[at-l] Ready's Journal :19 TD 97

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

You can write to Ready    readyhiker@pocketmail.com

We were up and out by 7:15 and had only 1 climb today.
I had been dreading such a day, knowing that I'd likely be
experiencing a good deal of pain by midday and all through
the night.
It was easy walking. I managed virtually the full day - no pain!
We had blue skies overhead again. There was a definite chill
in the air all day long, and we could see that the leaves were
steadily growing more autumn-like. Was it because we were
moving north, or was it the passing days, we wondered? I
recalled from the past that a landscape could change rapidly,
overnight even.
We had not been conversing much as we hiked lately. I'm not sure
why that is for Spur. Perhaps he'd become contemplative about
nearing the end of our hike. Perhaps he was, like me, thinking of
WTC disaster. I'd been troubled, wondering about my friends and
colleagues, wondering how it was going for a family friend whose
husband was still missing.
Today we engaged in much more talk -- about the trail, the hike,
friends we've made along the way - wondering how they were doing,
what we'd do when we got home.
I had somewhere along the line resolved to not continue this hike
as a flipflop. I wanted to be home before Thanksgiving. I'd "lived with"
this notion for over 7 days, my self-imposed formula for making any
  drastic trail decision.
Instead, I'd hike a portion (13 miles) I'd missed in PA and Spur and
I would do some other part of the trail - perhaps the Smokies, which
would be fun to experience in the fall. I'd finish the trail as a section
hiker. I was truly comfortable with the plan.
We came to Pemadumcook Pond, where we had a superb view of
Katahdin across the water! We found the register in the "Fort Relief"
privy and left "hellos" to our buddies still behind. We were missing
them.
We ran out of water again today, replenishing at Potaywadjo spring,
a large pool of cool, sweet water.
After what seemed like a long time, we finally reached the road that
would lead us to Whitehouse Landing. There we saw a sign telling us
that it was the next road crossing. How demoralizing! We hiked on.
In only a few minutes we'd reached the next road and here could
determine that we were about to walk a relo. It took us down an
overgrown forest road, then back into the woods. We came to a
shoreline and were to follow it for "less than a mile." We were
discouraged by this, but plodded onward. When we finally reached
the dock, we could tell that there had been very little extra walking
due to this relo. We wondered why it had become necessary.
We sounded the airhorn and waited. In only 4 minutes we could see
a figure come out of the lodge and head for the boat. Bill was across
the lake in a few minutes after that and ferrying us across to our home
for the night.
A small group was there tonight: CrowdedFeet, Squirrel (who remembered
us from PA's 501 Shelter!), and FreightTrain, a southbounder we'd not met 
before.
We were warmly greeted by Linda, Bill, and their 4-year old son, Ben.
Their huge chocolate lab - barely out of puppydom - was a sweet animal.
We hadn't been seeing many dogs lately. I missed them.
We had supper, cooked to order by Linda. It was at supper that she
explained that the relo had been made necessary by the logging activity
along the old route.
We had carrot cake, a brownie, B&J's Orange ice cream, and fresh apples,
along with hot cocoa for dessert once we got back to our cabin.
Our cabin was equipped with a wood stove, which Spur promptly
stoked. It was delightful. We couldn't get the gas lamps to work
properly. One was extremely dim; the other flickered annoyingly.
We made do, augmenting our light with our photon headlamps.
We sorted our mail drop. There wasn't much to sort. We were indeed
nearing the end of our hike! We each got a shower and I did our laundry
using lake water in a tub equipped with an old fashioned wringer. They
were cleaner, certainly, but not "clean." This would do, as well, since
we had only 2 more hiking days before reaching Katahdin.
We cuddled n the sofa in the dim light. The stove was warming the
room nicely. I fell asleep getting a foot rub; this is the life! :-)
I awakened with just enough energy and sensibility to write some
notes for my journal - then I was off to the *real* bed for some *real*
sleep. I was fast asleep officially by 10 PM.
Only 3 more days!


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