Miles: 5.1
What started out as one of the worst days on the Trail turned out to be one of the best. We woke up today with rain hitting the tent. Oh shit! We had laundry hanging, our boots were outside and the rain fly was sitting on the ground. We didn't see a cloud in the sky yesterday, so I figured we were safe for the night. Wrong.
After waking up to a cold, wet morning, we packed up our stuff and shivered on over to the lean-to at Horn's Pond... where, of course, a large group of obviously inexperienced "hikers" out for a couple of days had suffered pack explosion. Their stuff was EVERYWHERE! Kev and I squeezed into a little corner to regroup our equipment and then set out on a steep, downhill, slippery, 5-mile descent. As one NOBO said, "It's Maine. It's steep." So true.
We managed to escape sprained joints and broken bones and finally made it to the road. Yes! We made it! And then nobody picked us up for 15 minutes :( So, we started hiking the 5-point-something miles to town. It was still raining, my boots were sloshing and I kept praying for a hitch. I guess Kevin and I look scary or something, because we had to walk over a mile before a truck stopped. I was just so incredibly happy to get a ride to town. Walking along the road is twice as bad, if not more, than walking in the woods. Give me straight uphill over a road walk... in the rain and when it feels like it's 30 degrees outside.
After checking in and picking up the mail, we both took the world's longest hot showers. Sweet. We proceeded to enjoy Amy's and Klaus' package of brownies (thank you!!!) and read the letters. It really is a ray of sunshine to get random surprises like that. It's so odd to think that there are so many people thinking about us on the Trail. I guess it just feels like we're on a different planet and decided to disappear for a bit. And then we'll pop up again soon. Too soon? That's a bigger question than I have the energy to write.
After taking the World's Longest Shower and devouring the World's Best Brownies, we decided that we needed the World's Meatiest Hamburger. So, we went downstairs to the White Wolf Cafe and ordered the special - the Wolf Burger. Complete with 1/2 pound of beef, sausage, bacon, cheese, mushrooms and all of the regular fixings. We then topped it off with chocolate peanut butter pie and coffee. After asking the waitress / innkeeper (same person) if it was obvious that we were hikers because of the amount of food we ate, she replied, "No. You didn't order another meal."
While licking the plate, I saw Lonestar walking up the street, so I ran out to say hi. Then I saw Wonderboy, Barbara and Jeff. K'Sansl had given us a note to give to them, so after introducing myself and chatting for a bit, I went up to the road and gave them the message (K'Sansl was passing on a bit of Trail Magic). They turned out to be a really nice group of people, so we hung out with them tonight also.
It started with a case of Miller and the "Best of the 80's" on VH1, and turned out to be a night of stories, laughing until I was crying and the appropriate naming of Jeff - now Tangent. He can't tell one story without bringing up 5 others, so the name, I hope, will stick. We stayed up until 2 am swapping stories and life philosophies.
New friends and good times beat out the cold and rain on making this one of the best Trail days yet.
- Droopy-eyed Bobo... zzz