WhimsySeasons: On August 15

Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To to Highway 17
Miles: 3.3

Today was a ridiculous day by any standard. I decided that there were some hard mountains coming up and I didn't want to go through them quickly, trying to keep up with the four guys. Three-tenths of a mile after the Lean-To there was a beautiful pond, Long Pond, where we all got water this morning. I went swimming at the sand beach and watched the storm clouds gather. When they were done getting water and were ready to go I got out of the pond and started to get my drinking water. So I told them goodbye and decided to go into town from Highway 17. It was pouring rain within 30 minutes of leaving the pond and I was totally soaked. I knew that I wouldn't have cell phone reception from the road, so I thought the best thing would be to hitch-hike to Oquossoc where I would be able to make a phone call to Andover for a shuttle to a hostel there. Once in Andover I could wait out the rain or slack-pack for about four days.

I came to the road at about 10 or 11 am, in the pouring rain. The trail crosses a highway where there is a car pullover scenic overlook of a lake. There was a car sitting in the overlook with a driver who looked like he was from town and a hiker in the passenger seat. So I walked up to the car and said I was trying to get to Oquossoc. The driver said he was going the other way. The hiker, an old white guy named Max, immediately said he was also going towards Oquossoc, he was just sitting in the car because it was raining. He asked if we could hitch together, saying, again and again in a creepy way, that if he was with a pretty girl he'd get a ride faster. So we crossed the road to hitch and the very first car stopped for us, it was great. We piled in and Max was just giddy-'see, I told you girls get rides. I should just always hike with a girl so I can get a ride. Hey, what's your plan today anyway?' So I told him I really wanted to go to Andover, but had to get a cell phone signal. He laughed-'That driver back there is from the hostel in Andover.' The driver started laughing, but kept driving. I was pretty grumpy about missing that easy connection to Andover. The driver was going to Rangeley, and Max decided to go also, so they dropped me off at the general store in Oquossoc and kept going.

I changed out of my dripping clothes and then ate pizza while I decided what to do. I saw Nomad, an old white guy (but a nice one) that I had seen on the trail the day before when Hardway lost his poles, sitting on the steps at the general store. I asked him his plan and he said he wasn't quite sure. He has hiked the trail many times before, and just kind of floats around where he wants to. I told him about missing the perfect hitch to Andover and he listened kindly. It turns out that Oquossoc is exactly 11 miles farther from Andover than the trail head where I got off-oops. So now I was 40 miles, using three roads, from Andover. Shuttles charge between $1.00 and $1.50 per mile, so calling a shuttle didn't seem like a wise thing to do. hitching seemed like it might take awhile since there were three roads. I told Nomad that I didn't want to hitch that far by myself, but if he wanted to hitch with me maybe we could get to Andover. It was only 1:00 so we decided to try it. It had finally stopped raining, so we headed out to the road.

We were picked up by a woman named Dawn in her minivan with two dogs. Dawn was out running errands and didn't feel like going home yet. She wasn't from the area and she had never been to Andover before, so she decided to drive us all the way to town to go somewhere new. She dropped us off at the general store in Andover where I ate some pizza while I decided what to do (Dejavu?).

O.K.-this next part is confusing, sorry. In Andover there are two hostels-The Cabin and Pine Ellis-they cost exactly the same. Pine Ellis is in town, a block from the general store, the post office and the library, and The Cabin is two miles away. I had already decided I wanted to stay at Pine Ellis so Nomad call them them and they said they only had one bed open. So we talked about going to The Cabin instead because the owner, Earl (AKA Bear) was at the store and could give us a ride. But Pine Ellis called back to the store to give us the message that they had two beds. So we told Bear we'd just stay at Pine Ellis. We walked the one block to Pine Ellis and they said they didn't know why we had both come, they only had one bed. So I stayed and Nomad went to The Cabin for the night. I did not have a great time there...Pine Ellis is basically this woman's home where she has built a room onto the back of the house that is only accessible from the outside. You have to walk out the porch, in the rain, to the room where there are five beds. You pay $20 for the bed and use of the kitchen and bathroom/shower. It is $5 for every load of laundry. The place is run by a woman and her ex-son-in-law and her sister. For me the family dynamics there were uncomfortable. In addition there are signs around the place that made me feel like they were talking down to me, which I don't appreciate anywhere, but especially in a place where I am giving you money. For example, there is a sign at the door to the living room that reads 'We choose to share our living room, hikers must shower before entering this room'. There is another sign in the bunk room that reads 'Just because you live in the woods doesn't mean you have to act like an animal'. It felt bad.

On a more positive note, I met three wonderful women at the hostel-Faith, Kinder (she used to teach Kindergarten), and Jen. We ate dinner together at the general store/restaurant. While we were there it poured rain again, lasting for hours. Back at Pine Ellis everyone sat around on the porch deciding what to do the next day in the rain. I scheduled a shuttle for 6 AM so that I could slack-pack the next section. We all went to the bunk room at 9 pm and there were 6 people but only 5 beds. After the owner finally figured out the confusion and found a bed for Hawk Eye we settled down for the night.

My morning swimming spot.