Category: 2018 Appalachian Trail

Two incidents of note happened last night. The first occurrence was right after we finished supper. The women folk naturally disappeared when it came time to pay. Whilst Bear, Good Chip Norris, and I handled the transaction (since it requires math, Bunny is right out the door) Sassy and Bunny exited the General Store only to discover an actual bear right outside the door. I hazard to include this bear in our overall bear count (currently at 8 which includes a scraggly bear in the trail side zoo in New York) because he didn’t pose a significant threat. We were all so excited to see a bear that we walked right up and touched it. Only Bear wanted to run, but we convinced him since it was dead and tagged, we would be fine. 

The second incident happened in the middle of the night. I was hot and  sleeping on top of the covers trying to cool off. I can only imagine that what I experienced was the drug thief returning to the scene of the crime. Our room was only one of two on a back stairway. There is no way anyone could accidentally enter by mistake. Since I was flipped in the bed, I heard the door as it began to creak open. When the intruder stuck his head in, I woke up and lifted my head. He quickly backed out. Bear also heard and saw him, but I thank my lucky stars he didn’t get up to pursue him since I have heard, Bear sleeps in the buff. Some things can’t be unseen. 

Returning from breakfast, we paid our hostel bills and said our goodbyes to Ilene, Naomi, and Gloria. We have spent 5 nights here at Pine Ellis and have really grown to like and respect these women. This may not be the fanciest place we’ve stayed at (not even in the top 10) but these women go all out for their guests. They know the trail in Maine well even though none of them have actually hiked it. They actually listen to everyone passing through. Add in running a hostel for the last 30 years and they are a great resource to hikers. Ilene will keep the hostel open as long as she is alive and able.

Gloria took us back to Route 17. We didn’t realize how high we were at the road, but we definitely noticed how hard Gloria’s minivan was struggling climbing back to the pass. The engine light even made an appearance on the drive (we thought she was slowing down to show us a moose). I hope her van makes it, especially since she is running all of our gear up to Fieldstone Cottages in Rangeley. Bear and Sassy chose to borrow day packs to use today while Bunny and I put all of our unneeded gear into my pack and shipped it on. That means I am wearing Bunny’s pack today. I don’t want to make adjustments to the way her pack fits me because it took us a while to get it dialed in for her. It’s a bit uncomfortable for me since her waist belt sits right on the bottom of my rib cage. 

Thank god it was an easy walk with very little climbing because Bunny’s pack was so annoying to me. This was the easiest 13 miles we have walked since Massachusetts. We walked along the shore of Moxie Pond then stopped for a snack at Sabbath Day Pond lean-to. Since Good Chip Norris started walking with us, I get to hear a lot of Bear’s stories for a second time. I mean this in a good way because I’ve only cried 3 times on the trail and all 3 times it’s because I was laughing at Bear’s stories.

Take Bear story #71. (I think Bear should write a book about his nearly 40 years working for NASA) I’ll give an abbreviated version of the story but know I won’t do it justice because Bear uses his entire body in the telling. In his earlier years, Bear (not the name he used at NASA) was in charge of developing a glove box (we’ve all seen versions on TV in the movies where scientists insert their arms into gloves to reach in a sealed box to do experiments to separate themselves from a virus—think Andromeda Strain or Outbreak) to be used in space. While testing the box on a shuttle mission, he was sitting in ground control with an English engineer and an engineer from the Netherlands who were involved with building the box. 

Astronauts don’t always follow all the rules, especially if they are unnecessary ones and they are in space on a mission (I’m not saying they don’t follow protocols, just that they exert their independence whenever possible without detriment to the mission). Since this was only a test of the glove box, they chose to remove the doors to ease in the functional checks. All of a sudden, Bear got a call from the mission control that the box was in alarm, “what is going on? We need an answer ASAP.” Bear responded he’d check into it, but the box was currently not in use. They would investigate and get an answer. Bear got the engineers to started while he had to step away for a moment.

When he returned, both engineers were sitting straight up and smiling. The English engineer said “We have an answer to the alarm. What we have is an excess of mee-thane.” Then he showed a video clip of an astronaut’s butt floating by the box just before the alarm started going off. Bear, responded that he could not go to ops based upon this video. The engineer from Netherlands said they had more proof. To check their hypothesis, he went to the restroom and farted into a ziplock bag. He then brought the bag to the filter array in the glove box they had in ground control and squeezed the contents into the box. The alarm immediately went off…Mee-thane! They both stopped talking, sat up straight, and smiled more intensely at Bear. “What else?” Bear asked. The English engineer just said “Since you are in charge, you have to go explain this to ground control.”

It was a bit chilly walking after lunch with the feel of a light mist in the air, but no rain. We got picked up at ME Route 4 where we ran into a sobo stopping in Rangeley for the night. When we got to the hostel, the owner, Staci, talked to us about slack packing opportunities for another 3 days. The only catch is that we would have to do a southbound day. I was immediately against this since I am hiking north bound. We agreed that we would slack pack tomorrow and think about the next day in the mean time. Staci also told us that Ilene had called ahead and told her we were great guests and to help us out however she could. What she immediately did for us is tell us that we had the place to ourselves. Even though there were 8 berths, she was not going to allow anyone else to stay if we agreed to stay for 3 nights. We just had to let her know by tomorrow. 

We ventured out to Sarge’s Pub and Grub for supper. I was a bit down thinking about how I’ve thrown away this hike, first with slack packing, and now, about to do a southbound hike for a day. I tried not to think much about it, but I was very down feeling like I have failed at this hike. I’ve been a purist all the way up to here. Almost 2000 miles in and I have always hiked northbound without skipping a single white blaze. I know lots of people skip entire sections of trail and still have no problem saying they have thru-hiked the AT. I know…”hike your own hike,” but part of my hike IS judging how others hike. Now I’ve got to apply those same judgemental standards to myself and I’m not happy about it. 

On the bright side, we do have a great setup at this hostel with European style beds. We have 8 bunks with curtains to block out light if someone wants to stay up when we are ready to sleep, or, vice versa. We have individual lights and outlets at each bunk. We have our own bathroom for the 5 of us as well as a refrigerator, microwave, refrigerator, and even a kitchen table. This will be our 6th straight night sleeping in a bed and showering. I’m afraid we’re all getting soft. 

