Upper Goose Pond Cabin, Take 2

“Up high in a Mansion…”

“…on a mountain of jagged rock.”

Upper Gooose Pond Cabin, Take 2, via Mass Pike foot bridge.

I am so happy and grateful to be here. I hiked in from the Jacobs Ladder parking area on Rte 20 in Beckett, MA. I convinced my son to come with me late this morning. Well, I guess I didn’t really do the convincing…my mom bribed him with a $5 bill Whatever I guess

We left the house at about 11am and stopped at the grocery store so he could pick out what he wanted to carry on the trail. He picked Kraft Mac & cheese, Chex mix, m&ms, chocolate, pepperoni, a roll, marshmallows, and some Mountain Dew. Ummm…yeah but I wanted him to come so I paid for it

After the grocery store we headed to Starbucks Acton where I had lunch complete with a giant iced coffee x2 and my son had hot chocolate and coffee cake. We only sat long enough to eat before hitting the highway for the 3 hour ride west to the wonderful, beautiful Appalachian Trail.

We arrived a little after 2. It was cold and had started to rain. I pulled on my fleece jacket and my rain jacket. My son insisted on wearing shorts (he wears them year round) and just a sweatshirt. I carry a 40-50lb pack for the two of us, he has a small lumbar day pack with a change of clothes, a sleeping pad and a blanket.

It took a little over an hour to get in to the cabin going at his pace and taking a bunch of rest stops. I really don’t need a single rest stop with such a short distance but I am fit and in shape, and well, he’s not.

He screamed and cried and demanded to go home when we were less than a quarter mile in. I sat on a rock and actually thought about it. But then I thought about the three hour drive and $50 in gas I just spent and told him to keep walking.

We got to walk over the Mass Pike foot bridge and the walk was awesome even in the rain. It was exciting to see the cabin again. And the smell of the burning wood coming from the chimney was divine. We walked through the front door and were greeted by several men who were sitting in front of the fireplace. We were lucky to get space since this is the last weekend and the place was full. There are men sleeping on the floor downstairs tonight!

They moved some stuff around so we could have two bunks together and then suggested that we take the private caretakers room since they weren’t using it. So nice.

We heated water on the stove inside for dinner- Mary Janes rice and black beans for me along with a banana and 2 fig newmans for me and Mac& cheese, pepperoni and a roll for my son. We each had some hot chocolate with marshmallows, too.

We washed dishes inside. My son wanted to toast marshmallows so we hunted a stick and shaved off the bark. I had four (couldn’t help it!) He had a bunch too. We caverns stick to another guy here and he must have finished the bag off

We sat in front of the fire for a couple of hours talking to the other hikers and watching them play poker and get drunk J There were two men from Virginia that had walked from Georgia to Maine and then had left Maine headed back to Virginia. Ummm, WOW.

We both have our iPods and my son watched a few tv shows while we sat in front of the fire. I saved mine for bedtime. I watched a couple of episodes of this season’s Biggest Loser and listened to Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food.” I had a hard time sleeping. Not uncomfortable, just not tired. There was so much going on in the cabin downstairs. Those guys stayed up a lot later than “hiker midnight” J

We got up early and were greeted with scrambled eggs, bacon and fried potatoes. My son had a plate, but I passed since everything had been cooked in the bacon grease. They had orange juice on the table, too. I think my son drank most of it. I made instant oatmeal with raisins, honey and Barney Butter and had Starbucks Via Vanilla alongside (thanks James!)

We finished packing, walked around the cabin and took pictures (we lost about 15 of them some how during the transfer). And got to walking. It didn’t take long to walk out on this crisp sunny day in the Berkshires. When we got close to the end we noticed apples all over the ground. I started picking around and found a few that were good to eat. I ate one and brought two with me. And then I got the idea that I could make a pie out of the drops. After asking a few people whether or not they thought taking some was stealing from the animals (they said no) if filled up a small bag. I sure hope I didn’t rob some critter of his livelihood this winter. :::sigh:::

My son and I also picked up some baggies and a bottle that someone else had left on the trail and packed it out. Because that is what you’re supposed to do, right?

