The exact opposite of yesterday
Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. It was as if the trail gods needed to balance my amazing day with an absolutely horrible one. It was the trails version of Yin and Yang.
It rained all last night, which meant any rocks I encountered today were going to be slippery. I took my time leaving camp this morning, I was on trail at 6:20AM dreading the day to come.
The climb up to "Mombasha High Point" was a slippery one. This made for slow walking because I had to carefully place each step to ensure stability.
At the top there was a register to reflect over the view that exists n a clear day, but not today. Supposingly you can see the Manhattan skyline on a really clear day. Today I saw a cloud.
On the ascent of Buchanan Mountain I had my first "oh shit!" moment of the day. This is when you know you are going to take a nasty fall and there's nothing you can do except say "oh shit!" as you proceed to fall to the ground.
This first one came on a steep rock scramble going up the face of the mountain. I went to put my left pole between two boulders, when I realized there was nothing there supporting the pole I already had most of my body weight on the pole, so I proceeded to fall to the ground. This fall consisted of smacking my head against the side of another large boulder and also scraping my left arm against it. I walked away with a minor headache and some wounds on the backside of my left arm.
My second moment came when I had my feet pulled from underneath me as I was walking down an angled boulder face. This lead me to slide on my backside for a few feet before I regained control.
The descent off of Arden Mountain was steep with one switchback. I had a couple spots where my legs were pulled from underneath me.
After crossing the NY thru-way and climbing 600 feet I came upon the "lemon squeezer". This is where the trail takes you through a narrow corridor between two rock faces tilted towards one another. The idea is that you feel like you are being squeezed, which I certain did.
The very short, but steep, climb that followed involved placing my feet on two rocks and using a tree as a wrap around point. I used one big swing to wrap around the tree, which brought me to the top of the rock face.
After lunch at Fingerboard Shelter, I began the final 5.3 mile push to the next shelter.
I am now at William Brien Memorial Shelter. This shelter, to put it bluntly, is a piece of garbage. The walls are angled and it leaks. It's dark inside and since there's no broom it's difficult to clean out effectively.
I received a text message from my friend Ossie today that made me realize how close I am to being done. It stated, "I heard your in new Jersey! Will you be home early?". It's hard to believe this trip will be over at the end of next month. As o today I have less than 800 miles to go. It will be hard to say goodbye.
And that's the way it was.
Kirby
Ga>ME 2008.
