Blown Away

Rocko and I left Stratton together with a slightly sketchy ride. As we were walking to the post office another hiker with a car asked us if we were heading back to the trail. We said yes, but we had to go to the post office first. When we left the post office he was waiting in the parking lot and again offered a ride. He was a nice older section hiker, we were just weirded out that he had been waiting in the post office parking lot for us. I guess that you could also consider it very nice since he was going out of his way to give us a ride.
That night it had rained heavily, but the forecast was for the weather to clear. It was very cloudy and windy that day, although the wind did seem to be blowing the clouds away, slowly. I had just planned on getting to the first lean-to that night so when we got there for lunch and pushed on, all the extra miles put us ahead of schedule. We went over the Bigelows which most people were saying was the last really hard stretch until Katahdin. As we hiked over the ridge we were almost blown away, literally. It was possibly the windiest day on the hike. Several times I was knocked over a step or two, and once I was blown over. However, we had views, we just did not stand around too long enjoying them. We made it over the main ridge to Safford Notch Campsite for the night. We arrived late and the tentsites left were not the best. I was unable to set up my tent and I had to cowboy camp, or sleep under the stars. It was the coldest night for me in months and I was very glad I had my warm sleeping bag.
The next day Rocko and I decided to hike 22 miles. This would put us at a shelter with a gorgeous view of a lake, and right next to a sport camp where we could get pancakes in the morning. The terrain was nice and easy, for a change. We passed the 2,000 mile mark. At the next road crossing someone had spray painted "2,000 mi" in the road. After taking pictures someone in a camper drove by. I thought, stop and give us soda. He stopped right next to the sign and asked us how far we had come. We replied, "2,000 miles. You can see the sign in the road." He asked us several other questions, but did not look at the sign or give us any soda. We continued on and arrived at the lean-to around 6. We signed up for our 12 pancake breakfast in the morning and enjoyed dinner on the lake watching the sunset.
The following morning we enjoyed our 12 patriotic pancakes. They were red, white and blue from raspberries, apples and blueberries, and were absolutely amazing. As usual I left full, but nowhere near stuffed. Rocko took 4 for the road. Now, on to the crossing of the Kennebec river. The official trail is the ferry. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) hires someone to run a canoe ferry across the river. It is a wide crossing with a variable flow dam upstream, which makes it the most dangerous crossing on the trail. We arrived soon after the ferry opened for the day and Rocko paddled while I took pictures. Later on that day Rocko's knee started bothering her and then she broke her toe. Instead of pushing on she decided to stop for the day, then get a ride and meet me in Monson. That way she could let her knee rest and still finish with me. I pushed on and hiked with Rusty Rat and Meat Hook, a father and son team from Nova Scotia.
Since I was ten miles ahead of schedule at that point I decided to hike into Monson the next day and meet up with Filadelfia who was waiting for me. Rocko also made it to town at the same time. On the way into Monson there is a blue-blaze trail that elimnates the need to hitch into town and skips 3.3 miles of trail. I took this trail to cut a 22 miles day into a 21 mile day. Then I got a ride into town which shortened the day by another 1.5 miles. So for those of you scoring at home, I did not hike the entire 2,176 miles of trail. With the amount I cut off here and in other places, I only hiked about 2,172. Please do not report me to the Appalchian Trail Club which certifies thru-hikers. Although since they give out 2,000 miler patches, I think I am OK.
In Monson that night I went out to the AYCE fish fry. In retrospect, not a great idea. I have not had that much fried food in a long time, and Shaw's, where I was staying has a famous AYCE breakfast. My stomach told me over the next couple of days that that much fried food is not good. I was also only able to get one extra plate. Oh well.