WhimsySeasons: July 2012

7/31/12

On July 17

First of all- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTHONY!! And Happy Birthday to Carrie Beth and myself, we turned 20 and 21 today, respectively. ;)

I took the Greyhound from New York City at 8:20 pm on Monday, through Boston at 3:00 am and arrived in Maine at 11:20 am Tuesday. I expected the Greyhound to drop off at the Bangor airport, but instead it dropped off at Dysart's a few highway stops south of the airport. I ate lunch at the diner, where all around me people greeted each other by name.

I bought stamps and asked the cashier if he could recommend how I should get to Baxter State Park. He told me to wait a few minutes and he would find out. Just then a 60-ish-year-old man came in with a beautiful dog, off leash, who came over to me and was very calm and friendly. The cashier said, "Hey, Cleve, where you going today?" Cleve said he was going to Millinocket and if I wanted a ride it was o.k. So I got in the logging truck with Cleve and his dog (who was bigger than Inkling and liked to stand in my lap). He told me about his wife and his work. I told him grandpa just died and he told me about his gran-dad who died when he was 16. He took me 70 miles north to Millinocket and dropped me off on a corner by a church and some houses. He said, "The Park is up that road there, shouldn't be too far." Then he gave me a big hug and told me he was sorry about losing grandpa. He was not in the least bit creepy or off bounds, just very honest and warm. He gave me his phone number and said if I needed help while in the park to call him and he or his wife would come pick me up.

I started walking, but discovered I was 16 miles from the park and so I stopped at Katahdin General Store, a gas station and called Bull Moose Taxi. A 73 year old man pulled up in his family car with his wife along for the ride. He told me that his step-son started the Taxi business two weeks ago, and he was trying to help out. They took me into the park, commenting all the way about the park. It rained alllllll day on Tuesday.

I checked in at the Ranger Station where I had a reservation at Abol Campground in Baxter State Park. Here are some pictures of my shelter there. At the edge of my shelter there was a waterfall and stream, which I could both hear and see. And it rained all that day and through the night. I walked about a mile total to see a little waterfall up the stream. I will be posting many many pictures of the trail itself, along with the scenic mountain vistas it affords.

My shelter with my hiking pack.

The view from my shelter looking out, you can't see it in the picture but
there is a waterfall above the left corner of the picnic table.

The trail to the other waterfall.

Little Abol Falls

7/30/12

On July 16

Sunday I hitched a ride with my uncle, who lives in Mt. Morris, New Jersey, from Indiana to NJ. We drove all day on Sunday, leaving Indiana after church. We slept in on Monday and then went to the Ground Zero Park, then ate dinner at a restaurant along the Hudson River in Battery Park. Then he dropped me off at the Greyhound station to catch my bus to Maine.

The new tower under construction

The memorial for 9-11

My uncle, looking into the memorial.

Us at the Greyhound Station in New York City.

7/28/12

On July 14

On July 14, a Saturday, my family gathered to celebrate grandpa's life. I am not ready to say goodbye, so it was a difficult day for me. Here are two good pictures taken that day.

My cousin (can you tell?) and I at lunch.

My niece acting silly.

7/26/12

Two week's delay

Hello. I have limited access to the computer right now, so I am going to attempt to make these posts two weeks delayed. I hope that it works. Two weeks ago today my 17-year-old cousin and I took my 2.5 year old niece to the playground and couldn't resist playing also.

Spinning at the playground after playing in the water

7/17/12

Another Chapter of Life

Today I will sleep at Baxter State Park and tomorrow I will start hiking. Pictures soon to follow!

7/16/12

Sadness

Well. My absence from the blog-o-sphere was because on Monday, one week ago today, I held my grandpa's hand and told him I loved him, and that his sons, family, friends, many many people, loved him. I told him that he had worked a good 92 years for peace and justice and that we would continue on for him, but that he could relax and sleep now. He died in that hospital room, nearly three weeks after his heart surgery. I held his hand while 8 of his family drove to the hospital, but he could not or did not wait for them. I have an amazing family. Grandpa and Grandma taught us well how to take care of each other, and we tried to put it into practice this week. We gathered for his memorial service at his church on Saturday.

