I listened to the loons literally all night. Their calls would often wake me up, they were that loud. The sound was beautiful and ghostly. Before hitting the trail for the day, we made it a point to go out and look at the lake. It was almost a reminder of why we are out here hiking until our feet throb.
Today was our first day in Maine with some flatt(ish) trail. It’s the fabled easy sections we’ve only yet heard about. We just had two major climbs throughout the day and they were both in the morning. The rest of the climbing was well distributed in the afternoon.
We’ve started to see life on the trail again. In the Whites most of the bugs and reptiles or amphibians were gone. Now toads and snakes are starting to be common again. Warthog and I are reptile dorks, so seeing these creatures are exciting. We laugh at the brave snakes that start to slither away and then decide to coil up and stand their ground. They aren’t poisonous, just stubborn.
One thing Warthog is not all that excited about… bees. The poor guy got stung again today. Our theory is it’s because he’s the last in the line. Perhaps the three ahead of him rile up the bee and he’s the victim of their wrath. I think when we leave this trail he will have full on PTSD because of these bees. Rightfully so. His sting sites swell up and stay red for a couple of days after after an incident. We may change his name Warthog Bee Sting Instigator.
Almost nineteen miles into the day we arrived at the AT famous Kennebec River crossing. The river is 400 ft across. There are four dams that distribute into it. Hikers are repeatedly warned not to try to ford the river (walk or wade through it). From 9a-2p a ferry runs transporting hikers across for free. The canoe even has a white blaze (AT trail marker) on it so it’s official. Outside of those hours there are local people you can pay for a ferry. At first we thought it was a ridiculous narrow window. Later we found out that the reason it’s only from 9a-2p is because that’s when the dams are closed so the river is like glass. When we crossed it around 5p only one of four was letting out and the water was rapidly rising. After getting across and seeing all that the lady had to put into a transport, we realized the money from the $30 ferry charge was well earned. We could have waited another half of a day, but wanted to continue to make progress.
After crossing the river we walked about a half of a mile to a hiker hostel that sells pulled pork sandwiches, milkshakes, pie, and other snacks. They offer resupply options, but we were full on food and weren’t in need. We just wanted dinner. As we ate we discussed pushing on, but instead decided to hike back to the river to use the awesome campsites that were there. It was fairly private and even had a privy down by the landing. Plus, the hostel owner told us there were bald eagles nesting down there. We never saw them, but kept an eye out just in case!
It’s been warm for the last several days. I’ve loved it. It just means I’m fighting a bit of chaffing. To get me through a couple of more days until I can shower again, I took a quick camp shower. It’s the salt on your skin that rubs and irritates an area. If I can get that salt off, I’ll be in a much better place.
I fell asleep, not to loon calls, but to the roar of a river. I’ll miss the natural sound machine when I get home. Loons and rivers will be replaced with sirens and cat fights. I don’t really mind it, they are the sounds of home. Familiar sounds. The sounds of life. Both out here and back there, these sounds bring comfort and the reminder of the connections to the world around us.
-ansel