Day 25, Back At The Cabin

August 7

256.9 down, 1929 to go

We got started today and said goodbye to Unitic. He is staying behind to visit a doctor for his injured ankle. We are hoping it isn't bad! We went over Moody Mountain and back up. We saw Pixie and Led Steppelin as well as Floss and told them both about the wonderful time we had at the cabin. Pixie and Floss were not planning on staying in Andover. We hiked with Floss for a while, he called to make reservations at The Cabin, hung up and said they had a newlywed Anniversary special, one nights stay at The Cabin. Hard for us to resist, the five of us were waiting roadside when Steady walked up. Steady started in Key West via kayak last December and will finish in Halifax this October, a 5,000 mile journey, via kayak and hiking! We all piled into the truck, Bear was glad to are us again, he said we are like family! We enjoyed seeing Unitic! 

Day 24, The Cabin

Zero Day

After a hearty supper and a good night's sleep. We woke up at...9 -- sleeping in on our day off?! -- nope, 5. We are definitely on a hiker's schedule! The enticing aroma of bacon and coffee was coming from downstairs. Why on earth would we still be sleeping?

Earl and Margie (Bear and Honey) were leaving right as we came downstairs. Earl got a quick look at NotYet's hiker clothes, picture below (clean clothes after a shower, no complaints) and smiled before closing the door. Wildcat, a fellow SoBo, was cooking breakfast. We chatted while he made enough blueberry pancakes to feed a small army. Unitic, Coco (Wildcat's fiance), NotYet and I enjoyed the delicious breakfast: blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, potatos, biscuits, gravy, multiple pots of coffee and orange juice. We enjoyed great conversation and all helped to clean up the kitchen when we were done.

We've been enjoying a lesiurely day of watching movies, catching up with family and not walking. NotYet and I will be making one of our favorite recipes for everyone tonight, a spinach and artichoke lasagna and giving Margie a break from cooking. It will be nice to cook something, aside from boiling Ramen and Pasta Sides. A good time.

Molly was not as playful as Tutie at Harrison's. She wouldn't even get up for bacon at breakfast. She expected us to bring it to her. NotYet did.

NotYet in his hiker chic clothes. WildCat making breakfast. Unitic lends a hand.

I asked Unitic if he'd seen a moose yet. He hadn't. I said, "look," and came out wearing this. Everyone was so excited...and let down.

Hilarious hiker art

Relaxing in the hiker lounge

The weekly three gallon tub of ice cream The Cabin always has, this week it's coconut chocolate almond!

NotYet making lasagna

Communal dinner, left to right: NotYet, Unitic, Honey, Bear, WildCat and Coco

Ha!

Us with Bear and Honey. Their hospitality is overwhelming. 

Day 23, Blessings

August 5

246.8 down, 1939.1 to go 

The morning started out cold, probably our coldest morning yet. It was the first time we started out on the trail in the morning wearing our jackets. Of course we'd take them off ten minutes later, but it was too cold to start without them. We breaked midway through our day, 8.2 miles in, at Bemis Lean To. Bemis Lean To is located after Little Bemis, but before Bemis Mountain. (Again with the "little" names for mountains.) My knee was hurting pretty bad, seems like an overuse injury. It was a bit harder to get going again after stopping, but once we got warmed up again it was alright.

Unitic was slightly behind us, since his ankle and knees were hurting him pretty badly. Before I get into the story about our little finance argument, let me mention our first trail argument, regarding the amount of salted and honey roasted peanuts we bought for resupply in Monson. I thought we were splitting them evenly, NotYet thought he got more honey roasted and I got more salted. After bickering for a few minutes on the trail about who got the salted peanuts, we stopped and laughed and realized how dumb it was we were fighting about peanuts. Haha.

I had been stressed out for a couple days regarding our finances. After paying all of our bills in advance, we were left with less money than we thought we'd start with. We stopped and prayed that God would help us to put our trust in him, that he would open doors for us. He provided for thousands with a few loaves of bread and some fish. I realized that we are climbing all these mountains God put here. All of the views. The birds we see along the trail eating berries, the squirrels, the moose, the trees and plants growing. He puts them here and provides for them, who is to say how he will or will not provide for us? Either way, if we are able to finish the trail or not, it will not help us to worry. This is an adventure! After praying, we continued on to Old Blue Mountain.