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It looks like we might finally have this “walking without a big load” thing down to a science. Sassy got her pain/anti-inflammatory meds yesterday and we are all freshly fortified with an ice cream infusion of strength so we are on our way to our most ambitious day in a while. To outsiders, we might look like a “dawn of the dead” crew hobbling along the trail, but to ourselves, we are more like the fantastic four (apparently, even I forget that I’m here—I have quickly become the fifth wheel in the group). Being an acquired taste even in the best of circumstances, I am still trying to keep a low profile in the hopes that I will have people to walk with all the way to Katahdin. 

Gloria dropped us where we left off the day before yesterday, at the bottom of a gap which is South Arm Road.  This means we get to spend the first 3 miles climbing 2200’ to the summit of Old Blue Mountain.  Today is a special day unlike any other we have experienced to date on the trail (not that just being on the AT isn’t special enough on its own). Today is Bear and Sassy’s wedding anniversary. 

When we started hiking with them way back in Massachusetts, they had told us they had been married for 14 years. I do remember details irregardless of what Bunny might say. Coming upon an overlook with a bench, I declined  the seat deferring to the much older married couple in our party (I’m not sure if people are aware that I am, as usual, the youngest member of our tramily). With youth, comes the responsibility of showing respect to one’s elders. I offered them the bench to enjoy in their golden years and followed up with a hearty “Happy 15th anniversary.” Bear said thanks, but said this was just their 14th anniversary. My head was spinning. Our whole relationship has been based upon lies from the beginning. Who are these old people I am hiking with? 

Old Blue had turned out to be a bust for views being completely surrounded by short trees. If we sat down, the views were completely blocked, that’s why this bench and overlook after the summit were so special. After our break where these strangers hogged a bench forcing Bunny, Good Chip Norris, and I to sit on the ground soiling ourselves in the process (I can only speak for myself when I mention the soiling was from the dirt and not from built up internal intestinal forces…as usual, GCN was sitting a little by himself so I must assume intestinal issues on his part). 

I must point out something about GCN at this point. I’ve noticed that he is starting to dress like me. Dark shorts, red shirt, glasses, and a bandanna around his head. I don’t know if I should be flattered or concerned. Is he committing crimes along the trail and is trying to frame me for his deeds? Is there about to be a great “Payday heist” where I am being set up to be the fall-guy? Or am I like the little brother he never had? Maybe he’s missing being a member of a tight group where he can dress like everyone around him. Or maybe the ladies of Pine Ellis have been coming on too strong for him and he’s trying to take advantage of their failing eyesight to pass their attention off to me—he’s talking of his wife more and more of late and how he is missing her.

The rest of the day’s hike was pretty easy after the first steep climb. We stayed on top of a ridge bobbing between 3000’ and 3500’ for the next 7 miles. I know I was dead set against slack packing, but I do think I’m beginning to feel a bit better after a few days of lighter loads. Bear and Sassy had been debating about stopping before the Whites until we all started hiking together. Knowing that there were other people in their same age demographic (even though I am younger, but age doesn’t really matter, but I AM younger despite my old man hobble) gave them the desire to finish the trail. They probably would have continued on even if we hadn’t hooked up, but misery really does love company. Sassy also needed the break for her knees. GCN has been having knee problems for years so he also welcomes the lighter loads. 

We did run across some unexpected magic as we dropped down to Bemis Mountain Road. This late in the year, we are not expecting to run across people still out supporting hikers. Most of the people we were hiking with early on are probably finishing right about now or have finished in the last couple of weeks. Even with eating town food every day while slack packing, it’s still a pleasure to get free food along the trail. I know the ATC doesn’t really like people giving food to hikers. They consider it akin to feeding wildlife. The Forest Service has been known to run off angels performing “hiker feeds.” This proved to be very disappointing back in NH when we were in the area of the omelette guy. I don’t even like eggs but I would have been willing to eat a free omelette. 

All that was left after the magic was a small 1000’ climb up to Route 17 in the remaining mile of trail. Bunny and I were starting to drag compared to the old farts in the group showing that our age advantage isn’t worth much (other than bragging rights). We could hear everyone hanging out on the road “ewwing” and “ahhing” but we had no idea why. When we got merged onto the road we understood. Route 17 runs above Mooselookmeguntic Lake and the sun was starting to set. It used to be, people would ask me what my favorite state was on the AT. I would refuse to pick saying that each state had something special to offer (even New Hampshire). Now, without a doubt, my favorite state is Maine and it gets more so with each passing day. 

Gloria’s timing was off a bit today. We were on the road for a full 5 minutes before she showed up. I guess we can cut her a bit of slack since it’s almost an hour drive from the hostel. These ladies have really made the difference for our hike here in Maine. We were all hurting and having doubts about being able to finish in time without having to flip. I’m not saying we are 100% yet, but we are definitely getting better and we owe a lot to Gloria, Naomi, and Ilene at Pine Ellis Hostel. 

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Groundhog Day 3 at Pine Ellis. We met in the kitchen before heading to the general store for breakfast once again. Bear has found a hole in the breakfast ordering—he orders 2 easy over eggs and, inevitably, she is in such a hurry that she forgets and scrambles them. She then makes him an additional 2 eggs the right way but he’s forced to eat 2 scrambled abortions while he waits. I refuse to walk behind Bear these days remembering how Round About was effected when she ate her dozen eggs in a single 24 hour period. I have noticed a strong competition for the caboose spot when we are hiking now that we regularly get town food in the morning. 

After breakfast we came back to pack up but Sassy couldn’t find her prescription anti-inflammatory meds. This doesn’t really surprise me as Bear and Sassy usually misplace at least one thing a day which causes them a little panic attack before they remember their safe keeping place and retrieve the missing item. We waited for 20 minutes while they searched through everything. They haven’t taken this long to find something since Bear “misplaced” his underwear in Sassy’s sleeping bag. Good Chip Norris, Bunny, and I sat on the porch and discussed taking a zero if they couldn’t find her pills soon. It was past our shuttle time and I knew Sassy really did need her pills because she had given me her old pills (800 mg ibuprofen with Pepcid) because they weren’t strong enough for her. I went and talked with Ilene about staying another night. They were hesitant until she found out I was including Good Chip in the additional night, then she was all on board. 

