Mucketh Sucketh

June 8th

Last night was my first night in my hammock and it was marvelous. Imagine sleeping in a giant cocoon surrounded by toasty down. I was up at 5:25 and on the trail by 6. I didn't eat breakfast, brush my teeth, or strip off my tights and long sleeves until I stopped for water.  I have been only been getting water from pristine sources and I always fill up with three liters. It is a lot of extra weight but I'm doing low miles.

I got to the high point for the day, Rainbow Ledges, and I finally got to see an unobstructed view of Katahdin. It was worth the wait and oh so rewarding. From the ledges I had enough service to call my dad and wish him a happy birthday. He let me know the weather report, thunderstorms. 

It started raining right after I got off the phone. Mother Nature was looking out for me though. The thick tree canopy kept the rain off of me. The trail today was miserable. Standing water, flowing water, mud, muck, and roots. Keeping your feet dry was like trying to keep a white shirt clean in a food fight.

Even with the poor conditions, I burned up my miles quickly. All the major elevation was in the first few miles and after my feet got wet I just started blowing through mud holes and puddles with reckless abandon. I made my planned 11.5 miles by 12:30 and it had stopped raining. I sat down for lunch after taking my shoes and socks off and thought I could make the next shelter if I only had dry shoes.  I figure I am probably better off taking it easy in the beginning anyway.

With my free time I went for a dip in the swimming hole up stream from camp. The water is high and COLD. The water came off the the rocks in front of me with such force it would push me backwards.

After my bath I was the clothes I had been hiking in and hung them to dry. It didn't take long for the clouds to move in and rain as well. So tomorrow I will have a lovely bag of wet clothes.

Tonight for dinner I had three packets of oatmeal and half a big can of chicken that was given to me. As I chatted with my fellow hikers under the shelter someone mentioned bourbon... I jokingly said, "I would cut off someone's leg for some Jim Beam right now!" Wouldn't you know one of the guys had an airplane bottle he wanted to get out of his pack. Dreams do come true!!!

I'm wearing my damp socks to bed in hours they will dry and I can have three dry pairs tomorrow to manage with my wet shoes. It is also my first rainy night in the hammock. So far so good...

The facts are plain, everyday in Maine there is rain, enough to drive the slow hikers insane.

-Brenton

Sorry no pics today. I forgot to snap Katahdin with my phone and battery juice is low due to leaving my phone on and it searching for nonexistent signal.