We were planning a longer day (17 miles) intentionally to make it to a campsite near the road by Andover, so we could be picked up early the next morning to enjoy a zero day. However, when we got to the summit of Old Blue Mountain, we called the folks at The Cabin, in Andover, to reserve a spot for the next day and ask for a ride, Earl, the owner, told us that they had an appointment the next day and wouldn't be able to pick us up in the morning. He suggested he could pick us up that night and he'd give us a discount. NotYet said, "Well, your prices are already pretty low, so what kind of discount could you give us?" Earl told us he'd give us two nights for the price of one. Not more than fifteen minutes after praying for God to provide for us, he shows us that he is providing for us. How incredible.

Unitic caught up to us a few minutes later and we started our steep 2.8 mile descent to the road. Very tough on the knees. I had to stop briefly after feeling a sharp shooting pain on my knee. I rested for a bit and took my pack off and felt better. The views were incredible on the way down, when we got a break in between trees. Locals call the mountain "Ol' Blue." There was a handmade, carved wooden sign hanging on a tree on the way down that inferred the mountain as an "Ol' Something Derogatory" (Paraphrasing here, of course.) We stopped and laughed for a minute, between foot long steps down that just made the knees ache and putting our trekking poles down to use our hands to climb rocks. We told Earl we'd be at the bottom at 8:30. Half way down, we realized we'd be there a lot sooner than 8:30, but figured we'd wait since there'd be no service to call him and let him know. It was just before 8 when we got there and Earl was waiting in his pickup truck for us. He knew it wouldn't take us that long.

On the way home, Earl stopped by the Andover General Store so we could pick up anything we needed for the night. Unitic got a six-pack, we got small saran-wrapped sausage and cheese -- a treat! Earl called his wife Margie on the way home to let her know we would want leftovers when we got there. There was no tupperware filled with leftovers waiting for us when we got there, but instead a table with three place settings, spaghetti that had just been cooked for us, sauce, potato salad, fresh salad, corn on the cob, biscuits and lemonade. Wow, did we feast! They are so incredibly kind and welcoming. The perfect place to take a zero. And look how God provides!

View from Ol' Blue. Doesn't look like much since the trees on the summit were high but the rolling hills around were beautiful!

Day 22, "The Ethan"

August 4

229.8 down, 1956.1 to go

It was a rough morning for me. It was one of those days where I was finding things to be upset about. We started hiking with Unitic and then hung back for a bit. We stopped for a few minutes for me to complain and sob about how terrible my life was. Ha. After a bit of dabbing my eyes with toliet paper and a hug from my compassionate husband, we were off and hiking happy again. Another point where things are bad when you choose focus on the negative.

We completed our 11.2 miles for the day, fairly flat hike compared to the rest of Southern Maine. A nice break for our knees! We have definitely developed hiker hunger. Tortillas with peanut butter on them have been our most recent obsession (so good, really!) But our treat was taken to new levels when NotYet decided to place a Snickers in the middle and then wrap it....Um, crazy good. We call it "The Ethan." Unitic, who typically tries to eat healthy, seemed to be turned on to the idea, and even suggested adding Nutella and calling it "The Ethan Squared" or "The Double Ethan." Have we converted him to processed hiker food? We'll see at the next resupply if he buys a Snickers.

When we got to Sabbath Day Lean To (it was a Sunday, perfect), we pumped water, which took about an hour between the two of us. Pumping water using our MSR filter has become more of a chore each day. We appreciate the tase of clean water and would rather take the time to pump than to use Aquamira, blech or iodine, but between the two of us, it takes a lot of time and energy. The MSR pump filter wouldn't be bad at all for a weekend or weeklong backpacking trip. But an extended trip with two people really becomes more of a hassle and time consumer. We will be ordering a Sawyer Squeeze, which filters water through a little tube that you squeeze from a bag into a water bottle or bladder, and takes only a few seconds. Found one for $38 on Amazon....not bad.

"The Ethan"

Day 21, Hail on Saddleback

August 3

218.6 down, 1967.3 to go

We woke around 7:30 and mosied around until around 9. We hiked over three beautiful peaks -- Saddleback Junior, The Horn and Saddleback. A lot of times, it seems the ATC runs out of names for the mountains and starts calling half of them "little" or "junior," when really, it's another full-fledged mountain. We were out of tree line most of the day, which was a nice break from being in the green tunnel the entire time. We made it to the third mountain, Saddleback, just before it started raining and hailing at the top. It only lasted for a few minutes, but the wind and sideways hail was enough to slow us down for a bit.

