The Unpolished Princess

Start: Stealth Site near Harrison’s (AT mi 2038.2). Stop: The Sterling Inn (AT mi 2041.9). Today’s miles: 3.7 miles. Total AT mileage: 1017.2 miles

I set my alarm for 6, turned it off when it vibrated, reset it for 6:15.. and then got ready in a rush. I was packed completely, shoes on, and dropping my pack behind a tree at 6:43am. I delightfully made my way across Tim’s bridges to get to his hunting camp for breakfast. It felt like Christmas morning for some reason, I was excited for this pancake breakfast!

There were 7 of us there in his dining room. We sipped coffee and watched the hummingbirds. At exactly 7am, Tim started bringing out our plates. We each had 12 patriotic pancakes (they were thin, but mighty lol), which had raspberries, blueberries, and apples in them! WOW. They were topped with powdered sugar. And while I’m normally a dipper only, I poured that fresh maple syrup right on top! Tim also brought out little plates of scrambled eggs and sausage links. I don’t know why I keep accepting the sausage links, I don’t like them.. but I keep trying to. Haha

We all devoured our food. All but one completely cleaned their plates.. minus my 2 sausage links I gave to FireWalker. It’s like each town’s breakfast keeps getting better and better. And with it being my favorite meal in normal life and grossly overlooked on hiking days, I’m really loving these great mornings of even better breakfasts.

We all paid and thanked Tim for an incredible spread of food and then started making our way to the trail. I was the only one that left their pack at the junction, so everyone else was ahead by the time I got my pack on.. which was perfect. The canoe river crossing was roughly 3 miles ahead, and the guy wouldn’t be there until 9.. it was only 8 now, and I knew there would be a line. Of all the people that ate breakfast at Tim’s place, there was more that didn’t, all of which were probably already ahead of us.

The trail was beautiful.. mossy rocks and pine needle forest floor. Some mild ups and downs over roots and the like, but nothing to break a real sweat going at my leisurely pace. Off to the right for just about the entire 3 miles (if not actually all of it) was the creek that passed in from of Tim’s house. I saw waterfalls and little cascades the entire way. It was beautiful.

When I got to the river crossing, there was at least 14 people ahead of me.. apparently Mr. Canoe man was late getting there and people were annoyed because now at a whole 9:28am, he had only shuttled across once. Oh well. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning. I took my pack off and sat in line with everyone else. The man could take 2 people at a time across to the other side. The one up front had to help him paddle the current to get across.

After 15-25 minutes of hanging out and chatting with folks, one of them told me I should go across with FireWalker since he was next and everyone else was in a pair. Haha-for once being solo helped me out! I got to skip 4 pairs of hikers! And the icing on the cake: FireWalker wanted to be upfront to paddle! Lol I just got to sit in the middle and enjoy the ride 🙂 I zipped my phone up though, because that canoe was wobbly and I didn’t trust it (and these men) to not roll us into the river. Ha

On the other side, I met the man’s golden retriever and probably crouched and petted it longer than a normal human. Goodness I love dogs. I miss Molly and Max. I’m ready to lay on the floor and just get pummeled with kisses and snuggles. Soon enough, pups. Soon enough.
I decided since I had service that I would call the Sterling Inn for a pick up at the trailhead. I just needed to resupply, BUT I told myself *if* they had a private room under $100, I’d stay. Because why not? Plus I really needed to charge my battery bank. I didn’t want mom flying to see me and my phone be dead if she was having any trouble. Lol

When I called, I’ll be: he had one king bed left.. “it’s expensive though..” I just knew he was going to say something outrageous.. “$80 a night.” SOLD! He came and got me and another couple. When the van door opened, non other than Lilo and Sweeps were inside!! We had a mini reunion, and I learned that Lilo tweaked something in her back and they were flying home today with plans to come back on trail to finish just after Labor Day. I felt so awful for her and their situation, but I was happy to see familiar faces.

