Pre-Flight

Today I tied up all the loose ends I have been neglecting.  I treated my clothes with permethrin which should help alleviate tick, black fly, and mosquito problems for the first 40 days.  I put a new suspension system on my Hennesy Hammock that allows me to have it setup in under a minute. I bought enough food to get me through the 100 Mile Wilderness and into Monson, ME.  I put together a very small first aid kit.  One part of my first aid kit is some antibiotics that treat Lyme disease.  My mother looked up what else this particular antibiotic treats and the list included strep, e. coli, and  two different types of chlamydia.  I got a laugh out of that.  I also thought it would interesting to record my weight, resting pulse, and blood pressure so I could compare the before and after.

As of June 4th at 2:45 PM

Weight: 210 pounds
Right arm: 128/87, pulse 68.
Left arm: 137/85, pulse 70.

It should be interesting to see just how much all these numbers drop over the next few months.  I'm guessing I will end up losing close to 30 pounds and have a resting pulse in the mid 40s.

I did receive some bad news today.  I emailed Phil Pepin who provides a shuttle service from the airport in Bangor to Baxter State Park where I begin, he informed me that Maine has had heavy rains the past few days.  He let me know that all the creeks and rivers are above flood stage and impossible to ford.  I'm not sure what this means for me, I guess I'll ask him when I see him.  I still have two days before I really start the trail so hopefully the water levels recede enough to allow me to pass in that time.  According to the Baxter State Park blog the snow was nearly all melted as of May 26 and the black flies were at full force.

Feel free to share my blog with anyone you think would be interested.  I intend to post daily. I would love to hear from my readers please ask questions in the comment section I will do my best to answer them in a timely manner.  The picture below is a recent snapshot from Baxter.  Thank you for reading.

Brenton