Awesome.

Appalachian Trail…I love you so…

 

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ETA: I made that pie.  And all I have to say is… O M G …  one pie and a special tart for my dad that I am delivering to the hospital shortly … it treated all 8 of us to some of the most delicious apple goodness ever in the whole history of the world!!! I had a bowl covered in vanilla icecream.  I ballpark it at 1000 calories  That was dinner I guess.  Worth it.

Oh, and I didnt tell anyone where the apples came from until AFTER they had eaten it…although I dont much think they would have cared.  :)

 

Takes my breath away…

Upper Goose Pond Cabin

Wow.  It has been one awesome weekend! First the Nickelback concert, where we tailgated in the parking lot and then stayed late.  And then the trail to Upper Goose Pond Cabin!  This was one magnificent hike.

We got up kind of “early” Saturday morning, made breakfast (I had three eggs and TWO slices of Ezekial with peanut butter and jelly), and headed out.  We drove the three hours almost non-stop with one pit stop at the last rest stop before our exit to Lee.  We hit the trailhead about noon time and ate lunch in the car (cheddar and jalepeno bagels with cream cheese and apples) and then we headed in.

We were originally going to try and bypass the two mile climb up Baldy Mountain this time since we did it last week, but we couldn’t find the little area to park on the road like we did last week.  My daughter almost lost it when I told her we were parking at the trailhead instead and making the climb, but, whatever.  It took us HOURS to get a little over three miles.  Seriously.  I don’t know what it was about the first half of this hike, but it was killer.  It hurt.  We were tired.  It just sucked.  We sat down at one point, pulled out the map, and learned we had only hiked about three and a half miles.  I thought we were going to die right there.  At that point hiking back to the car would have been about the same distance as hiking to the cabin we were heading for, so we just kept going.

Whoever created those topographical maps is a fool, because the rest of the trail was NOT flat like it appeared to be on the map.  There were several more sections that were steep inclines and very, very rocky.  My daughter took a good  fall and twisted her ankle.  Shortly after I took a tumble.  I guess that is what I get for laughing at her J

We were so happy when we say the sign that said we were only 1.6 miles from the cabin.  We picked up our pace even though we were tired.  That 1.6 miles went on FOREVER.  Finally, the blue blazed trail that lead to the cabin.  A half mile.  It was hard.  But we made it.

There were several guys sitting around a picnic table when we arrived.  They introduced themselves to us and welcomed us to the cabin.  They showed us around, and brought us up to the bunk area.   We were the only girls there – so it was us and fifteen guys.  I asked my daughter if she was OK with sharing a room with fifteen men and she said she was.  We brought our packs up and got settled in.

After we had our stuff situated and set up in the bunk area we grabbed our food bags and stove and started making dinner at the picnic table out back.  We made Mac and Cheese with extra cheddar cheese; a Backpackers Pantry chocolate cheese cake (this was GROSS); and I had a bag of granola, too (yes, overkill, I know I overate).  While we cooked and ate we chatted with “Papa” who we had met on the trail earlier.  He met us on the front porch of the cabin and said, “I was hoping you’d make it by dark.” Hehehe…we stopped a lot.

When we were done with dinner the nice men who were washing up the dishes from the group meal (spaghetti and venison meatballs) offered to clean up our cook-set, too.  Awesome.  We cleaned up,, changed our clothes and hit the privy.  When we were all set we walked over to the pit where two other nice guys had a fire going. They invited us to sit with them.  We chatted with them for about an hour before Arlena decided she was ready for bed.  No idea what time it was.  No watch J

We headed up to the bunk area and laid down.  There were two guys already up there and they talked to us for a while.  Arlena told them how sore she was and how much it hurt and how hard the hike was and they laughed at her telling her she was carrying the equivilent of a purse J while I had the overstuffed pack.  They were hilarious.  I enjoyed their chatter this morning, too.

We work up about 6:30 and were being served pancakes and coffee made by the caretaker by 7:00am.  Yes, I ate the pancakes, three of them, with the artificial syrup.  It did bother my stomach a little bit, but they tasted good and it was such a nice gesture.  I loved this morning.

