I felt like a champion mare today! I ate 3 Luna bars for breakfast and stopped to eat around every hour and just zoomed down the trail. Mosey and I got a late start due to the torrential downpour last night. My tent has held up well in rain until last night- I woke up around 2 a.m. In a confused state because water was hitting me in the face. So, I spent the morning drying out my things and eating as much as possible. We hiked over Bemis mountain today, which provided some really beautiful views. At the peak of Old Blue mountain, I could see tall windmills in the distance. I haven't ever seen any in the United States and to my surprise, they didn't detract anything from the view. When we got closer to Andover, we passed many northbound hikers that skipped the town altogether due to the "Mahoosickness" (as it's being called on the trail). It's actually a Norovirus and a NOBO informed me that the CDC has issued a warning for hikers in southern Maine and New Hampshire because of how many hikers it has infected. Many hikers have stopped in Andover with the sickness in order to recover, so the chances of getting it there are high. Unfortunately, I must go into Andover to resupply, so I'll just have to take my chances! Just before the descent into Andover, there was a beautiful overlook from which I could see South Arm Road, where I would have to find a hitch into town. The road was practically straight under me- an 800 foot descent in 0.5 miles. On the way down, there were even ladders and handles in the rocks- it was extremely steep! I'm finding the rock scrambles and steep areas to be extremely fun! As soon as Mosey and I got to South Arm Road we plopped down to wait for a car. We had been told that it is extremely difficult to hitch on this road because it's not used very frequently. Luckily, not two seconds passed before a van drive by and picked us up. What luck! The van was driven by a couple from Maine that was in the area on vacation. They dropped us off at the general store and I immediately grabbed some grub. Fried green beans and a barbecue sub hit the spot :). Mosey and I didn't know where we were going to stay for the night, but again the trail took care of us and the man who shuttles for "The Cabin" arrived at the store. He took us back to the cabin, where I chose to tent in the backyard for $10- laundry and a shower included! I hopped in the shower immediately upon arrival and am a little worried about my nutrition because I am losing a lot of hair :/. I'm still in the process of learning, but for my next resupply I'll have to pay much more attention to calories and nutrition. I spent the rest of the evening talking with other hikers, lounging on a couch, and watching "Charlie Wilson's War". It was a very relaxing evening. I went to bed late enough to see the stars :)
In the middle of the night I woke up after having the most vivid, strangest dream ever! Haha it was an "end-of-the-world-type" scenario where giant Sasquatches were eating people. I was having to survive by going into empty gas stations, grabbing a bag from behind the counter, and throwing food into said bag. I would then have to sneak out and dodge Sasquatches and get back to a safe place. All in all, the dream was completely nuts haha. I guess it could be attributed to my heightened survival senses out here. After the dream, I threw on some warm clothes and went to look at the stars again- it never gets old :).
No comments:
Post a Comment