The hikers were back on trail last night after a nice visit with Kel's brother Larry, a big cheeseburger meal, and with a lighter load! Larry met them on Route 4 and drove them up to town to eat. While eating, a huge storm complete with lightening and torrential rain blew in. The storm was done when they were ready to get back on trail! Larry said they were happy with full bellys, and ready to push on. They are right on track with the trail schedule. A friend , Clint, is trying to meet up with them on Thursday for a day of hiking. It will depend on how windy it is as they try to climb the next mountain or two! Hopefully no rain today, but the bugs will be nasty. A quick Thank-You to all I have spoken to and are praying for the boys.....God continues to provide and bless!
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/6/07...Wednesday...Have a major day today. Go from Piazza Rock Lean-to at 2080 ft., to Eddy Pond at 2616 ft., then up Saddleback Mtn., at 4120 ft., down, and back up again to Saddleback Jr. at 3655 ft., then to Poplar Ridge Lean-to at 2920 ft.. Lot’s of STEEP ups and downs. This, of course, must happen in the distance of 8,9 miles. It won’t get much easier until Caratunk. Well, the time is now 7:15 AM, ready to pack everything up, be hiking by 7:30 AM. COLD, COLD, COLD! 40 degrees and high winds as we got up this morning. Looks like it could stay sunny, though. We will stop at PIAZZA ROCK, then get hiking...Ooops! didn’t get hiking until 8:30 AM...
...Well, here we are at Poplar Ridge Lean-to, having gotten here at 4:00 PM. We managed to navigate 8.9 miles of STEEP ups and downs in 7 ½ hours. No sign of Bookworm. He is fast enough that he is able to stay at every other shelter, or do even greater mileages. Although we aren’t all out here for a footrace, it is necessary to get some higher miles in each day, to get our average daily miles up to 15 or 15 ½ minimum. If we cannot maintain that average, we will end up still being on the trail in December, which is certainly not where we want to be. We will begin to do some higher mileage days later on in the hike, as we gain strength, and the trail becomes less aggressive in some areas.
It has been a mix of clouds and sun today, very windy, and cold. The temperature right now is 40 degrees, at 4:20 PM. It will be a tough night tonight, as the temperature will likely drop below freezing. The wind, ah, the wind...The wind up on top of the mountains was, shall we say, brisk. Judging by my past experiences on motorcycles, I would guess wind speeds to be 80 to 90 MPH. That tends to make you walk a little sideways, and, occasionally, in a backtracking direction...so maybe we actually DID do extra miles today! Still, it could only be described as another GREAT HIKING DAY!!!
***Side note to Wayne and Teresa Morris...I wish I could have had more time in your company, you are both wonderful! You should check out these most recent pic-tures that I took today. The other ones were ob-scured by the clouds!
Well, I think we will try to get a hot meal into us, get covered up, and try to stay warm. More later...Later...I gathered up some wood from around the campsite, and was able to get a nice fire going. This is our first camp fire! It is so nice to be able to warm up a bit. Ate two packets of food that my brother Larry had given me, some potatoes and gravy, and a packet of beef stroganoff. The stroganoff was for sure the favorite, with the potatoes and gravy coming in a distant second place. Now, that might seem like the potatoes and gravy wasn’t well appreciated, but it was. They were HOT, and HOT FOOD IS GOOD FOOD! Faithful just checked the thermometer, and it is now hovering at 35 degrees. Sure feels it. I just readied my sleeping gear, an inflatable pad with a bag liner to crawl into, and a foil emergency blanket on top of it. I look somewhat like a NEW ENGLAND BOILED DINNER! I have all my clothes on, in order to stay warm. I will surely be wet in the morning, from being under the foil, as it doesn’t “breathe”, and makes for a lot of condensate...especially if you get real cold and stick your head beneath the foil to get warm. Your breath will pretty much cause, immediatly, tropical rainforest conditions.
Remember the Rock, Scissors, Paper game? Well, as I was walking today, I came up with a variation...Rock, Root, Mud. That pretty well covered the hiking conditions so far. Just add in the rain, cold, and major changes in elevation...oh yeah!, wind...can’t leave that one out. On the brighter side, we do get to see so many beautiful things! And, it sure gives a feeling of accomplishment when you stand on top of a mountain and look back. The valleys are so low, the mountains so high. Standing at the bottom never seems to give a person the proper perspective.
I talked to the love of my life tonight. She is well, but very busy. She has picked up a set of section maps for me today! Love you, my beloved! ***Side note to all the guys out there...you know when you call your wife “Honey”, or “Dear”, or any of a variety of enduring terms, you can still convey a certain coldness, if you’ve used them when frustrated, or exasperated...for example, “Yes, DEAR.”. Well, here’s a tip. The Bible uses “Beloved”. Try that one out. I can pretty much guarantee that it will not only sound different, it will change your attitude when speaking to your spouse. *** OK. The maps, I am sure, will be a great asset in our trying to plan our days of hiking, helping to work out some kind of a strategy. They have much needed information that I don’t have in my “Thru-Hiker’s Companion”, or in some cases, a much better format to convey the information. Well, it sure is good to hear that all is well at home. Cari says that Clint Buzzell told her that he would like to hook up with us for a hike, as he has a day off. I don’t know if that is going to happen, only because of where we are, but it sure would be great. Thanks, Clint, for thinking of us! I do hope we can get together.
It’s getting a little late, and I’m losing light, I have to use my headlamp while in the lean-to, as they tend to be a little dark. I don’t want to use up my battery in the first week, so I guess I will close for now. As I settle down for the night, my mind wanders to the hiking pace that some of these hikers set for themselves...a pace that I will not attain, and don’t desire to. I tell myself that it isn’t because I’m an older model of hiker, and all worn out, but that I am an older, wiser man, trying to hike the best hike I can...for me, that will work...”Slow and steady, set the pace. Slow and steady, win the race.”