We headed out early.  We were actually the first ones to leave the cabin for the trail, but we were passed soon by two guys who also came from there.  I felt much, much better hiking this morning.  A lot more energy and it was just awesome.  All of it.  We made the 8 miles today in about four hours.  Maybe there were more down hill sections? Maybe the earlier start? Maybe the pancakes?  Dunno.  All I know is the hike out was fantastic.  I am tired and a sore but I felt fantastic the whole time.

I loved this trip.  My daughter says she is NEVER going back.  Whatever.  Her choice.  I cant WAIT to get back. CANT WAIT.

 

Appalachian Trail, Take 2

OK. OK. I think it is pretty safe to say that I am a VERY slow learner. Really. I admit it.

Friday the weather sucked ass early on and I wasnt really feeling the draw to the woods. Still, I used it as an excuse not to exercise and started portioning out trail mix, oatmeal and couscous anyway. The whole while helping myself to bites here and there. I was going to make eggs, but my dad actually said he would like some oatmeal, so a big pot of steel cut oats with raisins and brown sugar it was. I ate a large helping of it. :::sigh:::

My daughter got home from school in a very pissy mood and didn’t want to do ANYTHING. I argued back and forth with her, trying to get her to at least go to Starbucks with me, but she wouldn’t. So I went alone. When I got there, the place was packed. I took an iced coffee to go and left kind of pissed. I planned on going to the Wayland store to sit for a while but my daughter sent a text begging me to come home and get her. Reluctantly, I did.

As soon as she got into the car the wheels started spinning…it was still not to late to go. Yeah…we could …. Go.

We decided to race to a local store and grab some Amy’s frozen and some bagels to take with us. We were in and out of there in light speed. We ran home, threw everything into the packs and we were off.

We arrived at the trailhead about 5:00pm (yeah, yeah…see….dont learn lessons) and talked to a DCR ranger about the October Mountain incident. He showed us how to orient our map and asked us for our trail names. At 5:30pm we entered the trail. It took about two hours to reach the Shaker campsite. This time there was no one else there. We had it allllll to ourselves. (I think another person set up after we did but they were gone before we got up this morning.) We set the tent up in the dark and made couscous with garlic and oil for dinner, which we ate with a bagel and cream cheese. Mmmm. Folks are right when they say EVERYTHING tastes better on the trail :)

The couscous is a very messy thing to clean up :) Some of it stuck to the bottom of the pot. I added a little more water and a bit of Dr. B’s and left it to soak in the bear box overnight. We stashed everything else in the bear box, too, and then got into the tent. I was pretty warm in my NF bag but not all that comfy on just a ThermaRest Ridgerest. I think I am gonna need to upgrade that soon :)

We didn’t get a lot of sleep. So many “woods” noises that we are just not used to. At one point my daughter woke me up saying she was SURE she had heard a BEAR. Ugh. Yeah. Just what I wanted to hear. Nothing we could do about it if there was a bear. I told her to just be quiet and go to sleep. If it was a bear, it was. Destiny, baby. Destiny. No fear. Accept that, and no worries. We both went back to sleep.

And morning came J Yeah. It did. And it was Brrrrr cold getting out of that sleeping bag. Two packs of instant oatmeal and a banana each. Starbucks instant in our cups. We took camp down, loaded the packs and explored the Shaker campsite a little bit. I think this has been my favorite place so far. Part of an old barn foundation, an old plow, some cellar areas, old stone walls, lots of history. Beautiful. We signed the trail register and moved along. Next stop was a running brook (river?) and waterfall where we climbed down and collected water. We enjoyed that little activity for close to an hour. A few guys past us, one of whom did NOT look happy. He looked at us splashing in the water and said “Isnt nature cruel?” Naaah…not really :)

We hiked through more ruins, a cow pasture (that was fun), down a road a little ways, and over some rocks. We made it out of that section in about three hours. We took a break, had a snack and then headed back into the woods. This time the trek was almost entirely UPHILL. It was not drastic, but it was hard and long. My daughter had a really, really hard time with it. She started crying and yelling to go home. We took a lot of breaks. Eventually she just asked if we could eat lunch on a big rock, which we did. We discussed turning back. I really didn’t want to. She said she would try to keep going. We got about three miles into that section and sat down on a bridge. She was in a lot of pain and I remembered how bad I hurt during my first hike with CamoJack. I told her it was OK to turn around. And we did.

