Miles: 7.0 (plus 1.2 sidetrip)
I'm in heaven... I'm in heaven 'cause I just ate the world's largest cheeseburger!!! (I would be in heaven dancing cheek to cheek with you, too, though.)
Kevin woke me up today with wonderful news. He wanted to stop at White House Landing. We made WAY too much gorp and needed to unload some of it. So, I walked today with a grin on my face, humming Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise."
And then I sprained my knee. It had been aching all day, but when I felt a sharp twinge, I said "uh-oh." We took a long break, I wrapped it and took some Vitamin I (ibuprofen). It was sore all day today, so we're going to take it easy tomorrow to give it some time to heal. I'm praying that this doesn't cut the trip short. My feet were just now getting used to the pain - I can't stop now!
To get to White House Landing, we had to walk 1.2 miles off the Trail. So, with a bad knee, I trudged over sticks, rocks, roots and mud. But it was SO worth it.
After tooting the air horn, the owner, Bill, came over in his boat to pick us up. He then drove us across the lake to where the camp is. After a brief tour of the bunkhouse, main cabin, "private room" lodge and showers, we decided to treat ourselves to a dip in the lake. The water still has pretty cold currents coming through it (the lake had 4 feet of ice on it this winter!), but it still felt great. Feeling pretty good, I then took a shower... A SHOWER!!! Can you imagine?! One clean head of hair later, I was wolfing down the largest cheeseburger I've had in my entire life. And I'm not even stuffed. But I have to save room for the AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) breakfast tomorrow!
The four New Jersey guys that came into Wadleigh last night also stopped in here. Over dinner we found out that two are going to Georgia (that's the plan) and two were supposed to go Monson. However, they're stopping and Bill is shuttling them home tomorrow. Bye-bye, Axe-Boy.
As I'm sitting here in the cabin, I can look over the view of wild flowers, lake, forest and the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. Views like this make the hiking worth it.
Interesting things seen today:
- "Hugest" burger I've seen in my life
- Snake digesting a frog... ew!
- Myself - I looked in a mirror for the first time since Saturday. Look the same.
I'm looking forward to beating Kevin in a game of Scrabble and then sleeping in a REAL BED. Oh, the luxury is killing me.
- Bobo in Paradise