So, it looks like it’s good night to all of you, I hope God richly blesses you all.
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/6/07...Wednesday...Have a major day today. Go from Piazza Rock Lean-to at 2080 ft., to Eddy Pond at 2616 ft., then up Saddleback Mtn., at 4120 ft., down, and back up again to Saddleback Jr. at 3655 ft., then to Poplar Ridge Lean-to at 2920 ft.. Lot’s of STEEP ups and downs. This, of course, must happen in the distance of 8,9 miles. It won’t get much easier until Caratunk. Well, the time is now 7:15 AM, ready to pack everything up, be hiking by 7:30 AM. COLD, COLD, COLD! 40 degrees and high winds as we got up this morning. Looks like it could stay sunny, though. We will stop at PIAZZA ROCK, then get hiking...Ooops! didn’t get hiking until 8:30 AM...
...Well, here we are at Poplar Ridge Lean-to, having gotten here at 4:00 PM. We managed to navigate 8.9 miles of STEEP ups and downs in 7 ½ hours. No sign of Bookworm. He is fast enough that he is able to stay at every other shelter, or do even greater mileages. Although we aren’t all out here for a footrace, it is necessary to get some higher miles in each day, to get our average daily miles up to 15 or 15 ½ minimum. If we cannot maintain that average, we will end up still being on the trail in December, which is certainly not where we want to be. We will begin to do some higher mileage days later on in the hike, as we gain strength, and the trail becomes less aggressive in some areas.
It has been a mix of clouds and sun today, very windy, and cold. The temperature right now is 40 degrees, at 4:20 PM. It will be a tough night tonight, as the temperature will likely drop below freezing. The wind, ah, the wind...The wind up on top of the mountains was, shall we say, brisk. Judging by my past experiences on motorcycles, I would guess wind speeds to be 80 to 90 MPH. That tends to make you walk a little sideways, and, occasionally, in a backtracking direction...so maybe we actually DID do extra miles today! Still, it could only be described as another GREAT HIKING DAY!!!
***Side note to Wayne and Teresa Morris...I wish I could have had more time in your company, you are both wonderful! You should check out these most recent pic-tures that I took today. The other ones were ob-scured by the clouds!
Well, I think we will try to get a hot meal into us, get covered up, and try to stay warm. More later...Later...I gathered up some wood from around the campsite, and was able to get a nice fire going. This is our first camp fire! It is so nice to be able to warm up a bit. Ate two packets of food that my brother Larry had given me, some potatoes and gravy, and a packet of beef stroganoff. The stroganoff was for sure the favorite, with the potatoes and gravy coming in a distant second place. Now, that might seem like the potatoes and gravy wasn’t well appreciated, but it was. They were HOT, and HOT FOOD IS GOOD FOOD! Faithful just checked the thermometer, and it is now hovering at 35 degrees. Sure feels it. I just readied my sleeping gear, an inflatable pad with a bag liner to crawl into, and a foil emergency blanket on top of it. I look somewhat like a NEW ENGLAND BOILED DINNER! I have all my clothes on, in order to stay warm. I will surely be wet in the morning, from being under the foil, as it doesn’t “breathe”, and makes for a lot of condensate...especially if you get real cold and stick your head beneath the foil to get warm. Your breath will pretty much cause, immediatly, tropical rainforest conditions.
Remember the Rock, Scissors, Paper game? Well, as I was walking today, I came up with a variation...Rock, Root, Mud. That pretty well covered the hiking conditions so far. Just add in the rain, cold, and major changes in elevation...oh yeah!, wind...can’t leave that one out. On the brighter side, we do get to see so many beautiful things! And, it sure gives a feeling of accomplishment when you stand on top of a mountain and look back. The valleys are so low, the mountains so high. Standing at the bottom never seems to give a person the proper perspective.
I talked to the love of my life tonight. She is well, but very busy. She has picked up a set of section maps for me today! Love you, my beloved! ***Side note to all the guys out there...you know when you call your wife “Honey”, or “Dear”, or any of a variety of enduring terms, you can still convey a certain coldness, if you’ve used them when frustrated, or exasperated...for example, “Yes, DEAR.”. Well, here’s a tip. The Bible uses “Beloved”. Try that one out. I can pretty much guarantee that it will not only sound different, it will change your attitude when speaking to your spouse. *** OK. The maps, I am sure, will be a great asset in our trying to plan our days of hiking, helping to work out some kind of a strategy. They have much needed information that I don’t have in my “Thru-Hiker’s Companion”, or in some cases, a much better format to convey the information. Well, it sure is good to hear that all is well at home. Cari says that Clint Buzzell told her that he would like to hook up with us for a hike, as he has a day off. I don’t know if that is going to happen, only because of where we are, but it sure would be great. Thanks, Clint, for thinking of us! I do hope we can get together.
It’s getting a little late, and I’m losing light, I have to use my headlamp while in the lean-to, as they tend to be a little dark. I don’t want to use up my battery in the first week, so I guess I will close for now. As I settle down for the night, my mind wanders to the hiking pace that some of these hikers set for themselves...a pace that I will not attain, and don’t desire to. I tell myself that it isn’t because I’m an older model of hiker, and all worn out, but that I am an older, wiser man, trying to hike the best hike I can...for me, that will work...”Slow and steady, set the pace. Slow and steady, win the race.”
So, it looks like it’s good night to all of you, I hope God richly blesses you all.
Stickman
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