Welcome to Maine - the way life should be

So I officially made it to state # 14 yesterday. I cannot believe it. Four months ago today I started down in Georgia and in two weeks, if all goes well, I will summit Katahdin. This brings chills everytime I think about it.

Left out of Gorham, NH yesterday 6/22/07. Not too fun leaving town when it is cold and rainy but that's the way things go out here. You just keep trucking. It was a long day in the rain, fog, and if you can believe it, hail. I was like are you kidding, hail, in June? But you never know with maine weather. It was off and on weather most of the day with some crazy climbs. Then we hit the Maine marker about 16 miles after starting. It actually cleared for a few minutes for our photo opportunity. I am still traveling with Remix, Stash, and Redo. About 1/2 hour into Maine, the really sucky weather hit. Welcome to Maine. I was about blown off the mountain. Forty mile an hour gusts on top of an open mountain top with hail, and one very large crash of thunder and flash of lightening. Ahh!! Did I mention the terrain was wet and very slippery. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked to pull into Full Goose Shelter and get some warm and dry clothes on. Redo wasn't so lucky, she was showing some pretty severe symptoms of hypothermia so we got her out of her wet clothes and into dry clothes and sleeping and fed her some hot liquids. She was doing much better after that thank goodness. It was a good reminder of how dangerous this trail can be some times. It was definitely the coldest I have experienced in awhile. Welcome to Maine!

It was a bit hard getting out of the sleeping bag this morning as it was probably about 40 degrees and windy. But Mahoosuc Notch was only a mile away and I was anxious to get to it. The Knotch is supposed to be the toughest mile on the trail. You pretty much crawl over, under, and around large, slippery boulders and roots for a mile straight. I put my trekking poles away and had at it. I actually had a pretty good time, it was quite the challenge, but fun nonetheless. After the notch, I headed up Mahoosuc Arm and passed a slew of southbound hikers. This is quite the novelty for me. I still remember the first SOBO i passed way back in Georgia and he was so close to finishing, I couldn't even fathom that for myself. Here I am so close to finishing and passing all of these folks that have just begun. I like where I am at :) I needed to pick up a maildrop in Andover but the crew didn't need to head in. I decided to push it in to Andover today and meet back up with Remix and Stash tomorrow on the trail. I am glad I did. The folks at Pine Ellis Hiking Lodge are super friendly and I am having the chance to hang out with two southbounders - Sprocket and Ranger. I am clean, dry and warm - a combination I am appreciating more and more these days.

On to Rangeley in a few days then Monson and then....the 100 mile wilderness, my final strech of Maine. Having a blast and hoping the weather holds for us.

Talk to you all soon.

Love,
Kentucky Blue