2019-07-02 TU – NoBos and SoBos encountered here

06:42 I slept in a hammock lowered to the ground level to prevent swaying.  As a result, I wasn’t very comfortable – my neck was in a strange position without proper support.  I woke up when everyone already gathered their things and I only heard some voices by the shelter – people were readying to depart.

07:51 I was cleaning my titanium pot by rubbing it against grass and dirt.  It worked, but I didn’t notice how did I lost the handle from the pot cover.  This is a fancy bent piece of metal wire hardly noticeable on the ground.  I already mentally prepared to find a way to replace it by bending something of my own design, but one extra minute of search brought results – here it is – a black wire handle on the ground.

One nectarine and one banana for breakfast.

08:20 first pictures.  My spot is lit by sun in the morning.  That is good to dry morning dew. All things are packed, and I am ready to go.

09:43 first break upon first view.  I am almost at the top.

10:00 message to Lira that everything is OK and my GPS location

10:11 signal is back and Moscow, ME weather forecast shows warm and sunny for the next couple of days.  Excellent.

10:30 I am at the top of Pleasant Pond Mountain (2,447′)

11:43 -12:34 – intermediate break point. Meet several people.  Trim my nails. Rubbed orange peel on the bottom of my feet to absorb all the vitamins and minerals. Change from pants into trunks. Overall – very good extended stop.

14:17 I ‘ve reached the valley – very long Moxie Pond stretching south to north.  This time I am hiking around it to the south and in a few days, I will be biking around it on the north.  There are 2.6 miles till shelter remains.

Trail crosses high voltage lines twice creating some excitement and variety.

Strange thought pursued me from this morning – how can I sent my message to people that I am a human when an unfortunate bite turned me into a mosquito.  I was fighting two lines of behavior.  Either arrange small sticks into a message to re-join humans again, or to start a smart lineage of mosquitos with know-how to bite human undetected.

14:57 I need to cross a wide brook that feed the lake, but boulders are arranged in a way to hop and simplify crossing.

16:05 – I’ve reached Bald Mountain Brook shelter to find one more person already there – a south-bound girl named Sayer with an injured knee.  She continued to track despite injury after a short and expensive break for a few days.

My Sayer bag sprang a leak, my miraculously, someone left a brand-new Sayer bag right here at the shelter.  That is great illustration that trail will provide.  Provide to truly seeking.

Around 17:15 a bunch of young north-bound hikers arrived with intention to take a little feeding break and continue 4 more mile to the next shelter. What a determination!

I start the fire, cook my diner (vegan Mushroom risotto with 820 calories), fond a lime on the ground and shared it with fellow hikers, cutting sliced with my knife.

19:29 time to record my notes.  Here at the shelter I dipped into the brook twice, and now simply drink my tea surrounded by chipmunks and attacked by bugs.

Day summary is 9 miles of hiking, 3 swims, many bugs smeared.  And no sunscreen, although the weather was excellent.  Surprisingly I am back into my schedule despite delay of 2 days.  There are two more people here – girl in the shelter and music man on his tent. All in their beds already.  It is still light, and I am drinking my Rooibos tea in front of heap of smoldering ashes.