Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Day 8: East Branch Lean-to to Carl A. Newhall Lean-to

Today's Miles: 10.8
Total Miles: 78.6

I slept in the shelter last night because I was too frustrated and tired to set up my tent. I figured a night in a lean-to is part of the experience I would have to partake in at least one night anyway. It was the worst sleep I've gotten yet. It was also freezing when I got up this morning. This was definitely the coldest morning on the trail so far. I didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag. I had a weird dream about snakes last night, so of course I thought every root and stick I saw on the trail was a snake at first glance. I was so happy to reach the first spring about 2 miles into the hike so I could get rid of the river water. It was a very welcomed site. While passing through some mud I saw a paw print that looked like it could have belonged to a bear, and a hoof print as well. Blue and I summitted White Cap at the same time. We could see Katahdin, and it's amazing to think we've already made it this far on the trail. We took a break on top of the mountain, and I was able to make a quick call to Payce. This was the first time since my phone died at White House Landing. The reception was still pretty bad so it became a little frustrating, but it was still good to talk if even for a few minutes. Blue stayed on top of White Cap while I continued on. I knew I still had some miles (and three more mountains) to push through. My hip locked up on the way down one of the mountains, and I wasn't able to straighten it out on the descent. I had to take an anti-inflammatory and wait a little while for it to kick in to get to a pain level that would be at least bearable. Stopping there was kind of out of the question. There were no tentsites and no flat ground at all. I had to stop at the spring at Sydney Tappan Campsite because I was completely out of water at that point. It was .02 miles off the trail, and it was a steep downhill. I got the first point where I saw water, but it was just a giant mud hole. I was really hoping this wasn't it. I went down a little ways more and found some running water, thank goodness! It made the last 2 miles much better. I finally got to the lean-to, and the group from Wadleigh Stream was there - the Boy Scouts, Flip, Wes, and Hannah. Bible showed up not long after. The last I had seen him was at Potaywadjo Stream. He had hiked about 18 miles because his resupply didn't come through as planned, and he was running out of food. Blue made it there a little while later. I didn't know if he was going to make it off of White Cap because he was enjoying it so much. I asked if anyone had an extra lighter or matches, and the Boy Scouts had conveniently found one a few days before on the trail. They say the trail provides! I think today was the first day my shoes stayed dry while hiking, which was a great feeling. I started to make dinner and spilled my water before one of the Boy Scouts noticed I didn't spread the arms out on my stove. Oops... I think it was just because I was so tired at that point. It's nice to be back with a group of good people. I squeezed my tent into a small flat area, and I am looking forward to some sleep right now.




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