Mile 2084.4
First day went pretty well! Until it didn’t. 😆
It was a great last morning after my last zero. Poet quoted some poetry, and I met an old hippy Buddhist (Plum Village) who’s on his way to Bodh Gaia after this. (I think I butchered the spelling of that, but I don’t have a signal to look it up. It’s where the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree.) We did a little bell ceremony like they do at Plum Village, inviting in the day. I think Plum Village would be a tremendous place to visit. Anyway, this guy’s name was, I think, Hollywood, but he’s open to a new one. After Bodh Gaia.
Miscellanea: Treetrunk is apparently an extremely accomplished water colorist! Also, it looks like J.Rock and Unicorn summited on August 27. I saw their pic on The Trek. Also, Rocket’s pic. I met her at the Mohican Center. Her summit photo is fantastic—all tattoos and emotion.
So. It was a muddy, rooty, Mainey day! I knew it would be a short one because my pack must weight 35, 40 pounds. I’m carrying a massive amount of food—eight high-calorie days, which I could easily extend out to 10 if necessary. One day at a time. It’s not painful because fhe pack’s designed for those loads, but I’m really top-heavy!
There was a ford today, so I wore my clean Sealskinz. The blazing’s pretty confusing in spots, and Another hiker and I inadvertently crossed a creek we didn’t need to. The slate was slick as a greased bowling ball, and I slipped and went into the drink! It wasn’t deep or terrifyingly fast (it’s not the Sierra!), but it’s still a little hair-raising. My pack stayed dry. The other hiker, Guardian, took my pack for me so I could finish crossing. How amazing was that?! But of course, we realized we hadn’t needed to ford at all, so we had to go back. I sloshed across at a different spot.
But then I got to Little Wilson Creek, which I thought I wouldn’t have to ford… and I did! Slippery as hell, about knee deep. And my hipbone (or whatever your sitting bone is) had taken a big hit when I sat on the slate at the earlier crossing, so I called it a day and stealthed. It’s not a great site, but it’ll do.
There’s another ford in three miles—Big Wilson Creek. Blah. My socks are now soaked. But what can you do? Maine is Mainey!
Lots of ponds today. No moose. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, I think, and maybe tonight. Just a bit of rain, no huge storms or downpours.
Karma AT2019 
Last time I hiked that stretch was a dry year. You could easily rock hop all the streams. Wish I could send some of that to you. The bad news was that every spring was dry. Only the ponds had water – brown tannic bitter leaf tea. Guess it’s a trade off.
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Everything’s a negotiation! 😄
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