Day 37- stealth site to highway 26 9.5 miles

Before I get into the adventures of today, there is a good story from a couple of days ago that I forgot to mention. Mosey and I were coming down Moody Mountain, which was a very steep drop (1400 feet in less than a mile). I was about 5 minutes ahead of Mosey, so I couldn't see him, but we were within yelling distance of each other. During the descent I heard him call out. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying, but he sounded a little off. I called back to make sure that he was okay and he replied that he was and he would tell me what happened when we got to the bottom. At the bottom, I sat by Sawyer Brook and waited for Mosey to arrive. When he arrived, he told me that he'd had a brush with death. He was going down the trail and tripped. The way in which he fell (forward and with trekking poles obstructing the use of his hands and arms) there was no way that he could catch himself. He fell on his stomach right on top of a pointy, jagged tree stump and as soon as he landed on it, it collapsed because of how rotted it was. There truly aren't that many rotten, sharp, and jagged tree stumps out here and he thought he was going to be impaled by this stump. I was completely in shock as he told me this and so thankful that it was rotten! I had heard a man and a
woman there with him when he called out to me, so I asked him if anyone was up there with him. His reply was that no one was around him at all and asked me why I asked. I told him about hearing the man an woman and he just sat there for a second. He then says, "I think I know who it was"- his grandma and grandpa. He said he immediately thought of them as a young couple- they must be his guardian angels :) I thought it was so cool that I heard them.
Back to today. Mosey and I made it the first 3 or 4 miles to a lean-to easily. Mosey said he was feeling sluggish, but that is a feeling not uncommon to us out here. While at the lean-to we met a northbounder who talked to us a lot about the discipline that is required in this hike. He was correct that it does take a tremendous amount of discipline to get up every morning, put on your sticky, smelly hiking 'uniform', pack up and set out to hike when most days your body is fighting you all morning for you to just stay put- not to mention the mental struggles that occur each day. You just have to know that hiking is what you have to do that day and just do it. The northbounder made me think that I definitely have a lot of discipline to learn out here. It was a good reminder of something to work on. He also talked about the rain and how it should get bad soon.
I left the lean-to a bit before Mosey and started climbing Baldpate Mountain. I was almost to the top when the skies opened up and rain starting pouring out like it had been collecting for months. Thunder started cracking all around me. I passed some northbounders who told me I should find a place to set up. I had just climbed up steep rock for atleast half a mile- ladders and slides included- and I knew that it was too slick for me to go back down with the rain. I couldn't go up any further because the top of the mountain was bald- I would be opening myself up even more to the elements and to easily being struck by lighting, especially carrying my trekking poles. The thunder just kept getting louder and the rain poured down harder. I had to do something. So, I found a mossy spot under a few small trees and crouched down there. I had set my trekking polls far away from myself, just in case. The top of the mountain offered no concealment from the wind, and so I quickly became cold, making me even more frightened than I already was. I stayed crouched under the tree for about 20 minutes, calling out for Mosey every few minutes, knowing that he would be worried and looking for me. I finally heard him yelling "Chickadee!!!!" and I yelled back. He came up and was so happy that I hadn't tried to push on in the rain- both he and I know that it would've been a terrible decision. He crouched down with me and we tried to calm each others fears- his were that I was okay and mine were that I was scared I would die up there. It was my first time hiking in the rain and it scared me half to death. Finally, the rain stopped and we gathered ourselves to move forward. Once we got to the top of Baldpate, the sun was shining warmly. We sat on a rock to dry off. As soon as we got into a valley between the two peaks it started to storm again and again we had to wait. It cleared and we descended the mountain easily and got to highway ME 26 before 6 pm. We were able to get a hitch in a nice van with two brothers, one whose two daughters were with him. They stopped at a gas station for us to pick up some dinner and I found a bratwurst that I managed to eat in 3 bites. Back in the parking lot, the driver handed us a soda named "Moxie" that he'd bought for us to try. It's a soda that's popular up here- tastes like a mix of sasparilla and soda. Not too shabby!
Mosey and I got a lean-to at Stony
Brook in anticipation for the storm that was supposed to hit in the evening. Sure enough, around 7 pm it started pouring and when I fell asleep it was still coming down hard. The Mahoosuc Arm and Notch are coming up tomorrow- the hardest mile of the A.T. Hopefully the rain will stop soon.
Pictures:
1- me at Sawyer Brook
2- Mosey and me at the top of Baldpate