Sassy came down and said she was ready to go. We asked if she had found the pills. She hadn’t. We told her we would take a zero if she could get a refill. In the interim, we tossed the room. A crack addict wouldn’t have searched as thoroughly as Bear and I did. We went through every item and checked on, around, and under all the furniture. We even pulled the carpet up and checked. There was only one possibility, they had to have be stolen because they were on the bed when we went to breakfast. There were several other hikers staying at the hostel whom we haven’t met before. Sadly, there’s always someone willing to pop unknown pills. We made sure to let everyone know that anti-inflammatories (and NOT OxyContin!) were missing in the hopes that the thief would put them in the hiker box when he/she discovered no buzz possibility. No luck.

Bear and Sassy got a shuttle to a drug store in a nearby town to get a refill while BT and GCN napped. I chose to make more productive use of my time by watching a Vin Diesel movie; Triple X. I now understand why Vin Diesel accepted the role of a tree in Guardians of the Galaxy. After Triple X, he’s lucky to get any work at all. Playing a tree that only makes one sound, although not challenging to most actors, is definitely stretching his abilities to their limit. Let’s keep it to “groot” and call it a day. 

One of the hikers staying here is a fellow named Hollywood. He’s approximately a day ahead of us on the trail and tells us everything about what we will be encountering in excruciating detail. If we were asking for the info, this might be nice, but we’re generally just waiting in line for the bathroom and don’t want the f-bomb laden narrative. I’ve tried to interrupt him on several occasions to ask if he’s waiting for the bathroom, but I can’t break in to ask. In reality, I am very impressed by his ability to talk non-stop for 20 minutes without taking a breath—talk about potential cardio/vascular potential. 

When Bear and Sassy got back with the new shipment of drugs, we continued to have a leisurely afternoon eating ice cream and chilling. The women seemed very happy to have Good Chip one more day. He has a bunk room to himself. I’m convinced that they are giving him space in the hopes of getting lucky. I’m sure that if would put out a little, we could all get our bills comped. Give one for the team Good Chip Norris.

At supper, we did see a bear, but we have decided to not add it to our overall count. It is hunting season in Maine and BooBoo was quietly hiding in the back of a pickup truck. Truth of the matter, he was sleeping so soundly that we walked right by him without him even flinching. Bunny wasn’t interested in the bear, she only has eyes for moose these days.

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It’s amazing how quickly we can build a routine. We got up and met in the kitchen again before heading over to the general store for breakfast. The waitress already knows us (at least 4 out of 5: one of our group seems to be invisible). Ever since Hikers Welcome Hostel, I’ve tried to keep my mouth shut a little bit. For anyone who possibly remembers me, at least they will understand this is a difficult task at best. I am missing something most people seem to have. Namely, a filter between thoughts and mouth. In my case, things are out of my mouth before I even realize I’m thinking about it. 

I’ve been trying to study other people’s behavior and determine where I’m at a deficit. There are many, but the most apparent right off the bat from traveling with Bear, Sassy, and Good Chip is that they truly are thoughtful and polite to people from the get-go. My inclination is to focus on the impending task and ignore the person I’m dealing with (I still believe I’m somewhere on the autistic spectrum). Chip is polite almost to a fault (not that that is even possible). He thanks everyone for everything they do and acknowledges any effort they put out. Maybe this is from his years of being a general works supervisor, but he definitely deserves the adjective “good” Chip.

When Gloria dropped us off today, we agreed upon a location to call in so she could decide when to pick us up. Today was another glorious day; perfect, actually. We are hiking in our last state with clear blue skies and a fantastic dirt track. Sure, there are some roots in the trail, but nothing that equals the group mentality that Maine’s trails are trying to kill us. Just as in Pennsylvania, if you slow down a bit, the trail is enjoyable. A day like today makes me believe that one day, I might even have fond memories of New Hampshire. I might go so far as to believe I might even forgive the lying bastards at Big Agnes (no, I haven’t been drinking or smoking weed which is legal in Maine).

What’s in a name? I’m thinking about this today because of Good Chip. The women at Pine Ellis are practically swooning over him by now. I try to convince everyone to call him Sponge Worthy Chip because Ilene, Gloria, and Naomi have been undressing him with their eyes whenever he walks into the room. Did I mention the average age of the 3 ladies in well north of 70? I guess I’m the only Seinfeld fan in our group. 

We spent much more time walking together today and talking. We got some more background on Good Chip. He had told us that he had been bitten by a snake. We got more details today. He was walking along the trail and thought he had been stung from stepping on a ground hive so he picked up his pace to put distance between him and the hive. Being “good” Chip, he even warned southbound hikers to be aware of the hive. It wasn’t until the next night when Chip got to town that he washed up and discovered a pair of bite holes in his ankle. Since his foot was swollen, he decided to go get it checked out at the local ER. The Dr. told him that he had probably been bitten by a copperhead when he stepped on it. Fortunately, mature snakes don’t tend to waste venom on animals that are too big to swallow so it was probably just a warning bite. Chip was told he wasn’t in danger since he hadn’t really had an adverse reaction in the first 48 hours. They gave him an ace bandage and a Benadryl and sent him on his way. Bear thought this sounded like a Chuck Norris story…”Chuck Norris got bit by a snake and the snake died.” Henceforth, Chip will be known as Good Chip Norris. 

Now that Good Chip Norris has been born right before our eyes, I think I should explain how the rest of us got our trail names. Sassy, other than being a bit so, is actually an acronym for “Steady As She Sashays Yon.” When Bear and Sassy began the trail 14 years ago, they were walking with a lot of young, testosterone driven men. They would blow by Gina on the downhill sections but would Peter out on the steep uphill climbs in GA. Gina, at that time of life,  maintained the same steady pace at all times. Inevitably, she would pass the testosterone yutes on the uphill, thus pissing them off. Hence, Steady as she Sashays. I’m pretty sure Bear added the yon to cover up calling her sassy. 

On the same section that year, Ron was a tad bit afraid of running into a bear. They had been sitting around a campfire one evening and gotten him “hyper aware” of the bear menace. The next day while hiking, he heard a couple of bears in the brush beside the trail and yelled out a warning to everyone. The “bears” turn out to be a couple of very happy black labs. That wasn’t enough to seal the deal for him, though. That night while sleeping, he was making bear sounds in his sleep (some might say snoring). This might explain why I have never seen him actually sleeping because the sassy woman he shares a tent with might not take kindly to having a bear close to her and choose to beat it. Poor, sleepless Bear.