It took FOREVER to get home thanks to a back up on the Mass Pike. We were going to go back out and get lattes at Starbucks, but damn, I am just too damn tired. And my feet, OMG, I cant believe how bad my feet look. Almost ALL of the toenails are now off of the nail beds. Ugh. I switched to a heavy weight wool sock for the second half of this hike and NO BLISTERS!!! Whooooo hooooo.

I cant decide whether this is fun or not. It hurts. Its hard. But…well…I already have my GPS locations stored for next week :) Hike is planned…and I cant wait :)

I am so enchanted by this place…

Hell at October Mountain Shelter

We were sitting on the patio of my favorite Starbucks after lunch looking at the Appalachian Trail guide books.

“My pack is loaded. We would just need to throw some food in a bag and drive.”

“Let’s do it.”

So we headed out a bit late in the afternoon, for what we thought was going to be a fantastic adventure. Three hours later we were pulling into the very easy to find trailhead off of Washington Mountain Road.

We grabbed our packs, stuffed the guidebooks in the back and headed for the October Mountain shelter. It took us about two hours to make it to the shelter. We could see a fire burning in the firepit and we were excited that we had made it.

The first thing we saw after the fire was a large dog, laying quietly next to the picnic table. His owner was tending the fire.

It had started to get dark so we got out the flashlights and started to look around for a place to put the tent. The shelter sleeps 12 but the single occupant had spread his belongings throughout most of it. There were whiskey bottles lying on the shelter floor and he had Chinese takeout cartons covering the picnic tables.

“I’m Chris.”

We introduced ourselves. He suggested we set up in the loft and forget the tent given the fact that it was now completely dark. We thought that was a good idea and we went about getting our packs up there. He came over and asked us if we needed help lifting anything up to the loft. We set up our sleeping bags and then climbed down to make dinner. “Chris” was waiting at the bottom of the ladder with a joint. He offered it to me. I declined.

Once back at the picnic table “Chris” asked us if we wanted to share any of his takeout food. We thanked him but didn’t accept. He told us not to be shy, and to move his stuff around if we needed to. He continued to drink by the fire. He asked us if he could use our flashlight. We had a headlamp also so we gave it to him. He had to ask us several times how to turn it on and off, even though it was NOT difficult. He mumbled a lot. And he talked to himself, his dog, or people we just couldn’t see.

Still, I was unintimidated figuring it was probably just the result of the weed and alcohol, and he would be asleep soon. So we stayed.

We made mac and cheese over the little Pocket Rocket stove, had applesauce and Fig Newmans and talked between us. His fire had burned down considerably and he couldn’t seem to get it going again. My daughter, who is a good campfire starter, offered to help him get it going again.She went over and before too long it was blazing again. He got down off of the logs he was sitting on and stretched out in front of it. My daughter rejoined me at the table. We started cleaning up the cook set when he started in on us. He was mumbling so I didn’t understand it all, but my daughter heard a lot more than I did.

What I did hear was “You ladies need to shut the fuck up.” We were not being loud.

“I was planning on spending a quiet night alone here and you bitches showed up. You need to get your asses up into that loft and shut the fuck up.”

He called us a lot of names and made a lot of dirty comments.

That did not make me feel too confident at this point, but the alternative was to hike back out of the woods in the pitch dark and I didn’t want to do that. Not yet anyway. We cleaned our things up, put our food in the bear box and climbed up into the loft, trying to be as quiet as possible.