7/11/12

On July 27

Miles hiked: 9.9
Hours hiked: 10
From Carl A. Newhall Leant-To to Chairback Gap Lean-To

I had a lazy morning at the shelter with Rafiki, Shelter Virgin and SoHo. They even gave me coffee, with cream and sugar, a big luxury and the first time I had coffee since leaving Millinocket! Then I headed south while they headed north.

The hike was beautiful, but very warm. Fortunately Rafiki had warned me that there was no water at Chairback Gap where I planned to stay the night. So I filled up on water at the bottom of Chairback. But that meant that I had a lot more weight when I climbed the boulders up Chairback. For me Chairback was the hardest climb in all of the 100 Mile Wilderness.

The most color in these woods is in the mushrooms. They are beautiful. There are also lots of frogs and toads. Everywhere.

I was at the shelter for an hour or so before Jon and his Beagle Bella rolled in. Jon had not prepared for the 100 Mile Wilderness, so he had hiked 21 miles today so that he could get out of the woods because he was running out of food. So I gave him a Rice-A-Roni and a poptart and he gave me a flashlight. Oh, woods bartering, you can't beat it.

It was the first night I slept with a dog in the shelter. I really liked it because I felt there would be fewer mice.

The amazing root systems on these trees are beautiful.

Colorful Mushroom

Toad.

I crossed this stream

The Trail

Pine trees. New life, old life, everywhere.

I have had the luxury of gorgeous weather.

The trail.

More mushrooms.

Top of Chairback Gap.

I climbed this rock scramble to get to Chairback Gap with all the water I could carry. It was heavy.

7/8/12

Chicago Scene

7/7/12

Pennies

Pennies in a wishing well canal in Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park, we had fun and drew with them.

7/6/12

Overwhelmed

On the Fourth of July Grandpa's three sons and their partners and I had a meeting with the guy who is the head doctor for Grandpa. The summary is that the doc thinks everything Grandpa has now can be reversed if given enough time (another month at least). This includes pneumonia, a ventilator to help breathe, a feeding tube, and dialysis, among other myriad medications and supports. But we also acknowledged that we don't know what the next month will hold.

So what you can do is to hold Grandpa in the Light. He needs the Light of Healing and Peace. And so does his family.

There is a "This American Life" (a radio story-telling show) episode that I have listened to three times now on air and every time, I weep. It is worth your time to listen to Act One. It tells the story of a radio show in Colombia that is a call-in-show for the families of people who have been kidnapped. The families call in to wish their kidnapped relatives a happy birthday, or to talk about how the kids are growing up. The men in the jungle listen to the show, broadcast in the middle of the night, hoping to hear news from back home. The guards allow the radio because it keeps up morale, and keeps the men from killing themselves. The families do not know if their loved one is listening, if he is even alive, or if they will ever see him again.
Today I told Grandpa that I feel like those families. I tell him things every day. I put my mouth at his ear and I explain to him where he is and what is happening to his body; I remind him that so many people love him, and I list them by name, and I give him their messages. I tell him when the date is special because it is some one's birthday, or a national holiday. But I don't know what messages he is getting or not getting. And I don't know if or when he will come back. But I believe the messages, the ones that get through, help to keep up morale; so I will keep sending them. But I miss him terribly.

7/5/12

Graffiti

"Mense happens"

Usually I don't post graffiti here because I don't want to be involved in the politics of it. But this one just made me laugh. You know how sometimes, with good art, you can feel the emotions of the artist? How sometimes, you think about that person's day or experience when he or she created the work of art? I wonder about the person who spray painted this onto the side of a railway abutment.

7/4/12

A splash of July color

These photos were taken at Humboldt Park on July first.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Today my little brother turned 27! Happy Birthday! He spent the day in Chicago with his two sisters, his girlfriend and his brother-in-law. We have the same haircut right now, he and I!