We had an enjoyable hike to the Piazza Rock Lean To. Piazza Rock is a giant rock that is balanced on more rocks. Looks like the Imperial Destroyer. Speaking of Imperial Destroyer, NotYet and I have a lot of things to talk about on our hikes. A few days ago, I asked him what would be the scariest thing to happen out here. He couldn't think of anything, so I volunteered that Darth Vader walking out of the trees onto the trail would be pretty scary. He said it would be more funny than anything, since Darth Vader isn't real. I said, "But what if it was REALLY Darth Vader?" Scariest. Thing. Ever. Oh, trail conversations.

I fell into ankle deep mud today. Not like stepped in a puddle I didn't think was deep, but lost my balance on a log and stepped into thick mud that came over and into my boots. Could've been worse! Luckily, there was a stream nearby. I dipped by entire boot in and continued on. When we got to the Lean To, there was a fire going. Lucky, a NoBo had been there for a bit and had started one. It was the first fire we had experienced aside from the ones we've started ourselves. We were able to dry our boots and socks out a bit. The Lean To was surprisingly empty. Unitic sleeps in a hammock, so it was just Lucky, BackStreet (another NoBo) NotYet and I. There was enough room that Lucky hung a hammock in the Lean To to avoid the rain outside. We didn't mind.

At the top of Saddleback Junior

Unitic enjoying a break 

Nearing the top of Saddleback as the storm was rolling in

Awesome Privy

Yes, that's a two seater with a cribbage board...NotYet and I did not play

Day 20, Funny Croc, Impossible Fire

August 2

209.7 down, 1976.2 to go

It was pouring down rain all morning, a bit tougher to get going on those days. We made great time, once we realized 20 minutes in that there was no point in avoiding the puddles, as our boots were going to get wet regardless.

The sun made a guest appearance mid day. After we crossed Orbeton Stream, we were on a hill putting our boots back on and NotYets Croc started tumbling down the hill. We watched it silently, as it seemed to roll in slow motion. It seemed like it was going to stop, but it kept going. And going. Finally it stopped right before hitting the stream. We were laughing uncontrollably.

Unitic caught back back up to us at that point and the three of us began our ascent to Poplar Ridge, where we would stay in the shelter that night. We made it into camp around 3 and were able to set our bear line cord across two trees to get the only source of sun at the shelter site (conveniently located right in the middle of the trail.) No one seemed to mind ducking under it and a few NoBos ended up hanging there clothes up on it to.

We made the decision to switch to trail running shoes. After seeing the majority of NoBos in Brooks Cascadias -- a  running shoe company local to where we live, we have done wear testing for them -- we figured our feet will be wet when it's raining days on end anyway, so what's the point of bulky boots...our boots, from Salomon are already starting to come apart (especially mine) after just over 200 miles...Our parents are shipping  the shoes to us in the next couple towns. 

At camp, four guys attempted to start a fire using toilet paper, dry paper, Vaseline and cotton balls, fuel and an emergency fire starting kit with no luck. At first we figured it was the wet wood, but after about two hours of trying and finally giving up, we realized it was the rocks that were stacked around the fire too high to ventilate. Oh well. 

Day 19, Spaulding Mountain

August 1

201.7 down, 1984.2 to go

We got going from Stratton and hitched a ride back with a couple from Quebec. A few miles onto the trail we saw some trash, ditched sunscreen, that led us to an open Swiss Army knife, shorts, para cord and a matted down area that looked like someone had been laying down. We were heading into the area where Geraldine Largay, the missing hiker, was last seen. While chances seemed to be slim it was related to her, we spent an hour or so trying to reach someone involved with the search party. We explained what we found to someone in the MATC, who told us to call the Warden. We left a voicemail and never heard back. Oh well, it was worth a shot for what it was worth. 

We caught up to Unitic, hiked with him for a bit and ended up booking it to Spaulding Lean To once we got near Spaulding Mountain, where Geraldine was last seen. It was really windy, dark from the grey clouds and eerie. We made it to the Lean To right in time to beat the rain. It poured hard! At first, we never wanted to sleep in a Lean To, because of all the critters, but having a break from the rain and not having to pack up a soaked rain fly is worth it.