Today is day 13 of the trip and it has officially become the longest vacation of my life. On top of this, my dad and I finally earned our trail names! I am Slip, due to my constant slipping on the wet terrain in the 100 Mile Wilderness. Because of his silly eating habits, my dad officially earned the name Oatmeal. It’s been fun introducing ourselves to other hikers with our new names and I love hearing everyone else’s too.
After finishing the 100 Mile Rainforest (as it SHOULD be called), we spent two nights at Shaw’s Hostel. Just as I expected, breakfast was amazing and I got to eat tons in town. Day zero was exactly what our bodies needed, and I felt 100 times more energized leaving town the next day! While I was at Shaw’s, some ultralighters began hinting that my bulky bear canister might be the reason I was slipping so frequently. After careful thought, we made the decision to mail our large bear canisters home and switch to a LiteAF food bag. This saved almost two and a half pounds of weight off my back and helped make my center of gravity much more natural. In the three days since the change, I haven’t slipped or fallen once!
We’ve had a few nice days of hiking since then and are looking forward to our canoe ride on the Kennebec River.
While all of these updates sound pretty amazing, I’ve still had a hard time here. While setting up my tent today, my trekking pole slipped and punched a hole in the roof. This was my first real taste of frustration here, and I definitely needed to step away for a while and try some deep breathing exercises (bringing social work skills to the AT!). Luckily tomorrow we have a day in the city and I will look for glue to cover the hole. While I’m not sure how permanent the solution will be, I appreciate having a spare tent at home that could be mailed. I may have a good amount of shelter sleeping while I wait for it. I hope the snorers are calm!
For every thing that goes wrong here, it’s easy to point out 10 other things that make this trip worth it. I’ve seen countless sights, butterflies, chipmunks, plump toads and vibrant mushrooms. Coming up, I look forward to the beauty of southern Maine and eventually the whites. Tonight we are camped in the Pleasant Pond lean-to and enjoying a nice rest with our toes in the water. I’ll try my best to post updates a little more often here, but I’m tired!
This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!
For more information, visit the About page of this site.
