ElizabethClose

Aug 21- got up around 4:30 and took a shower. Two older guys had come in after I went to bed and I didn't want to disturb them so I took my gear to the hallway to pack up. Deuces' bed had somebody else in it so I couldn't wake him at 5 like I promised. Took my stuff up to the patio. Probably a good thing the hostel doesn't have a scale. I'd be freaked out if I knew it was 50 lbs. I cooked up the rest of the polenta and eggs for breakfast and packed the butter and cheese in ziplocks and tucked them in my crazy huge pack. Deuces came into the office while I was putting on my boots and said the guys took his stuff sack out from under his pillow and left it on the table and just took his bed. Deuce couldn't see the bunk above me was empty so he just crawled up in the loft and slept on the floor. I caught the 6:30 shuttle, happy to be on my way again. The weather was fabulous today. My pack felt awkward so I ate as often as I could manage trying to lighten it. At one point a humming bird buzzed around me really close. I think it was checking out my nifty red bandana. At sabbath day pond I sat a bit and drank a pint of iced tea. It was pretty breezy and about an hour after I left I realized my blue bandana with stars must have blown down behind the table. I hiked off and left it. I almost went back for it but I really wanted to get 15 miles today and I was cutting it close to sundown. I saw a NOBO guy and told him about my bandanna. Said to please pass it to a SOBO to bring to me if he found it. It's supposed to rain so I got across Bemis stream rather than risk a high water crossing in the morning. A NOBO hiker girl named rookie came into camp around 7 and we talked a bit about mahoosuc. She said she got through the whites fine but Maine has been really hard so far. I hope she's just a whiner and the rest of Maine will be fine if I just go slow and easy when it rains...like its supposed to tomorrow. <<huge sigh>> I'm at mile 234.5 so close to the 15 miles I was hoping for.


Aug 22- woke at midnight to the sound of rain. So glad I bagged everything and used the tie-outs on the rain fly. At 4 still raining. At 5 still raining. At 6:30 it sounded like just sprinkles so I got dressed, went and got my food bags , ate breakfast and started to pack up. It was close to 8:30 when I took down the rain fly and headed out. About an hour up trail two older guys came hiking through and said I was going to miss their trail magic because they were going to set up and feed hikers when hey finished their hike. Well shoot! No way I'm going back for food... I've got too much as it is. Trail was super wet so I went very slowly. On top of Bemis Mtn the wind was so strong it was blowing me off balance. By noon I reached the Bemis shelter and I was shivering so hard I had to put my jacket, sweater and long John shirt on to cook up some soup. Pirate from Venezuela stopped in a few minutes later to eat and we talked about half hour. I was thinking of calling it a day if it rained again but the darker clouds moved on so I gathered up and headed out when he did. There were a couple of spots where I could look out over the view and see the sun shining "way over there" and this big dark cloud between me and there. I could see my breath several times during the day. Seems pretty Crazy for August!! I made it to a little stream crossing and hung my hammock near a Japanese guy (masa) no place to hang a bear bag so I hung food in my hammock. Bad idea I know. I'm laying in my hammock with almost all my clothes on and I'm cold. I hope I can sleep tonight! I only managed to hike 8 miles today- Mile 242.5