Bunny Tracks chose her own name, but I will verify that “Bunny” had to be a part of her name. Before we assumed a trail life, I lived in what can only be termed “Bunny Hell.” She has a rabbit fetish unparalleled in the annals of human history. When we packed everything into storage, the heaviest and biggest box was filled with nothing but rabbits. I’m sure they’ll all be dead before we get let them out of the box, but, such is life. She likes to say she likes to make tracks like a bunny. I say, remember, that the bunny ultimately lost the race to the turtle and Bunny Tracks is NOT rewriting that story. 

My name speaks for itself. I am Easily Forgotten. My ex-wife didn’t recognize me when I ran into her at the gym a mere 4 months after our divorce. One of my better friends from high school didn’t remember me at all when I ran into him at the mall. He even introduced me to his wife…one of our classmates who had also forgotten me. Hell, I’ll even be standing in front of a urinal peeing and it will forget I am there and flush. That is not an ego boost at all. 

Way back when we started hiking this trail, there was a group of four old guys who started calling themselves the Four Horsemen. They started within a couple days of us and were suffering from the thought of testosterone lost. They were hiking 25 mile days right out of the box. We thought this was incredibly stupid (and not just because we are completely unable to do so). Sure enough, the first horseman had to drop out because of tendinitis by the time they got to Hot Springs. Ultimately, only one made it past Damascus before we stopped hearing about them. (They were in Damascus before we made Hot Springs.) Today, I ran into a guy hiking southbound who said he started in mid February. We were talking about people we both knew before I realized he was one of the Horsemen. He had made it all the way to New Jersey before he had to get off trail because of a stress fracture in his foot. I told him I wasn’t surprised they had all gotten injured pushing themselves so hard. He honestly didn’t think there was any connection since he had made it all the way to NJ. I think the medical world needs to explain diagnosis to patients a bit better. 

We stopped on top of Moody Mountain after a very fun climb. We had climbed 1200’ in the last mile and a half, but the trail was a blast. There were handholds and steps where needed. There were manageable scrambles. Most importantly, there was a trail to be followed with assistance where needed. We had a snack, called for our ride, and soaked up the views. There were windmills in the distance and the color change is becoming more apparent every day. I even called my parents and talked a bit. 

Gloria told us she’d meet us in 45 minutes. I thought that was a little aggressive since my left knee was hurting a bit, but I learned my lesson to not argue. She pulled up just as we emerged onto the road. We got another cup of piss-laden lemonade to enjoy on the short drive back to the hostel. That night we decided to splurge and eat at the Little Red Hen and carb up on an AYCE Italian Buffet. This was not the place to eat if your chosen lifestyle is gluten free.  Good Chip Norris declared himself gluten free intolerant. 

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The tramily had decided to get up and go out for breakfast at 7. We were scheduled for an 8:30 shuttle back to the trailhead in Grafton Notch, so we had plenty of time to eat and get our day’s gear ready. When we got down into the kitchen, we saw a board listing room assignments. Bear, Sassy, Bunny, and I were listed in the upstairs room, but Ilene had modified the listing for the outside bunk room as a compromise that the women could tolerate. The sole inhabitant was “Good Chip.”

We have worked out a plan to slack pack a little over 46 miles in the next 4 days. This very reasonable hiking schedule is 10 miles today and tomorrow with 2 days of 13 miles each to finish off our stay here. Sadly, I have to agree to the slack packing or risk not being able to finish the trail this year. I’ve always said I would only resort to slack packing as a last resort and I think I am there with my knees. 

Ever since Pinkham Notch, I had been pondering my own mortality. The end of my life has always seemed nonexistent but now with my episodes of blacking out climbing Wildcat, my falling in NJ from the heat, the constant pain in my heel from plantar fasciitis, and now both of my knees starting to fail, I’ve got to really consider the possibility that I am not an immortal. In recent years, I’ve tried to insulate myself from facing my failings by continually lowering my expectations. As I’ve stated before, I’ve lowered my expectations to the point that I just don’t want to wallow in my own excrement. Thru-hiking the AT has proven to me that I’m still aiming too high. I guess I have no choice but lower my expectations for the trail and slack pack. Since we will be staying in hostels through southern Maine, I should be able to delay the excrement wallowing for at least another few weeks. 

Gloria dropped us off in Grafton Notch and we started our first day of slack packing. I admit, it felt great not having all that weight on me. Even though we were climbing, I was able to move quickly and, seemingly, effortlessly. I decided to really open up my legs and see how fast I could go without a load. Bear and I agreed that we’d all meet at the Bald Pate Lean-to for a snack and then I took off. 

I averaged 19 minute miles up to the lean-to. That is in excess of 3 mph. Not exactly a blistering pace in today’s fast paced artificial world, but for a dying, homeless, jobless, black sheep, old man, AT thru-hiker, it’s a good clip. I almost missed the side trail to the lean-to because the sun was in my eyes, but I saw a couple of hikers turn so I caught it. I got to the shelter, dropped my pack, went and got water, pulled out a snack, and talked to the other hikers, yet no members of my tramily showed up. 

The hikers I had followed in were a father/son combination. The son took off to find the latrine and I asked Brian how old his son is. He said “My daughter is 9.” I apologized and he said don’t worry about it, his daughter purposely wanted to be initially thought of as a boy because people treat girls on the trail so differently. A 9 year old girl already sees this? Smart kid. Rocket carried all of her own gear and share of food. Brian and Rocket started in New York and are heading to Katahdin. 

Bear and Good Chip showed up while I was talking to Brian and Rocket. Eventually, Sassy showed up, but neither Bear or Sassy brought their packs to the lean-to. Bunny was struggling today, walking even slower than if she were carrying her full pack. It was apparent to me that Bunny was not taking to this whole slack packing scheme and wanted to carry her full load. She’s the first person I’ve heard of that hikes slower when slack packing. I went back out to the trail and stayed back with her the rest of the day while everyone else blew on ahead. 

The real reason we headed over to Bald Pate Lean-to was to check it out for Peter and Marcia. After they did their AT hikes, they decided to “pay back” the experience by maintaining this shelter and section of trail. They were caretakers here for over a decade coming out a few times a year to do maintenance. They even built the latrine here. They had asked us to check out the lean-to when we passed. It’s been over a decade since they were caretakers, but this still holds a special place in their hearts. I went to have a look at the latrine and was dismayed by the smell—it’s in need of a little TLC. 

