No Pain, No Rain, No Maine!!!

Well let me tell you a little story about a place called Maine. Like I said before, the only way to get up and over a mountain is literally straight up and down. Which I would not mind at all, BUT the weather has decided to continue to pour buckets on us all day and night. Am I cold? Yes. Am I tired? Yes. Am I sick of stepping knee deep in freezing water? YES!!!

Today at Bemis "stream" the water was waste deep and rushing wild!!! I got three steps in it and felt the current trying to take me away, so I waited for a few minutes for my good friend "Pipper" to get down the hill. We brainstormed for a few minutes and then saw a tree that had fallen across the whole "stream." So we decided that it was best to shimmy across this thing and hope for the best........well I am still here talking to you, but we barley made it.

I have walked, crawled, shook, climbed, rolled and danced through Maine and it never seems to get any easier. 70% of the trail is under ankle/knee deep water, the other 30% is hand over hand rock climbing slick mountains. Needless to say, I am mentally and physically exhausted. Every local that Ive talked to has said this is as wet as it has ever been here. My clothes are starting to get moldy and stink like something died in them. The end is near, but not not near enough. This is a picture of what the entire A.T. looks like...... really? I am thinking about blowing up my Big Agnes recycled sleeping pad and floating down the rest of this thing...thoughts?

Last night at the Lean-to, we got in as the rain was starting to pick up AGAIN and realized that it had a leaky roof.......yeah I know. So we rigged up the canopy to my hammock to catch the water and re-direct it outside....we are awesome! Check out the picture.

I do a non-rain dance every morning, but it never seems to work.

The "Trail Spirits" have sent a message to all of the Thru-Hikers, "we are going to make or break anyone that enters Maine." My response (along with all the others) is........... "BRING IT ON!! I can, swim, climb, and walk through anything you throw at me. You are only making all of the hikers more determined than ever to get to Katahdin."

We had part of the trail wiped out by a land slide due to how wet everything is. Thank goodness that no hikers were on that part of trail when it happened. Once we got to the disaster area, we saw that the only way up was to climb up the roots of fallen trees. We had about a quarter mile up....I mean, straight up. The picture is what it looked like.....wow.

I am trying to get done a little earlier than expected due to this weather. I hope that everyone that reads this will do a special non-rain dance for us thru-hikers trying to finish without drowning out here.

A special story for those of you that know me very well..

I was walking yesterday when a sobo (Southbounder, Maine-Georgia) his trail name was "Flame"said to me,

Flame-"you know the guy hiking in front of you?"

Me-"What? Who?"

Flame- "a big guy with a big pack, said his name was T"

Me- "I don't know a T out here"

Flame- "I asked if he was hiking with anyone and what was in his pack, and he said.... hiking with J and he was carrying the world! he told me that you were a mile back or so and to tell you that he is helping take it off your shoulders and he doesn't mind carrying it for a little while, so take it easy."

Me- "whaa? are you being serious?"

Flame- "very why?"

Me- "No reason, thank you, have a great hike"

I asked a few nobo and sobo's if they met "Flame" or "T." No one had met or seen either.

Its funny how the world works, I am not going to explain the story to you guys, but those of you that know me....really know me will know exactly who "T" is. Thanks T and Flame, without you guys, the load in my bag would be a lot heavier.....

Someone is always watching and helping you. Even when you feel like your all alone in the wilderness.