It was trail magic. Big trail magic. And it was good.
When I made it to the road leading to Rangeley at 6:40 p.m., out of water, knees and feet throbbing and ready for some nourishment, I spotted Wis-pee having a Gatorade and talking to a couple next to a Suburban. I had hiked 17.7 miles; the last time I'd hiked more than 15 miles in one day was before Hannover [Aug. 6].
The couple were Steady, a '93 thru-hiker who went on to triple crown [also hiked the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail], and her husband, Steve. They are from Tulsa, and are vacationing around the country. They'd been in Rangeley for two weeks and have been giving drinks and rides to hikers coming through.
So they took Wis-pee and I to dinner in town. I don't remember being so full, after eating salad and a ton of pizza. They also took us to IGA to resupply, which was wonderful because the store is a mile out of town, and there hasn't been anywhere to get long-term supplies since Lincoln, NH.
While we were shopping, Steve came up and handed us keys: He got us a room at the same hotel they were staying at. It was one of the kindest gestures, the kind that, as Wis-pee said, you hear about happening to other hikers but never to yourself. We couldn't believe our fortune!
It topped a pretty fantastic day on the trail.
I got out of camp at 11 a.m. yesterday at Bemis Mtn. lean-to. What can I say? I slept in, had tea and did some journaling. It was a perfect morning to wake up in the woods.
I realized that if I gunned hard for Rangeley, I would have probably the greatest chance I'll get to get back to the kind of hiking I was used to before the Whites make me work for every mile. The terrain was said to be nice and flat.
Along the way I saw a garter snake that wanted to play. It left the trail, then came back towards me, in a nonthreatening way. Katchup and Grommet had seen it, too.
[inquisitive garter snake on the trail, Sept. 2, 2009.]
Such wonderful trail magic! From your biggest fan
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