Day 23: Rangeley to Sabbath Day Pond Lean To
Miles today: 9.4
Total miles: 229.8
It sure was tough to get started hiking again after our relaxing lazy days in Rangeley. What made it even more difficult was the steady rain we woke up to. We’d considered getting an early start to do an 18 mile day but that plan was dropped pretty quickly once we saw the rain.
Our group tends to take long breaks and I think each of our lack of motivation and laziness is amplified when we are in a group. We lazed around in the hotel all morningjust watching tv and laying in bed, only venturing out in the rain to get food. Finally by 1 pm we worked up enough motivation and called a shuttle to take us to the trailhead by 130.
This was our first day hiking in the rain. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t exactly fun. Raincoats trap in your sweat so you’re hot yet also cold from the rain at the same time. And the mud was terrible. Luckily we only went a measly 9 miles to the first lean to. And the rain stopped by late afternoon. I walked by the lean to because the trail wasn’t well marked but luckily turned around and found it. But, me being the idiot that I am, walked right by the trail to it again when I went to get water. Goodness!
Day 24: sabbath day pond lean to to South Arm Road
Miles today: 17.0
Total miles: 246.8
It was cold this morning and started to rain again as we packed up and our laziness set in once again. We were pretty much ready to go but once the first raindrops fell we huddled up in the lean to, me in my sleeping bag and wolf bird and two older ladies queenie and dot com doing yoga. We lounged around for an hour or so until it cleared up a bit.
We climbed up Bemis Mountain for much for the morning which had three peaks. The trail was so wet and muddy from all the rain. It was a six to ten inch deep stream in some places. It took a significant amount of additional energy to hop from rock to root to whatever other footholds we could find to avoid our feet getting completely submerged. Of course my feet ended up soaked anyway. The trail was oddly windy (not wind as In a breeze but as in it looped back and forth). Wolf bird put it best when he said it was as if someone just threw out a piece of spaghetti and declared that the trail with all the twists and turns. Or as if a little kid drew a squiggle on a map. At times I felt like I was walking in a circle. However a highlight of my day was passing a family out on a day hike. They asked if I was hiking the whole trail and I told them yes. The mother looked so awed and then declared “wow you look great!” I most definitely did not as it was as I was sweatily trekking uphill however her sentiment put me in a good mood for a while. Everyday I stop and chat with passing hikers, both northbound thru hikers and day hikers like this family, and the short conversations never fail to brighten my day. The nobos always provide advice on the trail ahead or where to stay in towns and day hikers are usually so supportive and genuinely interested. Sometimes it makes me sad to meet the nobos because some, if not most, of them seem like such great people yet our relationship will never amount to more than a few minute conversation in the wilderness of Maine. It’s a bittersweet reality.
Anyway, after Bemis mountain the trail was flatter for a while. We took a very long and, yep you guessed it, lazy lunch break at a lean to. I’ve resorted to pullin out my sleeping bag on long breaks as I get cold when I stop moving.
Usually wolf bird and google lead our group. They are so fast tht I imagine they just run the trail. Cool blue follows them at a closer to normal but still fast pace. Then comes me and then shuffle. I imagine us as slow little caterpillars compared to them. Anyway today was a miraculous day in my life. I left the lean to after lunch behind google with wolf bird and cool blue a little behind me as they were still packing up. I figured they’d pass me In a few minutes as usual. However TWO HOURS later they still hadn’t passed me. I actually got scared someone was hurt because they always pass me easily. When we got to the top f the next mountain, wolf bird had just caught up to me and cool blue was no where in sight. And google got to the top of the mountain obly minutes before me. This may sound inconsequential but I can’t emphasize what a crazy happening this was. I am usually like an hour behind wolf bird and google. And today I kept pace with them. I can only attribute it to this new crystal light energy mix that I started using today. I don’t know what’s in that stuff but I’m now assuming steroids and possibly drugs because there is no other explanation for my ability to walk that fast (and also not really realize I was doing so).
The day ended with a super steep downhill that eliminated any and all cartilage that existed in my knees. We hiked the latest we have yet, until after 7 (keep in mind my bedtime is usually 8:30-8). It would have been earlier if we weren’t such lazy bums. It was a good day.