, and started talking crap about the guy in the hammock.

Matt eventually showed up. He set up his tent in a mediocre spot, that would leave us in puddles at the bottom of the tent. The men then went to grab wood for the fire. Alpine came back with a tree. He then decided to split the wood by leveraging it between two other trees. It was not a quiet process. The girl Northbounder did not like this, and ended up moving her tent. We didn't feel bad, because it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.

The fire was spectacular and kept everyone warm. Matt and I made pizzas for dinner. Princess took detailed notes, and looks forward to making our ghetto pizza in the future. She went to bed first, and I stayed around the fire listening to Alpine and Matt talk.

Alpine is the most badass person I have ever met. He was an army ranger, special forces, airborne. He teaches mountaineering and ice climbing. Has climbed all sorts of crazy mountains. He works at Neal's Gap (the first stop northbound on the trail. The trail actually goes through the building) during the thru hike season for free gear, because he wants to set up his own wilderness school. He's thru hiked a couple of times.

After get bored listening to the girls talking, I went to bed, but got very little sleep, since it was so cold. The side near the wall was freezing, while the other half of my body was lukewarm.