The climbing became a bit steeper but it was a world of difference with a light load on our backs. Bunny has been pushed to her body’s limit and needs this slack packing to heal up. We emerged above tree line to what I can only describe as my new favorite mountain…Bald Pate. We traversed the obligatory bog near the summit but made the final ascent up a huge piece of granite to join the rest of our tramily having lunch at the peak. Rocket passed Bunny and said “Isn’t this a glorious mountain and day?” It truly was and this is an amazing little girl.

There was another hiker at the summit talking with everyone. It was a day hiker out bagging another 4K peak on her free day working for the forest service. We all sat and talked while we ate our sandwiches (yes, bread in the backcountry as well as daily showers, lightweight packs, and sleeping in beds—I might allow myself to be tricked into liking slack packing). 

There was some wet patches on the north face of the granite slabs as we headed down. It was steep and could have been painful if we fell, but we are older, experienced, slow moving hikers. Bear, Sassy, and Good Chip waited for us. We took a break at Frye Notch Lean-to for a snack. There is another peak and plateau after the lean-to where we were supposed to call into Pine Ellis as it was the last place where we would be able to get a signal (Verizon only, Good Chip is slowly morphing into Great Thing He’s Here Chip). It was still almost 6 miles from our pickup point. Naomi told us she’d send Gloria in 2 hours. I demurred, thinking 2.5 to 3 hours and everyone else reluctantly agreed. It was decided 2.5 hours. Just as we got to the road, Gloria pulled up. It had only been 1 hour and 55 minutes. From now on, we will listen to what these women tell us. They’ve been around for a while. 

Gloria picked us up and offered us lemonade once again. She told us that Ilene’s husband, Paul who died 7 years ago, had started the hostel and loved being around hikers. He always had lemonade when he picked them up and always sent them off with an apple when they returned to the trail. Ilene really isn’t up to maintaining the hostel by herself, but she promised Paul to keep it open by whatever means she could muster. Gloria and her sister, Naomi, are helping her keep it going as much as they are able. Good Chip said this is the best lemonade he’s ever had and what’s the secret ingredient. Without missing a beat, Gloria said “I piss in it.” 

Getting back to the hostel that evening, I softened my views on its cleanliness. This is a hostel filled with love for hikers and for Ilene’s deceased husband. Ilene is 82 and barely gets around, Naomi is practically blind but does whatever she can to help, and Gloria is running shuttles to help out while caring for another sister who is handicapped. Who cares if the place is a little run down. This hostel is a living tribute to Paul being run by three old ladies who should be in their golden years enjoying their lives. I have a new appreciation for Pine Ellis. 

I’m still bothered about losing our package from Alice. It’s not so much the food as it is the letter she includes with each shipment. Bunny and Alice lived just a few blocks from each other growing up but they lost touch with each other over the years when Alice went away for school. It’s been fun piecing together who Alice is. I have never met her. We haven’t given up on the box yet and we had some time to follow up with UPS today when we got back. We were able to find out the box weighed 38# and was signed for by a person named “Customer”. Surely, there can’t be very many “Customers” in Bethel, ME.

EFG

It happened. She finally did it. After 7 months of saying it was going to happen, Bunny finally got up before me and went moose hunting. Actually, she woke me up, and, for 20 minutes, gave me a play by play of what she was going to do which culminated with “get a picture of a moose.” By the time she got done with the explanation, all the moose had had plenty of time to leave the state (which is what they did). I just hope Bear doesn’t get word of the new early rising Bunny.

While Bunny was out chasing phantom moose, I had plenty of time to prepare breakfast for her so we could eat when she got back from the hunt. I’m not as worried about everyone ditching me this morning now that we have slept in near proximity to Chip. I’m not saying it was him, but, coming from his direction was a nice, steady, loud, snore. Not the kind that Sassy claims Bear ventriloquates to her, but a deep, rumbling, second chance for EFG. 

As soon as we were ready, Bunny and I took off to climb Old Speck. It was not a clear morning; there was low cloud cover which we soon climbed into. I was trying to build up a bit of a head start today because both of my knees are hurting. I suppose I have been putting extra pressure on my right leg to compensate for my left and now it’s catching up to me. Even with our 15 minute head start on everyone, we were all together when we got to the summit trail to the fire tower. Since we were in full fog, we decided to skip the side trip to the tip top. 

We did take the opportunity to have a snack while giving the weather a chance to clear. Chip had his first Payday of the day. We have discovered Chip has a problem. He’s a peanut addict, more specifically, a Payday addict. It became apparent last night when he was setting up his hammock. Out of the blue, he stood up and said, “Hi. My name is Chip and I’m addicted to Paydays.” He was kind of forced into the declaration when one of his food bags spilled out about 50 King Size, shareable bars. Not once has he shared. We assured him, we were all in this together. I admitted to my M&M addiction, Bear admitted to his Oreo addiction, Sassy admitted to her gluten-free addiction, and Bunny admitted to her bunny addiction (collecting, not eating). We had a group hug and put Chip to bed before returning to our platform and talking about him behind his back…doh! I wasn’t supposed to say that, but, let me reiterate…he has never shared a Payday, with anyone!

Sassy did promise us fogged in summits in which she has been very true to her word. What she didn’t tell us was that the minute she and Bear leave a summit, 9 times out of 10, the weather will clear. It’s been true on Mt Washington, Franconia Ridge, Mt Killington, as well as today, on Old Speck. If we were smart enough to pick up on this trend, we would send them on ahead so we could have our clear views. In reality, I did recognize this trend, but I was afraid to let Chip wander off by himself with a 25# bag of Paydays. I’d hate to come find him in a sugar coma when all he needed was a sponsor close by. 

Heading down into Grafton Notch we did run into lots of day hikers under clear blue skies. The trail was gorgeous—a dirt track with…switchbacks! Could it be that Maine just put on a hard face to trick us into thinking she would be just as bad as New Hampshire? Truth of the matter is that Speck Pond Campsite is the last AMC controlled area we will come into contact with. I do believe the AMC trail maintenance responsibilities end at the summit of Old Speck because it was at this location where actual maintenance began. 

At a lower overlook (where we had a great view of the clear summit of Old Speck), Chip used his Verizon wireless phone to call Pine Ellis and arrange a pickup time in Grafton Notch at the bottom of our descent. Bear and Sassy have AT&T service while Bunny has Straight Talk; both of which have been completely useless to us for a couple of hundred miles now. (I, am not allowed to carry a phone and get ridiculed for asking to even asking to touch Bunny’s phone.) But Chip, with Verizon and enough Paydays to see us through the darkest of times may prove to be the most valuable member of our tramily.

