It was another early wake up. I’m so tired of those. I’m excited for normal life where I can sleep in until 11a or something like that – a time I am fully well known to sleep in to. 9a or 11a, it doesn’t matter. I’m just excited to be in a position where I don’t have to get up if I don’t want to. 5:30a we started moving.
There were two harder pushes today. We started the day with one and ended it with another one. Bookended by those was some decent hiking. Even though the terrain is starting to get easier, our bodies are exhausted. All four of us were dragging today. In fact, when we stopped for lunch, we decided to take a bit of a nap too. Propped up against a tree, I snuggled into Warthog using him as a body pillow. We are tired because we’ve been really pushing ourselves to make miles. It’s also been warmer for the last week or so. Warmer weather drains you too. Although, I would rather warm and sunny than cold and cloudy. Even though we’ve been tired, the forest has been such a happy place to be in with the sunshine coming through. Plus we’ve actually had views – something you don’t get on cloudy days. I’ve enjoyed being able to really see the forests around us. When we started moving after our nap, Warthog laughed and pointed out the pine cone imprints decorating my calf and thigh. It reminded me of a holiday print.
We made good time in the first few hours and then lost our productivity for the middle part of the day (hence, the nap). Late afternoon, when everyone had long since ran out of water, we crossed a river feeding into a lake. We filtered water and drank our Propel to replace electrolytes. My body seemed to pick up a bit after that. It’s interesting how important calories, protein, electrolytes, and water are to your energy level. I don’t know how some people hike this trail on granola or protein bars alone. I would go mad. It seems like you would always be hungry. We carry more weight, but it means we eat better too. Even still, we are in a caloric deficit. According to some of the sites we’ve researched, thru-hikers can burn up to 8,000 calories a day on the trail.
It was a quiet day in the forest. We didn’t run into too many other hikers, maybe a half of a dozen to ten while hiking. Getting across the river last night helped us push in front of a hiker bubble. These quiet days are good days. I like having the forest to ourselves. Although, I also like visiting with friends too. One man, Van Man, is someone we’ve been running across a lot lately. He and his son are hiking the trail together. Van Man drives. He drops his son off at one end of the section and then drives to the other end of the section where he will hike to wherever they plan to meet. Then he will turn around and cover those same miles as he and his son hike back to the vehicle. He’s a really great guy. We tend to see him around 3p. We always stop to say hi and exchange information about the upcoming section of trail. Everytime we leave we will say something like, “See you tomorrow! Have a great day!” He will respond with, “Yes, you too… it was really enjoyable talking with you.” He always places an emphasis on that last part as if to make sure we understand he’s being sincere. He’s not the only one that’s says that to us. It’s a nice feeling to have people (hikers and the community around them) enjoy seeing you. Our tramily name is “Bad Company”. It’s supposed to be ironic because “we are all just really nice folks.” When people ask if our group has a name, they often laugh when they hear what it is. We are nice folks, every one of us; Atlas, Lotus, Kirby, Wonder Woman, Snow Monkey, Warthog, and myself. It’s a reputation I’m proud of.
As we hiked today, I caught a whiff of vanilla in the air. I smelled it and continued to sniff, trying to figure out where it came from. Finally I saw a hiker who had set up camp just off a bit. She must have been cooking a vanilla breakfast essential or she sprayed something. The smell instantly brought me back to my childhood and a stuffed animal I had. It was a scratch and sniff stuffed animal. My sister and I each had one. Their bellies and paws had the scent on it. One was peppermint and the other was vanilla. I can’t remember who had which. Whatever the vanilla smell was, it was almost exactly the same as what was on the stuffed animal. I was amazed at the way a smell can pull up a memory. Lately the evergreen smell in the forest has been prominent. It makes me think of a tree farm at Christmas. I’ve wondered what part of the trail I’ll remember when I smell fresh evergreen again. That’s the thing with smells and memories, you don’t get to choose what gets attached to one another. I have no clue if it’ll be a Georgia mountain or a Maine lake or anything in between, but I’m kind of excited to find out.
We had two big climbs today and decided to sit for a bit at the summits of both of them. That’s what you do. You climb a mountain and then soak in the reward. We are getting closer and closer to Katahdin. We think we could see it much better today. We can’t verify because our peak identifier app wasn’t working (I know… kind of sad we rely on that). I do know that we just have one town left before we hit the last stretch to Baxter State Park, the park that holds Katahdin. One town and 100 miles of wilderness after that. Daily we are impressed with how little there is left. Simultaneously, we are overwhelmed with how much there still is to cover. It’s starting to tip more towards the impressed side of things though. After a day of resting and getting cleaned up, I expect we’ll be recharged and ready for this last push. First, we have to reach town. Before that, we have to get a good night of sleep. We got into camp around 7:30p. It was already dark. After finding our campsites with headlamps, we set up tents and got ready for the night. The shelter and campsites around it are full, but we are set off a bit all by ourselves. We are right on the shore of a pond.
A symphony of loon calls occasionally ring out. The stars light up the sky and pond they are reflected in. It’s private, wild, and glorious. I love it. These last few nights have been a fantastic way to enjoy the ending of this journey. I hope the stretch between here and Katahdin is the same. From what I’ve heard, it will easily live up to this expectation.
-ansel