Miles: 7.2 (plus 0.2 trail to shelter)
The day started late - we gave ourselves the luxury of sleeping in till 8:30! We then headed downstairs to put our extra food in the hikers box... opened the door, stood there for a second looking for somebody that worked there and then "Beep! Beep! Beep!" The burglar alarm went off! They had set the alarm but didn't lock the door... pretty funny, except we had to stand there, listening to the wailing alarm until an employee showed up 15 minutes later. Ouch! After that, we definitely deserved an oversized breakfast at the local diner... mmm-mmm-mmm.
We got a hitch to the Trail from a Polish couple who told us that they've hitched a ton, and are returning the favor. Good thing for us! Then, we dreadfully started hiking with aching bellies. I think it is possible to get out of hiking shape and lose the rhythm from just one day in town. It sucks when it feels like we're just starting again. My pack is heavy from the 9 days of food, I kept tripping on rock and roots, and, of course, the first 5 miles were all straight up. At one point, I felt like throwing my hiking sticks down and screaming. I was just frustrated. I finally got into the rhythm after we stopped for a lunch break. Bagels and peanut butter can cheer anybody up, I suppose.
After a steep descent off the mountain through a scantily-blazed rock slide (Kevin called this SOBO discrimination, because it was well-blazed going north), we finally made it to camp. We're sharing the site with a French-Canadian group that we saw while crossing the Kennebec River. We had an enjoyable dinner with them while they argued about American foreign policy. Very interesting to get Canadian, 15-year-old boys' perspectives on this.
Kevin and I decided to rename Cheech and Chong to "Cheat" and Chong, because, for the second time, they took an easier side trail into town. Also, Frog, Bait and Belch (the Texas brothers) have become The Three Stooges.... an adequate and fitting description, given by Kevin. Semi-Sweet (Barbara), Tangent (Jeff) and Wonderboy (Alex) are now the "Texas Trio." There sure are a lot of cowboys on this here trail.
Well, those Canadian boys kept us up and it's after dark (WAY past my bedtime). Until tomorrow.
-Cold Bobo