Gloria picked us up and offered us ice cold lemonade to drink. I asked her to please take us to Bethel, ME, where our trail Angel, Alice has sent us another package of food. On the way, Bunny claimed to recognize a brewery we ate at with Peter and Marcia, but I don’t trust her memory…she doesn’t even remember the bridge in Hanover. It doesn’t matter that Peter and Marcia don’t remember taking us, either. It seems I’m the only one with a working memory of past events. Just because the three other people have forgotten, I’m supposed to believe that I dreamt up the bridge over the Connecticut River? 

We went by the B&B where the package was sent, but there wasn’t a package for us. The owner was very nice and took me in and showed me where she kept the packages and let me look. She even took me out to her car to see if she had left it in there by accident. Gloria took us by the post office in the off chance that they had it, but nothing. We eventually gave up looking for today. I don’t have a lot of faith in any of the delivery services: FedEx, UPS, or the USPS. Each one of them has lied about making deliveries to us at one point or another on this journey.

We gave up and headed to Pine Ellis. Gloria saw a hitchhiker and asked if we minded picking him up. She could tell he was a real hiker because of his hobble. We actually recognized him and said it was fine with us. He had hitched a ride but the driver had taken him in the opposite direction of what he wanted and now he had a 7 mile road walk to get back to Andover instead of the 3 he would have had if he hadn’t hitched. 

Inside, at Pine Ellis, we went in to register with Ilene (the owner) and Naomi (Gloria’s sister who handles the day to day operation of the hostel). We told them we were interested in slack packing as much as we could in the next few days and they came up with a plan for us to get in 4 days worth while staying here. They started bills for all of us and asked our names. 

When Chip gave his name, there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. There was a collective gasp by the three women. Ilene came right out and said she doesn’t like the name of Chip and could she call him something else—Charles, Chuck, anything? Chip said that was his name. He’s made it over 1900 miles and doesn’t have a trail name. They reluctantly agreed to call him Chip, but we could all see they were starting to line up for the mouthwash to get the name out of there mouths. Bear, Sassy, Bunny, and I all got a room upstairs which had 2 double beds in it, and Chip was put in an outside bunkhouse (by his request—he was afraid he might snore. It was him last night!) Chip doesn’t mind snoring around strangers, but since he was now part of our group, he is trying to minimize the impact on us.

We had time to clean up and start laundry before going out for some food. While we were getting cleaned up, Pappy stopped by to visit Ilene. Pappy is the oldest person ever to attempt a thru-hike. He’s 87. We started within a few days of each other in Georgia, but we missed meeting him. We had heard he had flipped up to Katahdin and was heading south, so we were looking forward to meeting him, now here he was at our hostel. Pappy had stayed here when he thru-hiked the AT in the late 90s. It was such a treat to see the reunion with Ilene.

Loner Boner was also staying at our hostel. I wanted to ask him about his name, I thought it might be some reference to viagra and being old. I’m glad I didn’t ask. Boner is his last name and he’s solo hiking for his third time. He’s 78 and has terminal bone cancer. Most people who run into him on the trail ask him if he’s Pappy, so the first thing he asked Pappy was “Are you Loner Boner?” as a payback for the mistaken identity. 

EFG

Seven months ago today we started the Appalachian Trail. Everyone that started near or with us has finished or gotten off the trail. We’ve been checking logs and have seen several people that were at this shelter over a month ago: Lil Blue, Bear Foot, Geo, and Summit are still hiking together, RTK, and Pit Boss, all should be done by now. We’re still almost a month away but we’re still going. Both of my knees are hurting. I think I’ve been over compensating with my right leg to make up for my left. I’m definitely in the area of diminishing returns as far as trail legs go.

It was supposed to be nice today. When we woke up, we were still in a fog…literally. We’ve been in a fog for months, metaphorically. It did start clearing up a bit before we packed up, but not enough that our stuff dried out. My pack felt a lot heavier because everything was soaked. 

I made the mistake a long time ago when I told Bunny we would have to crawl under boulders in Mahoosuc Notch. Since that time, in her mind, the boulder has grown to a mile long cave with mud on the bottom and no light. Bunny is claustrophobic (a gift from her mother and sister). 

We had a mile and a half of trail with small 400’ climb up and over Fulling Mill Mountain before we even got to the gap. The trail was filled with lots of boulders and climbing even before we got to the Notch. Maine is not going to make it easy for us. 

With all the rain of the last couple of days and hearing there might be ice down low in the boulder field, Bunny and I overdressed. We both wore long pants and long sleeve shirts. I was overheating during the first climb and my left leg was throbbing from all the trail obstacles. I am getting worried about my chances of finishing this trail. I’m hoping the slack packing will give me a chance to recover. It’s getting close to the time when Bunny will have to choose whether she is going to ditch me and hike on with Bear and Sassy or get drug down by my pace. 

Mahoosuc Notch turned out to be a monster under the bed for us. This is one of the things (like Pennsylvania, Mount Washington, Moosilauke, etc) we have been worrying about for so long that turned out to not be bad at all. It was actually quite fun. Most people (meaning young weedlings) take between an hour and a half to two hours to navigate through the maze of rocks. We took two hours and forty minutes which included a twenty minute break about half way. Not bad for old folk (and me with weak legs). 

We were right behind Chip all the way from camp through the Notch. He’s another entertaining guy that’s fun to hike with. He just retired last year and has been planning on hiking the AT for years. He’s also having problems with his knees, but it’s more of a bone on bone problem than overused muscles. He could very easily replace me in the foursome and no one would even notice. He is going to slack pack with us for a few days so this is his trial replacement window. I think my days are numbered. 

What makes the day tough for nobos isn’t necessarily Mahoosuc Notch, but the climb up Mahoosuc Arm afterwards. We have to climb 1700’ in about a mile. If these were nice trails with some switchbacks, that wouldn’t be an issue. What we have for a trail is bare rocks where the top soil has eroded away. It’s steep and slick most of the way. Hikers have been hiking on the edge of the trail in tree roots to try and make steps. It’s treacherous at best. 

The higher we climbed, the further behind I fell. Bunny would occasionally yell back to make sure I was still climbing, but Chip was up front of the group. By the time I caught up at the top, they were all laughing and having a good time. I’ve already been replaced. I’m only still here because I carry the tent, stove, and food. 