We turned my headlamp down to low and looked through a guidebook until he told us to “Shut the fucking light off, bitch.” We did. At this point I am starting to get a little scared and my daughter is freaking out. I tell her to calm down, that there are two of us and only one of him and we are OK. We get in our sleeping bags and text each other back and fort because we cant talk. He came into the shelter and got into one of the bunks with his dog. And then it started…

“A fat chick thinks she is tougher than I am. I’ll show her who has the harder ass. Just wait.”

“I am going to fuck the hot chick, and kill the fat chick.”

“Do you want to be fucked, bitch?”

I didn’t hear everything else he said, but my daughter did. We both started shaking and sweating. I knew we couldn’t stay there. I unzipped the bag and started picking up whatever I could get back in the pack. I texted a couple of friends asking them if they were still awake to call the police and send them to the area. I didn’t think we were going to get out of the shelter. I put my keys, phone and light in my pocket in case we had to leave the packs and we climbed down, leaving a sleeping bag and a few other items behind.

He got out of his bunk and stood in front of us asking us where we were going. I told him we were leaving because there were too many mice in the shelter. He urinated in the shelter and said “Good luck with that.”

We had no idea which way the trail went. It was dark and we needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. He was out of the shelter and watching us and laughing. All I could find was a blue blaze and decided it didn’t matter at this point we would just follow whatever trail as long as we were away from him. He didn’t have a light. The batteries in the flashlight he had let him borrow had gone dead. We had only one headlamp. We held hands and just walked. We didn’t know if we were going in the right direction or the wrong one. We just walked. As fast as we fucking could.

Very, very soon we saw a white blaze painted on the tree. My daughter was falling apart fast. I kept repeating, “Only whisper. No talking. No stopping, only walking.” She slipped and fell down the side of a small cliff. I pulled her back up and reminded her we could make no noise and that we couldn’t stop. Only walk.

We figured out we were walking in the right direction when I spotted a perfect little white mushroom on the ground. I had pointed that mushroom out on the way in. That made us feel a little bit better.

We made it out of the woods in a little less than an hour. We didn’t stop running until we hit the car. Shaking and sweating and dizzy we unlocked it, got in and started the engine. I pulled out my phone and there was a text message from the state police telling me they were enroute and to call 911.

We pulled away from the trailhead, not wanting to wait and see if “Chris” followed us out of the woods. The police asked us to stop at a cross road and wait for them. Four state police cruisers arrived and two officers asked for a statement. They sent another group of officers onto the trail to locate him. They found his dog at the shelter but not him. A ways up the trail we had taken to get out of the woods is where they found him. He had been following us. The police said knew who he was and said that there had been problems on the trail with him before.

They took a bunch of information from us, advised me to get a hand gun or at least some pepper spray and escorted us to the Mass Pike.

It now being about 2am we decided to stop at a rest area and just sleep in the car.

Drove home early this morning.

* * *

Last night sucked bad.

It seriously has to be me. There has to be something wrong with ME for shit like this to ALWAYS happen. I cant go anywhere or do anything without there being drama.

I was dressed in hiking clothing, hair up, no makeup, boots..and I am fat…so I am betting I was the fat chick. My poor daughter is up in the loft with me and the asshole says “I am going to fuck the hot chick and kill the fat chick” and she says, “Mom, I know which is which and we need to get out of here.”

I feel so bad about the whole thing. I told her I was sorry I brought her out there about a million times.

Bear Mountain, Sages Ravine, Mt. Everett, Jug End

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My first hike

Appalachian Trail, Take 1, September 6 & 7 2010

It is almost 3am and I can’t sleep.  It just hurts too much.  I didn’t expect to be in this much pain after a two day hike.  I didn’t expect to the trail to be what it was, either.

I have been wanting to get to the Berkshires here in Massachusetts for a while now, but something kept coming up that prevented it.  I was also unsure of myself and that made a difference, too. Sunday night I received a message from CamoJack through a forum called WhiteBlaze, a community of AT hikers.  Originally from Pennsylvania, he had a timeshare condo in the Berkshires through Friday and was planning to hike parts of the AT he hadn’t yet seen and invited me to go along.

