Miles: 13.2
A group from Outward Bound came in late to camp last night. Woke me up from a pleasant nap that was threatening to stretch into a long night's sleep. We didn't fall asleep for another 2 hours as we listened and laughed at the teenage chit-chat from the solitude of our tent.
We figured we would get back at them by making a lot of noise as we packed up at 5 am. Great plan, but they were awake when we were. poop.
The first 9 miles today were over easy terrain and we made it to a lean-to by 11. After a long rest, we took on Moxie Bald. It was a 2-mile ascent and a 2-mile descent... not too bad, but after the NOBO we passed yesterday warned us about it, I was expecting a Chairback deja vu. Actually, it turned out to be easier than what we were expecting and we made it to the summit quickly.
The view from the bald top (hence, the mountain's name) had outstanding views of White Cap to the North and the Bigelows to the South. We'll reach the Bigelows in a couple of days - kind of a scary thought since they look like this (insert jagged teeth looking picture here). Tomorrow we're going to jump ahead of schedule and make it to Caratunk, meaning that tomorrow is a TOWN DAY! Since Monson was just yesterday, I'm not as excited as when we were walking into Monson. However, the food and shower will be wonderful. How amazing it is that I've taken such sweet pleasures for granted my entire life.
We had a long afternoon at camp - made it in at 3. I miss Mike's and Terry's company. They always made the evening interesting with their "grumply old men" chatter. Terry even packed the Constituttion so that when they got into political debates, there is a piece of evidence to draw upon. He mailed himself a copy of the Federalist Papers for some light reading also. Of course, philosopical debates never took place and he sent both back. Evening talk consists of, "What'cha cooking"? or "How many miles do we have tomorrow?" or "Think I should do laundry today or tomorrow?" Anyway, that's life now. It really has been boiled down to the basics - eat, shelter, sleep, walk.
- Bored Bobo