On the way to the shelter, Chip had phone signal and was able to call ahead for reservations for slack packing the next couple of days. He’s also got better electronics. My days have been reduced to hours. 

While Chip was taking care of reservations, I hobbled on ahead so I could get to camp about the same time everyone else did. I figured if I wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t even make it through the night before I was forgotten. I did my best to set the tent up, get water, and cook supper without complaint. I know I’m on thin ice with this group. I tried to keep quiet all day thinking it was best to not draw attention to the fact that I’m still around. 

After supper, Bunny, Sassy, Bear, and I went down to Speck Pond to look for wildlife. Bunny really wants to see a moose so I had better be there to spot one to secure my place in the pack. I know an outsider in a wolf pack comes in and has to work his way up the hierarchy, but with humans, new members are prized right away. In both cases, the weak are shunned and eaten. I’m afraid to go to sleep tonight. 

EFG

It rained like hell all night long. Gusty winds so strong I couldn’t hear anyone farting on the platform (but I could still feel the rumble of the boards when Bunny or Bear cut one—animal farts are of a deep resonant quality). I admit to farting, but only when I’m walking, peeing, or sleeping which are socially acceptable times.  I’m very social conscious. Sometimes, I’ll even drop to the back of the line when hiking to be nice to everyone. Sometimes, not often. 

Today was an unexpected and unplanned for zero. We all agreed that with our minor ailments, it would be best to not try to tackle the Notch in the rain. It’s a good thing that we haven’t taken a tent zero before now. It was very relaxing. All we had to do was sleep, eat, and pee (some things are constants with old men). 

I did go down to get water a couple of times. The first time, it was still raining lightly and the shelter was still full of the rude hikers from last night. Normally, if you come to a shelter, people will try to make space for new comers if it’s raining. This group actually spread out to make sure we wouldn’t even ask for space. After noon, it stopped raining and the shelter emptied out. Only Chip stayed in camp with us today. After everyone left, Chip told us that he had cell coverage and tomorrow was going to be a nice day to go through the Notch. 

While we were lying around between naps, Bear broached the topic of slack packing. We are 1905 miles into the trail and we haven’t slack packed yet. Marcia tried to get me to consider it a few days ago to take some impact off of my leg. I wasn’t ready for it then, but after the pain returned yesterday, I knew I had to consider it or possibly not complete the trail. I’ve been pushed into a corner. 

Bear talked about a hostel in Andover that would slack pack us for about 50 miles through southern Maine. I just kept quiet while he, Bunny, and Sassy talked it up. When they got done he said “well, consider it.” I borrowed the phone from Bunny (since I’m not permitted one) and checked out the hostel. I knew we had to do it if we wanted to complete the trail as true nobos. When I agreed, no one could believe that I had done so. 

Once we get to Grafton Notch, I will violate one of my criteria for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.  I vowed that I would carry my pack the entire way unless I was injured or near death. My leg has caused me to accept slack packing as an option.  When we get done, I’m going to cut the bastard off for betraying me. 

We all went to the shelter to have supper with Chip. He did find my pack cover last night and told me this morning. My bandanna loss was a necessary precursor for Chip to consider picking up the pack cover. May “Old Red” find a new home where he will be appreciated as much. He has travelled with me from Delaware Water Gap and wiped hundreds of gallons of sweat from my head, neck, and arms. He may have smelled bad at times, but he did his job well. I will miss him dearly. At least I still have Bunny by my side. I just hope that if she falls behind, someone will be kind enough to pick her up, stuff her in his pack, and return her to me like Chip did with my pack cover. 

EFG

After yesterday’s relatively easy day of hiking along actual trails, we were lulled into a trap. Bear did wake up before 6 and woke Sassy up at 6:10. She was having none of that (you go girl). We all got moving around 6:30 with eventual departure at 8:30 making us the last ones to leave. Even Chip, who is a slow mover and late starter beat us out of camp. Why were we so slow? The easy answer is Bear is a Southern Boy and doesn’t like cold. It would be easy to blame our slow start on Bear, so I will. 

Truth of the matter is we were all sluggish and tired of the trail (or lack there of). One of the things we like to do while hiking is look around, but it’s not safe to do so when climbing up and down waterfalls which are the trail. Or during an 800’ climb in less than 1/2 mile. We have to concentrate on each and every step. Sassy proved that by falling hard yesterday (which Bunny fessed up to distracting her in conversation). If we can’t even walk and talk, quite a bit of the fun is gone. 

The first couple of miles of trail today were fantastic. We couldn’t believe we were actually in NH. We were treated to a new section of trail with easy grades, dirt track, and occasional steps which were uniform in size. The NH trail crew and AMC were tricking us into thinking they were going to be nice on this, our last day, in New Hampshire. We only had one significant climb left in the state—Mount Success. 

Rain has been predicted for tomorrow and Wednesday which is a big concern to us since we will be traversing the undisputed hardest mile of the AT—Mahoosic Notch. Even the 20 year old fast brats will take an hour and a half for this single mile. When Patches came through last fall, she only did 2.5 miles for the entire day. The fastest time we’ve heard recently is an hour and 45 minutes. In dry weather, we’d expect to do it in 3 hours, but with rain, we might take all day. 

So why am I talking about rain tomorrow when I was talking about Mount Success? As I made the climb above treeline, I was hit with cold, gale force wind. Ok, maybe only 25 mph, but in shorts and a T-shirt, it was quite brisk. Bear and Chip were able to get weather reports that said the rain has moved forward to today and tomorrow. We might get lucky and make it to camp before the rain starts if we book it. The increased winds were bringing in dark clouds. Somehow with our easy morning, we had only managed to hike 3.4 miles by 1p meaning we probably won’t make it to camp until after 6, again. 

A trend has formed that we can’t break. No matter what time we get up, we can’t hit the trail before 8:30. No matter how far we plan to walk, we can’t make camp before 6:30. The days are getting shorter and it’s getting closer to Baxter’s closing date of October 15. Knowing the trends that we are in, we should just plan to do 50 mile days for the next week so we can finish. 

Mount Success was supposedly named in honor of successfully avoiding paying the British some form of tea tax. Boston is not that far away from here. I thought it should be named for nobos successfully leaving NH in one piece (not necessarily one whole functioning piece—Bear’s ankle and knee are hurting; Sassy’s knees and ass are hurting; Bunny’s hips and knees are hurting; and my left leg is barely functioning going downhill but it does keep my focus off of my plantar fasciitis in my right heel). I am having nearly continuous flashbacks to grade school playground time, I’m the youngest and weakest and always come in last. 