Aug 23 Tuesday - I slept until 6:30am!! That's pretty rare for me- I must have really been tired. My breath had condensed in my hammock so I wiped the inside down with my bandana before moving around too much. I got dressed and decided on hot cereal since I could see my breath. Cream of rice tasted suspiciously like wallpaper paste since I had no milk,fruit or sugar to add. Got on trail by 8:00 am and felt like I wasted two hours of hiking by sleeping in like that. The trail was still pretty sloppy in spots so I went cautiously. I got to the road to Andover around noon and passed BadDecisions from New Zealand and another guy trying to decide whether to take a zero day or hike on. I hiked up the next mountain and sat in a sunny spot looking over a nice view. Took off my shoes and laid my socks on a rock to dry. Made lunch. Read a little bit. Felt kinda nice to relax! I've got such a goal-oriented personality sometimes I get focused on the mileage and neglect the simple pleasures. I sat there almost an hour then packed up and headed down the other side of the mountain. Forded a sweet stream at the bottom and immediately back up the next mountain. About 1.5 miles of climbing I came to a teeny lean-to and decided to go up trail a bit more. About 50 yards down the trail it happened. I put my foot on a large rock to step down and something went awry... still haven't figured out what, but I felt my balance begin to go and tried desperately to regain footing on slippery downhill slope but whoop-de-flump down I went face down in the mud with my 45 lb pack pressing on the back of my head and my arms pinned under me by the pole straps. I got my hands out of the straps and turned on my side so I could undo my pack buckles and assess the damage. I had somehow managed to slide with my head downhill and under a fallen tree a bit so it took some wiggling to get upright. My glasses were bent a little but everything else -including my hide - was intact. I figured that was a sign that I needed to be done for the day so I found the next reasonable hammock spot and set camp. I made it to Mile 251.0 so 8.5 miles of hiking today.


Aug 24-Wednesday. Up at 4 feeling all motivated and then it just felt too dark so I crawled back in for an hour. Made breakfast and sat on the edge of my hammock eating when I heard something off to my right. Sounded like a hiker. I watched for about a minute and A MOOSE crossed the trail not 50 feet from where I sat!! I can now die happy. I saw a moose in Maine. Made good time in the morning. 6 miles by noon so I sat and ate lunch by East B road. A hummingbird came a foot from my face and buzzed around a minute. That's twice in one week. How strange. I climbed all afternoon and made it to the shelter a little after 5 intending to eat and push on. Checked the elevation and I'd have another mile or more of climbing and I just didn't feel like it so I sat talking to the group of college kids taking a 4day orientation trip while I made dinner. Hung my hammock up trail 100 feet so I don't wake them when I get up. The kids just started dinner and its 7:30. So I made it to Frye notch lean-to at mile 261.4 ... 10.4 miles of hiking today.


Aug 25 Thursday. Got up and out by 7 this morning and felt pretty optimistic. Bald pate mountain was windy and hazy so not much picture taking. Seemed like a lot of NOBOs today. Passed the Grafton Notch parking area at 2 and began to climb. And climb. And CLIMB. Old Speck Mountain seemed never ending. The skies turned pretty dark and I was sure we were going to get a thunderstorm. My optimism turned to abject misery. Thank God only a sprinkle during the climb. I had to make it to speck pond to have any chance of getting through the notch tomorrow. Met a lady named Theresa on the way up. We both decided to skip the .3 mile summit trail and head for the campsite. It was a mile away and we had about an hour and 15 minutes until sundown. The dense evergreen forest made it darker even though sun hadn't set so I de-packed and got my headlamp on for the last bit of trail into the campsite. We looked around for good trees and really didn't find much. I finally just waded out into the pines and started setting up since it was full dark and supposed to rain. Caretaker Brandon found me and stood there waiting for his $10. I handed him cash and he asked if I had any questions... The whole transaction was awkward. It's 9:30 and I'm exhausted. I made it to mile 271.8 so 10.4 miles and tomorrow will be Mahoosuc Arm and maybe the notch. Can't say I'm excited. Mostly just anxious.


Aug 26-Friday. Got up at 4:30 and broke camp. Ate some granola in the cooking area and talked to Theresa and three Maine guys doing Notch today. I headed out about 6 ... Foggy but warm. I got to the top of the mtn and it started to sprinkle rain and looked like a little sleet. Crap. Mahoosuc Arm is famous for steep. I took my time and managed to get down without falling. 1.6 miles took me almost 4 hours. The weather seemed to clear so I sat and made a hot meal. As soon as somebody came through I asked if it was wet in there and he said no. It was 11:30 when I started. I can't begin to explain the Notch. Huge boulders and treacherous clambering over, under, around and through. It took me 4 hours to navigate the one mile section. At 3:30 pm I emerged on the south end ... hands were scraped and sore, bruised knees, banged-up elbows, sweaty, dirty and relieved. It was 1.5 miles to the next shelter and I was so pooped it took almost 3 hours. Set up camp, got water, bandanna washed and climbed in bed... 5.1 whole miles today