An early modification to my itinerary
As I was sitting at the airport this morning, waiting for my flight to Birmingham, I realized I would have the afternoon free and available, so I decided to pre-hike a section of the trail to save some mileage on my second day. After settling into the POC shelter, the caretaker, Monk (AT ’19 and PCT ’24) allowed me to jump while he led another group to the trailhead. He dropped me off at the 17.5 mile mark and I was on my way.
An easy road trip
I packed this section with just my fanny pack and a small water bottle. I knew before starting that this stretch would be a 6 mile road hike, but my years of experience as a runner make me feel very comfortable on the trail. I also knew that this section of the trail was prone to dogs coming out of their yards to “greet” hikers. Luckily for me, I didn’t encounter many dogs, and only one of them came out to greet me. He was a cute puppy and his owner followed him quickly. I was able to give him a quick scratch on the head and went on my way. There was very little traffic on these roads. It was easy to walk. Lihat vcxvcx untuk info lebih lanjut. There’s not much to report at all. Toward the end of the 6 miles, I ran into Little Engine and her dog, Muzzy (Monk had mentioned that she was on her way to the shelter that night). We talked for a bit and soon Monk picked her up to take her back to the hostel. I had already decided to walk from the trail junction back to the lodge on my own and it was a really good thing I did.
Litter on the road becomes the name of a trail
On the way from the trail to the lodge, I passed a junkyard. In the shoulder I found a fairly large stainless steel bolt, about 5 inches long with a shaft of about 1 inch. Let me back up at this point. For some time now, I had been planning to take a totally ridiculous and useless souvenir that would travel with me from Flagg Mountain to Mount Katahdin. Nothing at home interested me and I thought, “The trail will provide that for me,” so I hoped to find something on the trail that would become my memory. I estimated the weight of the bolt to be about half a pound and assumed I had found my item.
When I returned to the monk lodge and the other hikers were sitting around talking, when I entered I proudly showed them the lock. Monk immediately asked, «Are you going to go to the end?» Without hesitation I responded, «To Katahdin.» Monk quickly responded, “Then you have a trail name: Bolt.” I told him I would need to sleep, but by the time I went to bed, I had already decided I liked the idea. For the rest of the night, we all sat around telling hiker stories. I went to bed at 9 pm because I expected a long day to begin the next morning.
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