I had never met CamoJack, nor did I know anything about him, but this seemed like a great opportunity, so I accepted his offer, despite the warnings from my mom and friends about how “dangerous” this idea potentially was.  No fear, remember?  I live with no fear.

I spent all day Sunday surveying my gear, taking various odds and ends out of packages, and trying to load the backpack. I admittedly make things harder than they need to be more often than not, so this took most of the day. And I hadn’t even thought about packing food yet.  The food took at least another two hours while I mixed and measured out trail mix, counted out bars, and removed instant oatmeal and mac and cheese from the packets.

Finally ready to go, I sent out my farewell emails, texts, posted to the blog and left to drive three hours to the Berkshires for my first taste of the trail I have been lusting for since I discovered it in the Michaux State forest months before.

I arrived at “Wind in the Pines” a little after 7pm Sunday night and met Jack.  I stayed the night in his condo.  We chatted a little bit and went through my pack.  Jack didn’t make any recommendations regarding reducing my load of about 35 pounds before food and water.  I know it has to be reduced but cant see where that could happen.  I am still working on that. Accommodations were nice, but I was nervous and didn’t sleep very well.

Monday morning got us up at about 7:00 am.  We went out to breakfast at a local diner.  Knowing  I had a long day ahead of me, during which I would burn an estimated 5000 calories, I ordered French toast with a side of scrambled eggs and real maple syrup (which I had to pay extra for) and drenched both the toast and the eggs with the syrup. We picked up the packs and headed for the trailheads.

Jack left his van at U.S. 7 in Sheffield, MA and we drove my van to Connecticut and left it at Conn. 41 at Under Mountain Road.  This is where we started. Hoisting that 40 pound pack up onto my back was hard.  Carrying it was harder.  The first few steps with it on just burned my hips, glutes and legs.  Starting up the trail I just wanted to quit right then, and had I not been with a partner, I just might have.

Most of the first day was spent climbing UP.   The first climb was up Lion’s head and it was a steep climb, straight up.  I had the option of a blue blazed bypass trail, but chose not to take it, because, well, I am not a pussy.

Climbing is hard.  Climbing with a fully loaded pack, which was probably heavier than it should have been for my weight, is HARDER.  I could feel my quads burning and I wanted to quit so bad, but failure is not an option, so I just kept going.  Up and up and up.  We passed Riga shelter and camping area, Ball Brook campsite, and Paradise Lane trail stopping at Brassie Brook shelter for lunch.  I had a bagel with Justin’s honey peanut butter and a banana and finished up a small bag of trail mix I had been carrying.  And then it was up Bear Mountain.  The highest mountain in Connecticut, this was the hardest climb both up and down for me.  The decent was straight down and having no experience at all, especially with a pack, it was very menacing.  I fell down the last quarter or so of the climb, bruising my legs and scraping my hands and fingers on the rocks.

Back through Paradise Lane, Under Mountain Road and crossing into Massachusetts to Sages Ravine.  I was getting tired at this point, so even though it is a beautiful area, I didn’t take the time to appreciate it, nor did I take many pictures.  Traveling with someone else, especially someone who is experienced and a lot faster, did not afford me the opportunity to slow down or stop in places I otherwise might have. Lesson learned.

I tried to keep myself fed while walking- Larabars, Clif Bars and trail mix are most delicious while walking. I also tasted wild blueberries and got water out of a stream for the very first time! It was so much easier than I expected.  The stream was running so all we had to do was take water containers down to the edge and just place them in.  I collected two liters.  It was completely clear and tasted like nothing. Jack did not treat or filter his water.  I added the chlorine tablets to mine, just in case.

I started to seriously break down about mile 9.  My body just had nothing left to give.  Every muscle was shaking uncontrollably, I was dizzy and lightheaded and I just started to cry.  I cried the last two miles, listening to the mantra “No stopping, just walking” in my head over and over again.

