Miles Hiked: Zero!
Hours Hiked: Zero!
Today I woke up and it was raining, so I decided to stay dry and wait with Bones while he waited for his new boots. Mostly I stayed at the hostel and watched the Olympics.
Do you remember that when I was in the hotel in Millinocket on the third day of this hike (a zero day) one of the reasons that I decided to continue and start the 100 Mile Wilderness was because a through hiker (Patrick) was starting the next day going South? He turned up in the hostel in Stratton last night along with two men he had been hiking with for a few days, Squirrel and Hardway. Patrick is 33 and has wanted to hike the Trail for 10 years, so he recently quit his job to come hike. He has been offered a few trail names, but none have stuck so far. Squirrel is 33 and married, and also from Florida. He might have quit his job, or he might have another contract when he goes home again, time will tell. Squirrel got his name because he has trouble sitting still, and like the dogs in the movie 'UP' he often gets distracted by shiny or moving things, 'Squirrel!'. Hardway is a recent graduate of Northwestern and a life-long Chicago resident. He is so named because he appears to do things the Hard Way. Patrick told me that he had been following me in the shelter logs for the last three weeks and knew he was gaining on me, so even though we had not really met before it was cool to see him. Anyway, while Bones and I watched the Olympics these three hiked out in the rain to tackle the trail.
The computer at the Stratton Hostel where I spent many hours blogging. Willie from Vermont, a NOBO, took time to look at my blog with me for a while. That was fun because I realized the other day that when I get home and want to share my pictures you all will have already seen them. So it was fun to look at my pictures with someone.
The sign of the motel where I stayed in Stratton. My hiker friends say there are already a million pictures of these bears on the internet. Well, now there are a million and one.
A flower in front of the grocery store in town. (Yes, a grocery store! It is a real treat to be able to walk to a grocery store. One with cold drinks, milk, cheese, meat, fresh produce!)
What is your hiker name? Did you say this before and I forgot?
ReplyDeleteThey call me Fugitive. I told a group of women about how I had a hard year and they decided I was hiding in the woods like a Fugitive. And somehow it stuck.
ReplyDelete