Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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September 24, Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to - mile 2044.6

Today was eventful, amazing, exhilarating, frustrating and painful, all wrapped in one! The excitement actually started in the wee hours of the night as I listened to the loons on the pond. My book says they have four calls, but I could only distinguish two: the long plaintive cry that seems so sad, it makes your heart ache, and the wild, hyena-like laugh that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

My first task of the day was to climb Moxie Bald Mountain, relatively steep but not bad compared to many. There's supposed to be a good view of Katahdin from the top, but the haze was so thick, I could barely see the town below. There didn't seem to be much point in sticking around to look at haze, so I headed right back down the other side. The first part of the descent was relatively smooth bedrock, as always, but what I didn't realize is that it was also wet - from the dew, haze, or whatever. On bedrock, wet equals slippery, and down I went. The whole event was like a slow-motion horror flick even though it happened in less than a second. Suddenly both feet flew out from under me and I watched in anguish as I was being propelled forward towards a large chasm between the rocks, about 6-7 feet deep. It was wide enough that I could easily have fallen into it, but I think my pack would have wedged me somewhere between the top and the bottom of it. Then I landed, flat on my behind at the edge of the rock I was on, with my feet on the next one, and the chasm safely a few inches to my left. All the wind was knocked out of me, so I just sat there for a minute to recover, thanking God I was still alive and seemingly in one piece! I think I probably bruised my rear a bit, but it will easily recover. Of more concern to me is that my right side feels a bit as if I've been beaten with a baseball bat. Somewhere in the fall, I think my right hand shot out to stop myself and caused my right side to take the brunt of it. My wrist hurt initially but has since recovered, and I noticed my shoulder hurt a bit when I put my pack back on. Although it has not hindered me from taking the pack on and off the rest of the day, I'm still very aware of the ache in both my shoulders and that side of my rib cage, so I'm guessing I probably pulled a muscle or two and/or caused some bruises.

Regardless of the fall, the rest of the day was utterly spectacular. The trail followed two different rivers today, which were lined with trees in every shade of fall. I also had another moose close encounter -- two of them were on the trail ahead of me. Something up there spooked them and I first became aware of them when I heard the thundering of hooves coming towards me. Instinctively, I just jumped off the trail into the bushes so I wouldn't be trampled to death! But as soon as the first one saw me, she did an about-face and crashed into the woods in the opposite direction. I began tip-toeing down the trail again when I saw a second one, which I think was a bull. Unfortunately he took off too fast for me to fully see him and I never saw the head, so I'm not sure.

Tonight I'm camped along the river, down a quarter mile from the shelter so that I will have a quiet night. I find myself more and more avoiding shelters and camping out instead. I like the quiet and being able to go to sleep at the crack of sunset and up again to be on the trail at the crack of sunrise. Packa-Sandra is the same way, so I enjoy camping with her, but I got ahead of her yesterday and probably won't see her until late tomorrow, assuming she makes it into town. I think she will, as it's only 6 miles from here.

I think it's time to call it a day. I can't wait to see my chiropractor when I get home!

September 25, Monson, ME - mile 2053.6

Wow -- it's hard to believe this is my last town stop on the AT! I have one more mail drop, but it's at a wilderness camp a long ways from any towns, so that makes Monson the last one. And it's an excellent day to be in town, too, for the weather is nasty and only getting nastier during the night. I hiked 9 miles in steadily increasing drizzle/rain and fog, but it was nothing compared to the current downpour. Just now I spent close to an hour on the outside pay phone down by the gas station, covered in full rain gear, and still came back nearly a drowned rat. My Gore-tex jacket has lost of lot of its gore-tex, methinks. I re-coated it once, back near Harpers Ferry, but I think it's due for another shot.

I chose to go past the first road into Monson today, and kept going three more miles to the highway, primarily so that I will not have to do those miles tomorrow. As I got halfway between the roads, though, I started to question my sanity in doing so! The rain was coming down harder and the fog getting thicker and I wondered how in the world I would get a hitch in such weather. Not only can they not see me in the fog, who wants a soaking wet hiker in their vehicle? But as always, the Lord provided! I probably only stood out there five minutes before a pickup pulled over, with the very nice lady driving apologizing profusely that all she could offer was the back. No problem by me, I said, and hopped in. It was easily the windiest, coldest, wettest and probably the best hitch I've ever had! Boy, was I glad to get into town. I've got to get to bed, though, for tomorrow's going to be a long day.