Day #42, Wind, waves, and no walking--miles hiked: 0.0

Today I woke up to the sound of Shabbat cooking bacon and eggs on our camp stoves...and the tummy gave me permission to indulge!

After breakfast, we journey to the Acadia visitors center where we planned our adventures for the day. We DROVE to the top of Cadillac Mtn (highest point in the park), and I must say, it was much easier than hiking.

After that, we continued along the scenic park loop road and spent a few hours sitting on the rocky coast until the tide came in too far to stay dry.

I remeber coming to Acadia as a child mainly via a picture a whole lot like this one:

After the park, we began making our way back to Portland where we will fly home early tomorrow morning.

Before I close this post, there are a few loose ends that need tying up.

First of all, the wipe out competition standings have changed quite a bit over the past 100 miles. The final numbers are as follows:

Minta-21

Emily-17

Mr. Berry-15

I bought Shabbat a chocolate lovers banana split in Rangley.

Today he bought Emily and I frosties that he has owed us since we hand-washed his socks before the Whites.

Home tomorrow!

Day #41, Traveling once again--miles hiked: 0.0

Although I've had to deal with one of those pesky 24-hour stomach viruses (praising God we're not trying to hike today), today has been a full day of travel.

On the way to dinner last night, we ran into our Tennessee friends again and they kindy offered to drive us 50 miles to a bigger town where we can rent a car. We have plenty of paying it forward to do when we get home!

We arrived in Acadia in time for a short walk to the crashing waves on the rocky coast.

Although I spent the evening curled up in my sleeping bag, Shabbat and Double Dip enjoyed a lobster dinner. We're "dump camping" tonight and our backpacking gear doesn't exactly fit in with the rest of the car camping scene, but it seems luxurious to us!

Hoping for a calm tummy tomorrow and more coastal exploration.

Day #40, The journey is the destination--miles hiked: 4.7

Today we hiked into Rangely, ME in the pouring rain...but not to worry, Shabbat used Episcopalian chanting to pass the time.

Rangley is a neat place!

More importantly than miles and rain, we took an inventory of our goals, hike, and next steps last night and made some decisions. Because we based our expectations for the amount of miles we could cover this summer on Shabbat's previous lengthly AT hike (which was from Georgia to somewhere in Virginia), we made a vast overestimate. Hiking 12 miles in a day here is equally time-consuming as 20 elsewhere simply because of trail conditions, etc. We would love to finish with lower mileage, but because our time is quickly running out, Mt. Katadyn isn't going to happen this time around. The three of us are all in agreement that the personal things that we brought to the trail have been worked out and we are beginning to walk just for the sake of getting well, not to the end. Thus, we have decided it's time to end this section and come home...it's been almost 2 months since I've seen my family. I'm a dreamer and an extremely committed individual--one who tends to finish what she starts, and pulling out like this is a bit difficult. But as resistant as my flesh tries to be, He's teaching me through this, and the journey really is the destination...and what a journey it has been! 

We have spent 38 days on the trail and walked 422.1 miles in 4 states.

Since we have a few more days and are already in Maine, we're heading to Acadia National Park tomorrow for one last hoorah before heading home.

Day #39, Racing the rain and friends from back home--miles hiked: 12.9

Today we enjoyed another day of relatively easy walking...oh what a relief it is! Also, the past few days have been the first and only ones of the trip where everyone has enjoyed relatively blister-free feet! Anyway, check out this bench that was perched by a road we crossed this morning:

We stopped for lunch and met a lady from Sparta, TN of all places! She thruhiked in 2011 and is now hopping around helping one of her friends finish section hiking the trail.

The rain started just minutes before we reached Little Swift Pond Campsite--another amazingly dry day.

Day #38, Up and down and night time activities--miles hiked: 12.8

Today we headed down one mountain and up another called Moody Mtn. It was incredibly steep with metal rungs nailed into some of the rocks (we climbed 1500 ft in less than a mile). Not to complain, but there wasn't even a view on top!

The next mountain was even more of a big boy called Old Blue. It was there that Emily finally ate a pear she had been carrying since before the Wild Cats.

The last 6 miles were decently gentle as we hiked on down to Bemis Mtn Lean-to. Check out this bench on the trail!

When we got there, the shelter only had one spot left, so we set up the tarp. 

However, it's a bit cozy for 3 people, so we decided I should sleep in the shelter. Shabbat checked out the situation and everyone seemed pretty tame...however, two of the guys in there started smoking weed after dark. What a cultural experience. The good news is no one burned the shelter down and our last full trail day before Rangley is tomorrow. Happy trails!

Day #37, An Andover surprise and easy walking--miles hiked: 10.5

Today the trail actually felt like walking in the South--and given the fact we took a short day, the miles flew by! However, I still managed to fall for the 19th time--and it was a bloody one (no worries, all bones still intact).

We reached a road to Andover ME and decided we had no reason not to go in for lunch, even though we didn't really need to resupply. There was just one problem--in 45 minutes of waiting patiently by the road, not one car went by in our direction. Thankfully, another AT hiker popped out of the woods who just happened to have a car: problem solved!

The hitch back to the trail was even more exciting as Shabbat got to visit with a WWII vet while Double Dip and I rode in the back of his pickup with his dog, Maverick.

Tonight we're staying at Hall Mtn Lean-to with a few guys who are absolutely fascinated with our cooking skills and 15 Québécois boys out back. 

Ps--although someone told us there was another hurricane coming (we believe he was misinformed), we have been really blessed with the weather so far. There was a 7 am downpour, but it cleared off really fast and the rest of the showers held off until we got to the shelter. 

Day #36, A lovely mountain and a trash can--miles hiked: 12.8

Today we headed up out of the gorge containing Mahoosuc notch and on over to Old Speck Mountain. 

There was a giant pond between the two peaks and tons of moose poop to prove its popularity.

After the second peak, we began what Shabbat lovingly called "the descent to Hades" as we dropped 2500 ft in 3 miles heading down into Grafton Notch. It may have been the descent to Hades, but that's exactly where my rancid chicken belonged--and there was a trash can!

After we left Grafton Notch, the trail upkeep switched from the AMC to the Maine ATC...and all of the sudden we climbed a mountain with something that resembled switchbacks--amazing the difference! 

The last mountain of the day was another new favorite: Bald Pate

Tonight we're staying at Bald Pate Lean-to (the Mainer way to say shelter). Happy trails!