GCN quietly woke up at 4:30. GCN quietly evacuated his body’s waste (as compared to the normal agonizing screams we’ve grown used to). GCN quietly left the sleeping room to shower and eat breakfast. GCN quietly packed his bag for the day. GCN quietly got dressed. GCN quietly sat and read until 5:15 when he quietly came back into the sleeping room and whispered “its 5:15.” At 5:15:01 I heard Bear less than quietly say “Shit, the alarm didn’t go off.” Next was an adrenaline rush that propelled us from deep sleep to feet on floor and 60 mph to get ready. We had 15 minutes to get dressed, eat, and finish packing before Staci arrived. We took 20 minutes to do what we had planned to do in an hour. This was most difficult for Bear and Sassy who both have to put in contact lenses in addition to everything else. I’m not sure if Sassy got her usual double barrel in today.
In the scramble to get ready to settle in for the nearly hour long drive to be dropped off, we did have one casualty/omission. Somewhere along the line, one of Sassy’s hiking poles got lost or left behind. Sadly, it wasn’t discovered until we were unloading at the trailhead by which time it was too late. I have to take responsibility for this one. I loaded the poles which were all piled together in the sitting room. The only thing I can say in my defense is “Damn it, GCN. Why didn’t you wake us up so we didn’t have to rush?” (I could be a politician since I so easily pass the blame). I swear I counted 8 poles when I picked them up.
When we get to trail, GCN couldn’t accept going south and wanted to head north. Granted, I would have liked to head north as well, but if we did that today it would mean that we were skipping a section instead of going sobo. Sassy, Bunny, and I were out front so we missed Bear having to talk GCN into heading south. Guthook was referred to, but even then, GCN was still disoriented. While the direction discussion was happening, I asked Sassy if we should wait for them to catch up. She said “No. Bear is confessing to Chip about us, today.” I wondered what now? I knew they had lied to us about being married 14 instead of 13 years—nothing would surprise me after that betrayal.
Sassy told me that they felt the need to come clean to Chip about being section hikers. If we are all going to hike to a Katahdin together, Chip should know the truth. After the way Bear and Sassy had been treated at Hikers Welcome Hostel in NH, I told them when people ask when they started, either just answer April or let me answer for all of us and they can say April afterwards. I will establish that Bunny and I are thru-hiking but imply all of us in the response. Bear and Sassy are stronger hikers than us so the whole “section vs thru” is just BS. Bear’s conscience bothers him misrepresenting himself to GCN. Integrity and honesty get in the way once again. I just hope Chip doesn’t act like young thru-hikers who constantly snub us thinking that we are section hikers because we don’t smell bad enough. Not all thru-hikers are as welcoming of section scum like Bunny and I are.
When Bear and Good Chip Norris caught up with us, I decided to turn on some diplomacy to reduce GCN’s anxiety at being deceived by the knowledge that he was cavorting with mere section hikers (oh, the humanity!). GCN has been taken aback at times with how much the four of us sing along the trail while we are hiking. He has asked on numerous occasions “must everything that happens be a song?” (The short answer of which is “yes”). I feel, in my heart, that GCN might not have the pitch perfect vocal range that the four of us have been displaying on a regular basis. To assuage his fears and calm his nerves, I brought up the subject of musical influences in our lives.
I started out with an innocuous statement along the lines of “I really used to like Steve Winwood when I was in college. I even dressed like him for a while.” GCN then dropped a bombshell on me. “I used to dress like hooters.” The only hooters I know of are the girls from the restaurant with short, tight, orange shorts and t-shirts with owls on them where their breasts are. This was not what I would consider a good look for a young Chip Norris. When I started hyperventilating, GCN asked me what was wrong. When I explained the outfit and my picture of him, he changed his story to mean the group, “The Hooters” and not the waitresses. Nonetheless, I picked up my pace for a bit.
It was a steady, but not difficult climb to Poplar Ridge Lean-to where Inch Worm disappeared about 6 years ago. She was a woman in her early 60s solo hiking, but meeting her husband at road crossings almost every day. At the time of her disappearance, it gained national attention. It was speculated that she might have wandered into the Naval SERE training center next to the trail here. (SERE is an acronym for Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape). This is where terrorist scenarios are acted out by Seal teams and the CIA. The training is supposed to very intense and very real. It was a full 2 years until her body was found starved to death in her tent just a short distance off of the trail. In the end, it wasn’t anything sinister involved. She must have wandered off trail to pee and got disoriented—the woods are very thick when even moose can disappear with ease. She was on medicine to combat panic attacks but had run out.
After the shelter, GCN took a hard fall. He must have still been bewildered and disoriented from this morning’s revelation. We stop shortly after the fall to take a break and allow Chip to recover a bit. I noticed him sitting off by himself with his back to us. I wanted to approach him and help him become adjusted to the revelation that he was hiking with section hikers—after all, Bunny and I have had nearly 2 months to adjust ourselves. As I approached him, I heard sobs and soft whimpers coming from him while he kept repeating “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Clearly, he needed more alone time to adjust.
As we neared the ridge atop of Saddleback Mountain, GCN was beginning to become his old jovial self once again. I think I even heard him whistling a bit. The view from the ridge was amazing because a front had settled in the area immediately above the trail. In fact, the AT was the front with the cloud face lined up directly overhead. We stopped to admire the views before proceeding down into the abandoned ski area. It was much quicker today since we knew the area and what was in store ahead.
Once again, Staci picked us up and took us shopping for tomorrow. We had gone much faster than we had thought because it was still before 3 when we were all back at the hostel. We had time for naps and getting cleaned up before we crossed the street for supper. Staci will run our gear to Stratton Hotel (which she also owns) tomorrow after she drops us off. I am not going to make the mistake of carrying Bunny’s pack again. We will put all of our extra gear in trash bags for her to deliver.
We called it an early night after supper, but it was dark. Even though we won’t be rushed tomorrow, we all set multiple alarms in case the first, early riser is exceptionally quiet.
EFG