As a reward for surviving the cold, open summit of Success, NH gave us one last FU section of trail to let us know that they could have made the trail worse and to prepare us for what we will encounter in Maine. It was a short section of trail that required us to climb, not walk, down a boulder field. We all threw our poles ahead to free up our hands. Only Sassy threw hers down a deep hole between boulders which was not so deep that we couldn’t retrieve them. Following the field was our reward…the NH/ME border. Free at last!

Everyone rejoiced at having left NH. The views were nice, but I seriously question whether they were worth the effort it took to get them on the AT especially when there are better, shorter, and easier trails that will get the same resultant views. The AMC, for whatever reason, does not do improvements on the AT where their money gods do not normally roam. As with the Camino de Santiago and GR10, I’m sure my feelings of hatred toward the AMC will lessen with time and I will only recall the good times I encountered with them like: free food at the huts, highly discounted rooms at the outdoor center, and carrying our packs for days at a time. 

Maine immediately told us that NH is for wimps. That little boulder field that NH said goodbye with—not a thing. We’ll show you what a boulder scramble is. We got our scariest section of trail so far. There was about a 50’ climb down that would not be bad if you weren’t wearing a pack but we are. I got stuck and was literally hanging from my pack with my feet and arms dangling. I managed to wiggle free and recover. Chip came by after us and got stuck in the same position. He had to take his pack off to free himself. If you do successfully navigate that trap, the rocks are sticking out in such a fashion that they push your pack and try to throw you down the trail which almost happened to Sassy. This put a lot of stress on her knee/back/butt to recover. 

After Success, we got the geese mountains—Goose Eye West, Goose Eye East, and Goose Eye North. How hard can it be to mount a goose? As it turns out, geese don’t like to be mounted by humans, that’s why we let Bear go first. The winds stayed high all day and the ridge line between East and North was an exposed bog. Bunny and I were falling behind because my ace wrap on my knee kept sliding down. I tried to let it go, but ended up inflaming my leg again so the final descent was painful for me. 

The rain wanted to start but the clouds watched us floundering around on top of the mountain and took pity on us. We managed to make it to the shelter to see that it was full and everyone in it was unwilling to move to let us in. Bear and Sassy had gotten there about 15 minutes before us and had gone to claim a tent platform for us. Their tent was up and it was starting to drizzle. I set my pack down only to discover that my pack cover had gotten ripped off on the descent. I could only hope that Chip found it and picked it up. He had found my bandanna that I lost earlier, but he left it. 

We set up the tent and got inside just as the drizzle increased to a light rain. I went and got more water for breakfast (Bear had grabbed us a few liters to help us out). Just as I got back, the rain really started. We cooked in our vestibule and only left for the occasional bladder emergency.

 

EFG

Rainy days and Mondays (and early Sundays) always get me down. There is only one shuttle from The Barn back to Rattle River and it’s at 7:10—no exceptions. I was completely packed and ready to go before I went to bed (a rarity for me, but it’s true). I got up to pee at 5 and I made sure not to make eye contact with Bear which would only encourage him to get up (I could feel him shaking like a wet chihuahua in his bed wanting to get up). As it was, he was still up before 6. Bunny started shaking my feet at 6 to wake me up. I pretended to be sound asleep, but she wasn’t buying it. 

With the early shuttle, we got the earliest start of hiking since the four of us began hiking together back at the Cookie Lady’s place in MA. We even had a mile of easy trail done before 8. As I had anticipated, Bear came up with the idea to start getting up at 5 every day so we can get an early start. I’m counting on Sassy to roll that idea back since she is an avid non-morning person.

This is our first day of being officially out of the Whites and it was a glorious day to be hiking. We had clear skies, temperatures in the upper 60s, and an actual trail to hike on. Yes, we still had over 4000’ of total ascents today, but when there is an actual trail, we can handle it. We didn’t take our first break until we got done with the first 1800’ climb to the top of Mt Hayes. We were averaging about 2mph which is what we used to be able to do before entering the Whites. 

I did discover a great way to piss off NH trail maintainers…they pride themselves on having the hardest state on the AT. Yes, they take pride in not maintaining the trail and throwing AMC logistics into the mix. When someone in NH asks how the Whites are, calmly say “the Whites are almost as tough as Maryland.”  It’s great fun to watch their heads explode. It’s the little things that make me happiest. 

We hiked on for a few more miles before we found a nice view as a lunch spot. I had wanted to push on to Trident Col Campsite for lunch because it has a privy. Bunny told me she would prefer if I just dug a hole instead. My window of opportunity was closing so I agreed to just have lunch at the view spot and hold it in until tomorrow morning. It will give me great ammo for the tent tonight. 

The highlight of the day was passing the 1900 mile mark. We’ve been on the trail for nearly 7 months and now the end is in sight. Baxter State Park closes on October 15 at the latest. If we can average 10-12 miles a day from now on, we can make it by the first week of October. We are cutting it close but I’d like to finish without flip-flopping. It’s the backup plan.

Gentian Pond Shelter and Campsite is another AMC managed site with a roving caretaker and, get this, no fees. Since it’s a Sunday night, we don’t expect to see a caretaker. I’ve got to be honest, the AMC campsites and caretakers have been very good to us. The caretakers are the only AMC staff that are consistently nice to thru-hikers. 

There was one injury today, and, surprisingly, it wasn’t me for a change. My leg held up great all day thanks to Marcia’s adjustments and guidelines. Sassy didn’t fare well on a boulder scramble and landed on her tailbone (or so we were afraid). Bear took a picture of her butt so she could see. It looks like she landed cheek first and slipped down the rock. She’s still going to have a nice bruise that she can proudly show off. 

We got to the shelter before 5 and it was already crowded. We went to the camping area and chose a platform large enough for both of our tents to fit on. After dinner, we headed down to the pond on an unsuccessful moose hunt. Notes in Guthook indicate that a bull moose hangs out in this area at this time of year. Bunny is even willing to get up early to tomorrow to try again.  I’m afraid this will only encourage Bear to get up early. If we allow him to win once, there will be no stopping him. My only hope is that Sassy has gone to bed hungry and is very irritable in the morning. 

EFG