Miles today: 10.1
Total miles: 291.4
I was excited to get going this morning because only 0.5 miles from the shelter was the Maine-New Hampshire border. I feel like I’ve been hiking forever but am still in Maine, so crossing the border is evidence that I actually have been making progress. I set off a little before everyone else and had some time at the border by myself. I got a chance to reflect and recognize how far I’ve come. I waited for Blue and Google and we had a little celebration and took photos when they got there.
I was still tired from the Notch and Arm and overall long day the day before so hiking was tougher than usual. It was a rare day of low morale for me. I was just tired, physically and mentally, and hiking felt much more difficult than usual. We haven’t been doing big miles at all lately, but for some reason it’s worn me out quite a bit nonetheless. I pushed through it as best I could. Blue and Google wanted to go past the campsite where I wanted to stay because they wanted to get closer to town (Gorham, NH) where we were going to stay. I was so beat though that I really didn’t want to go anymore than the ten miles to the campsite, but I also didn’t want to stay at the campsite by myself so I just silently hoped they’d later decide not to push on.
With just one mile left until the campsite, and still struggling to motivate myself, I got a little lost. At a pond, it was unclear which way the trail went. There was some weird side trail that made a loop right along the edge of the pond. I took this trail, thinking it was the AT and was walking on the roots of plants by the side of the pond to avoid the huge pits of mud the edged the water. Well, I took one wrong step and my foot slid into the mud, followed by the rest of my leg and body. I basically ended up sitting in the edge of the mud pit that seemed to be endlessly deep. If I hadn’t caught myself, I think the mud would have been above my waist.
I was so frustrated. At this point I had realized I was off the trail going the wrong way so I was already confused and annoyed (plus my exhaustion and low morale) and then to top it off I was now covered in mud. I just sat there for a second and laughed at how pathetic this situation was. I couldn’t do anything about it so I got up, shoes and socks completely brown and gooey, my legs totally covered in mud, and turned back to the last place where I knew I was on the trail. Once I got back to the last white blaze I ran into a new hiker friend, Curly, I’d met the previous night. He was sitting on a rock and I was so sad and pathetic looking and just said to him, “I fell in a mud pit.” He extended his hand, revealing a pile of juicy blueberries, and asked, “want one?” Well that sure made me feel better. He was sitting on the rock right by a blueberry bush with hundreds of ripe blueberries. We sat and picked them in silence and I felt a lot better and happier.
The next mile to the campsite wasn’t bad and I’d decided I’d stay there regardless of what Blue and Google were doing. Well, much to my surprise and delight, when I arrived, they were setting up their tents. They’d decided they were tired and it wasn’t worth going any further today. I was so happy I would have company at the campsite and that I didn’t have to walk anymore. Also, it was early in the day still so I had the afternoon to rest, snack, and read, which helped make a tough day better.
As we ate dinner, we were discussing how we missed Wolf Bird and Shuffle and were wondering when they’d catch up to us (it’d been three days since we’d seen them). Just as we were talking about it, they strolled into camp! It was a great reunion as we all sat and caught about what happened in the past couple days, poking fun at each other and reviving that great group dynamic we have.