We reached Laurel Ridge Camping area at about 7pm.  There was a group of twenty something kids already there.  They greeted us. They had a guitar and were enjoying themselves.  I was tired, but not too tired to wish I was them. I just sat on the tent platform, cried some more and then took out my cook set and started boiling water for dinner.  Jack set up the tent.  I couldn’t.  I had nothing left in me.  I crawled inside and changed my clothes.  Cotton is the devil.  There is a reason why you are told not to wear cotton when you hike.  Everything I was wearing was soaked right through.  I was freezing and shivering even though it was 60 degrees outside.

Jack’s dinner was one of the freeze dried pouches that will set you back close to $10 per meal.  Mine was supposed to be Annies Mac and Cheese made with powdered milk and a tuna pouch added in for protein; and two Fig Newmans for dessert.  But I went a little nuts.  I was hungry and sore, and I just wanted to make it better. I ate the Fig Newmans while the water was boiling.  I still had oatmeal packed which was intended to be breakfast before we went out.  I ate the oatmeal. And what was left of my trail mix.  I mixed up a packet of Amazing Meal and drank it. I added the pasta to the boiling water.  It was easier than I expected it to be and nothing stuck to the pot! The mac and cheese didn’t look great after it was mixed but it tasted fine. I added a pouch of tuna and it tasted pretty good.  By the time I was shoving the last few sporkfuls in I was STUFFED.  I had clearly overeaten in a big, big way.

Jack had decided not to carry his own tent since mine was a two person, and instead invited himself to stay in mine.  I was not pleased with this idea and was very, very nervous about sharing such a small space with a stranger.  At this point, though, I didn’t give a fuck about ANYTHING anymore, and crawled into the tent about 8pm.  The twenty somethings were playing their guitar and singing.  They weren’t very good, but it was still nice to listen to.  I wished I was them some more.

There was actually plenty of room in the tent but Jack “warned” me that if he got cold during the night he might “Hit you up for some body heat,” and he told me not to be alarmed if I woke up and he had himself wrapped around me.  Umm, I am weird and don’t really like sleeping with anyone (a certain 23 yr old excepted, and that only happened once), so this made me nervous.  I did, however, manage to get some sleep.

I woke up several times during the night to weird “woods” noises; worried about bears, assured myself that if one ate me it was destiny and I couldn’t change it; thought about how I had to pee, but not bad enough to actually get out of the tent; and finally fell back to sleep. I was on the ground sans a sleeping pad and was very uncomfortable and very, very sore from the day before.

When the sun came up I was ready to get the hell out of the tent.  My legs hurt and I was still somewhat exhausted but felt better having rested the night.  I grabbed our food bags from the bear box and started setting up the stove and cook set.  Jack got up, too and we measured water for breakfast into the pot.  We were running low on water and had to be careful. I had two packets of instant oatmeal with some extra dried apples mixed in and instant Starbucks coffee.

Over breakfast I asked Jack how many miles we were going to hike and was told that it would be 11, just like the day before.  I was unsure whether or not I could take another day like the day before. He showed me a blue blazed bypass trail which would bring me to a trailhead on Route 41 where I could wait for him to finish the hike and pick me up afterwards.  I didn’t choose that option.  He assured me that there would be several road crossings where I could bail if need be. He also said that most of today’s hike would be flat.

We took down the tent and re-loaded the packs.  My shoulders and chest were bruised from carrying the pack the day before, so it was harder and hurt more putting it on but I felt better than I expected to and it was actually fun again.  We set off about 6am.

Up Race Mountain and down again.  Up Mount Everett and down again.  At Guilder Pond Picnic area we found a cooler full of ice water labeled for hikers.  This was a nice surprise. We filled our water containers.  We walked up the side trails to Guilder Pond, the Hemlocks Shelter (which was the nicest one I saw on the whole trail so far) and then down to the older Glen Brook Shelter.  Past the Elbow Trail  and to the summit of Jug End.

Finally we did reach some flat walking areas and crossed April Hill Farm and past Shay’s Rebellion Monument. There was a couple of road crossings and a railroad crossing as well.  I was able to keep up pretty well on the flat land.  It was here, though, that I started breaking down again, physically and emotionally.  I cried for at least the last mile and I felt like I was going to throw up.  I just put my head down an walked.  I asked a few times if we were almost to the end, but each time I was told “I don’t know.”  Every time we came to a road I kept thinking, “This has to be it, this has to be it” and it wasn’t.

