Day 17, July 18, 0 miles

Wow. Today was pretty hard. You’d think I’d welcome a day with no hiking, but I was very antsy to get on with it. I felt really good yesterday and was ready to tackle the rest of the Whites, but a storm came in and put a halt to the hiking for today. I did enjoy getting to catch up with a few people, and I do admit that if I had to zero, I was in the right place to do it. This new hostel is fabulous. I have a bunk in a room with 5 bunks. There are about 30 people here. Many French Canadians are here to enjoy Echo Lake, several SOBO hikers, and a few NOBO hikers. It’s quite a diverse group. You can use the kitchen, but have to provide your own food and clean up after yourself. Everyone is very cordial to one another. I think I really like hostels. You meet a lot of people staying at hostels and they’re very economical. This one is $29/night. Can’t beat it.

Obviously not any trail news or pics today so I’ll post some flower pics I’ve taken along the way. Since no trail news, I thought maybe I’d just share what a typical day for me is like on the trail.

First, I wake up to my natural 4:30 alarm (the birds singing). I usually lay there until 5 or 5:30. It then takes me about an hour to deflate my pad, retrieve my bear bag, brush my teeth, wash my face, pack up everything inside my tent into my pack, get water and filter it, fix myself some breakfast, doctor my feet, take my tent down and pack it up, and start walking. I’ll usually walk 2 hours and take a 5 minute pack off break. I’ll walk again until around 1:00 and stop 15-20 minutes for lunch. After lunch I’ll usually walk until I come to a creek to soak my feet for 5-10 minutes and then walk until I get to a shelter or ready to stop. Most days are about 9 hour days from the time I start walking until I stop. When I stop, I just reverse the morning procedure. Put my tent up first, unpack my gear, get everything set up in the tent, gather and filter water, cook my dinner, clean-up, hang my bear bag, and go to bed. Pretty much every day is the same. That’s why it can be maddening when you go days and days with no change in scenery.

Danny asked me one day what I think about while I’m hiking. Ohhhh, the craziest things go through my head. I really didn’t know what I thought about until he asked and then I started trying to actually pay attention to my thoughts. Everyday, I always think of ALL my family. I really miss everybody. I can’t sing, but I sing a lot in my head. In Vermont, don’t ask me why, but I sang “Deep and Wide” a lot??? Yesterday, I was singing James Brown’s, “I Feel Good.” I think about what it’s gonna feel like when I get to the summit of Katahdin. I think about how lucky and blessed I am to get to do this. I think about the people I’ve met on this journey. I think about, with tears in my eyes, how I can’t wait to see Danny in Maine. I think about how much I love the woods. I wonder what it actually is that I love about the woods. I think about how much my feet hurt. I think about how bad I look and smell. The list goes on and on. However, sometimes I don’t think I think at all—go figure???

Well, tomorrow is calling for rain again with afternoon thunderstorms. There are 2 other NOBO’s here and we’ve all agreed to hike together tomorrow just in case the weather gets crazy and we’re planning to slack pack South and come back to the hostel for the night tomorrow. Then, Monday will be NOBO again with an extra heavy pack–ugh. But, I’m looking forward to getting back out there.