Day 166

08/13/12 - Crocker Cirque Campsite - 1,988.7 miles

Tough.  This is tough.  Anna is not feeling well.  Hoping and praying it's not "the sickness."  One day at a time.  We were both feeling a bit nauseous last night going to bed.  I think it was too much butter for me... but Anna says she's feeling worse now.  Today was beautiful, but again difficult.  Beautiful but brutal.  Also, a mouse chewed through my food bag last night while it was hanging.  It must have either climbed down the rope or jumped from a far away branch.  I think it also used echolocation to zero in on my Peanut M&Ms because it was like a direct hit the way it got into those.  We saw Seeks It again this morning.  Such a cool, encouraging guy.

***

I have mentioned Seeks It in a previous blog post after he finished his double thru-hike of the AT in 2012.  We had the privilege of running into him several times up in Maine, and as I mentioned briefly in my journal, he always encouraged us with each passing.  He is a gifted writer and a genuine human being.  I encourage you all to check out his current blog posts and catch up on his amazing Appalachian journey.

Seeks It reaches his finish line, November '12

Day 165

08/12/12 - near Oberton Stream - ≈1,977.3 miles

Another tough day.  The terrain is difficult.  Wet.  Slippery.  Steep.  Thundering now.  We are both trying to stay encouraged.  Trying to enjoy this time while it lasts.  But I think we both want it to be over.  We want Katahdin.  It just started pouring.

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Day 164

08/11/12 - Eddy Pond (?) - 1,967.5 miles (?)

Fun morning meeting up with Dr. Bruce for breakfast and resupply.  Encouraging.  We are in the homestretch.  Incredible.  We did a full resupply at IGA and I still feel like I could eat just about everything in my bag.  We'll see how far I can make it last.  Hopefully 100 miles.  Right now we are camped along a beautiful misty pond.  The rain is lightly drizzling off and on.  I think I might read some Jack London.


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KitFox & the misty pond

Day 163

08/10/12 - [Rangely] - 1,963.8 miles

Livin' it up in probably our last real trail town.  Motel with poptarts.  Comfy beds.  Coffee.  Hot chocolate.  Olympics.  Wifi.  Outlets (lolz).  And food.  Walked around the small downtown, which reminded me a lot of the town in Northern Exposure.  We also have a new hiking buddy to join us to Katahdin... Baxter, the cat.  He is already worried.  Also heard Mumford & Sons' new song, "I Will Wait," for the first time today.  I like.  I like a lot.

***

Baxter

And just for fun...

Day 162

08/09/12 - Little Swift River Pond Campsite - 1,959 miles

Let's just say today was emotional.  Started off with total hiker hangover... slept in even though we needed to do big miles again.  Super slow getting out of camp.  Super discouraged.  As we hiked the next few miles I went up and down with my attitude, but mainly I kept thinking about how tired I was and how far I had to go.  Not good.  Ate lunch with thunder in the distance.  Super discouraged again.  Not really knowing how I was going to be able to finish this day, let alone our thru-hike.  Then, as we were starting a climb, we met Kinder.  A SOBO section hiker from GA.  We small talked for a minute and she seemed really nice – an old kindergarten teacher.  We smiled and said goodbye.  Then, at the last minute, she turned over her shoulder and said, "And... don't lost heart."  Tears welled up in my eyes.  For some reason, that was exactly what I needed to hear.  Because today, for the first time, I really had started to lose heart.  Thoughts were entering my mind about quitting for the first time.  I was at an all time low on the Trail.  "And don't lose heart," was all she said.  Well, after I finished sobbing in front of Anna, I was reignited and charged up that mountain.  I thank God for sending someone like Kinder our way to say those simple words of encouragement.  She may not have thought anything of it, but it got me through today.  We hiked on in happy spirits and came to Moxie Pond then Long Pond.  We finally went swimming for the first time on the AT!  It was gorgeous.  It was fun.  It was absolutely what we needed.  We finished our day hiking 4 miles in a wet thunderstorm, but I think we are in good spirits.  Tomorrow we hit up Rangely for one of our last town stays.  Amazing.  Dont.  Lose.  Heart.

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You can check out my original blog post about this day here.   It really is crazy how much someone's words can affect you.

First swim on the AT

Day 161

08/08/12 - Bemis - ≈1,945 miles

Trying to find a campsite at night SUCKS.  Goodnight.

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Day 160

08/07/12 - DunnNotch & Falls - 1,926.5 miles

Had a good time laughing today with Anna.  Talking about many things... especially life after the Trail, and how we're going to make a hit list of all the places that wronged us and seek revenge on them.  Also the SICKNESS of NH/ME has been the talk of the Trail the past week or two... Everyone's getting all apocalyptic and scary on each other.  See page 232 in the guidebook for an illustration.  Oh yeah, had our longest mileage hitch today... 17 into Bethel and 17 out for a resupply.  Thank you Lord!  Because that town SMALL and they ain't got much traffic.  You know what I'm saying?

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To be clear, this "hit list" was NOT in reference to murder... but more along the lines of writing negative online reviews and giving these places of business 1 star ratings.  Yeah.  That's how we seek revenge.