Finally, there it was – the van.  And my walking for the day was done.  It was almost 2:30pm. There was no lunch stop today.  Only a quick stop for water and a second so I could try and remedy my blisters. I fueled myself with a Larabar, a clif bar, a clif kidz twisted fruit and a small bag of cashews and dried cranberries.  I never felt hungry, just light headed and shakey.

Jack drove me the twenty some miles back to where we left my van and I followed him back to his condo. My feet hurt so bad.  I was pretty sure I had lost at least one toenail and was kind of afraid to take my boots off.  When I did finally peel back the socks that thought was confirmed, twice.  Two toenails were mostly off.  This hurts a lot. I didn’t waste any time getting in the shower. OMG. OMG. OMG. A hot shelter has very seldom felt this good.   I didn’t bring my “gym” bag so all I had to wash my hair , brush my teeth and clean up with was what was in my pack.  A small bottle of Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap, in my favorite – peppermint.  No hair dryer, just a comb.  I put it in a pony and called it good.  I was clean but still looked like death.

Jack wanted pizza and I was not arguing.  We went to a local place and paid $20 for a medium pizza that wasn’t very good.  I ate two slices.  I figured I deserved it. I drove Jack back to his condo and said goodbye.  I just wanted to go home.  I made the two and a half hour drive in under two hours (don’t ask) with one stop to pee and buy a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream one.  I deserved that, too.

All I wanted when I got back home was to go to Starbucks and have a latte.  Yep. That’s it.  Just sit and drink it.  I made it , too, and ordered the Pumpkin Spice Latte, hot.  Once again, it was not that great, just like the iced one wasn’t.  I had a rice crispy bar, too, because, well, I deserved it. ::::sigh::::  I guess I ate back all of the calories I burned on the trail, didn’t I?  Fuckever I guess. I couldn’t sit still or concentrate on anything while at Starbucks, so that didn’t last long.

Finally made my way to home at about 8pm, carried in my pack and bags; uploaded my photos and went to bed.  The pain in my body was far more than I expected and I had trouble sleeping.  Finally I just gave up and here I am.

I think the mileage was just too much for someone that has never carried a pack before.  In addition, some of the terrain was very strenuous. I didn’t get to stop as often as  I wanted to and I was pushed far beyond my limits.  I think if I had been able to go at my own pace, stopping when I wanted to, and logging fewer miles to start, it would have been a much better experience and probably would have involved less pain.

I am not beaten yet, though.  I will try again, solo in the coming weeks.  And I am looking forward to it. J

I had hoped to lose a pound or two during this two day adventure, but instead it looks like I gained two pounds.  Hmph…figures.  I guess I should have wised up about what I “deserved.”  It is possible that my horribly sore muscles are holding on to water, but I doubt it.

* * *

Things I learned:

Hiking and backpacking are two different things.

How to read trail markers.

That wild blueberries are DELICIOUS.

CamelBak’s rock.

Collecting water isn’t hard and it doesn’t taste gross.

Gum and an iPod might be nice to have.

I value my strength and endurance.

I need to find ways to cut my pack weight.

Moleskin is USELESS.

I am afraid of heights.

SOBO June 2011?

What if the drive to complete the entire 2200 miles just takes over?  Baxter State Park, which is where Katadhin is, officially closes for the winter on October 15, and I might not make it.  Maybe a south bound trek makes more sense.  I could more easily get to the terminus.  Travel expenses would be less.  And if something happened, or if I just HATED it, it would be easier to get off of the trail and get home.

However, I have been told that a SOBO hike is a bit harder than a NOBO one and requires a bit more conditioning since the terrain starts off hard.  There is also not the same social aspect of a NOBO hike, since only 10% of thru’s go SOBO.

I suppose if I were to leave around the middle of May and really work at it, I could finish it  Northbound.  But barely.

Decisions, decisions.

I’ve got some time to decide

Working on gear purchases and conditioning for the time being.