I checked in to my gorgeous room, went to shower and packed up my dirty clothes to be washed.. and on my way downstairs to wait for the washer, I ran into TIEDYE!! I all but tackled the man I was so happy to see him! I started my laundry and all of us and some other folks sat on the porch talking for a while.

Close to 2pm, TieDye and I got a shuttle to a restaurant in town. It was like a huge resort type place, restaurant, lake, pool, jacuzzi, game room.. the works. We had a couple beers and I had an excellent BBQ pulled pork sandwich, with homemade blueberry BBQ sauce. Sounds strange, but it was delicious! We stayed a couple hours, enjoying the patio and the sun, talking and catching each other up on our lives since we last saw one another.

When we could sit there no longer, we got a ride back to the hotel. I was slap stuffed! I sat on the porch awhile and then laid out in my big bed. I watched some Hulu shows and finally fell asleep. With such a huge late lunch, I didn’t need dinner!

It was such an amazing day, and I’d have missed it if I had hiked on. God knows what our souls need, the rejuvenation, the company of others we’ve missed. I’m so very grateful I stayed and got reconnected to TieDye. We plan to hike into Monson together. His wife comes the day after my mom! I think it’s perfect. And I’m so very happy.

Start: Flagstaff Campsite (AT mi 2022.8). Stop: Stealth Site near Harrison’s (AT mi 2038.2). Today’s miles: 15.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 1013.5 miles

I’ve hiked over 1000 miles! It’s so thrilling to know I’ve accomplished that, but clearly it wasn’t on my mind this morning, because I forgot to make a twig 1k sign to take a picture of. Whoops. I’m almost to the halfway point in my journey.. I’ll end up crossing that some time after I return to trail from my side trip with my mom. The whole trail is 2,193 miles, so the halfway mark is 1096.5 miles.. 83.5 miles from where I’m currently sitting.

I thought it was going to rain overnight. When I woke up to a dry tent at 6:35, I went ahead and got a move on.. remembering the last time I was surprised it didn’t rain and took my sweet time getting ready-only to get poured on. Sometime after 8pm, two more groups of hikers came through. One pair camped just above me, the others camped down on the beach itself. I’m glad I got my fill of the water before those folks showed up.

I started hiking by 7:30, happy it wasn’t raining and the terrain was calm around the pond. The elevation had the two little blips to do first thing this morning, but I honestly hardly even noticed them. By the time I thought I might need a pause to catch my breath it was already going back downhill. Shortly before 8am, the sky fell. I was happy I already had my rain cover on my pack. I pulled out my umbrella and tucked away one of my trekking poles. No need for both on such easy ground.

It continued to rain most of the morning. Sometime just before 12, I decided I wanted to eat lunch and kept my eyes peeled on somewhere suitable. The rain took a break, and therefore, so did I. To my complete happiness, I did so on a small beach. I took my socks and shoes off, soaked my feet for a few minutes, then at my lunch sitting on a piece of drift wood. While eating, I saw the wind bringing the rain across the water towards me, so I popped up, rolled my pack over so it was protected by the cover, and snagged my umbrella. I ate the rest of my food sitting under it without a care in the world.

I waited for the rain to slow before getting up and repacking. I felt so good on this terrain that I decided to hike from here in my sandals.. just to try it out for a bit. It worked well for about 2 hours, then the trail started to have some rocks to step over and on, so I traded my sandals back for my socks and shoes. The wet trail made my feet slide too much in the sandals and I didnt want to risk a fall into mud.

The rest of the day went by quickly. I was irritated with myself because with less than a mile to go to the shelter I was aiming for, I had to take my pack off and go dig a hole. I guess I’m still living up to the trail name, PBS. Even still, with the shoe swaps and long lunch, plus the hole digging, I still made it to camp by 3pm. There’s a man that has a hunting camp close by and he sells breakfast to hikers, you just have to come make a reservation the evening before so he can make sure to have enough food. He also apparently rents out cabins to hikers when he has availability. I knew it was a long shot, but I toted my pack with me to his place, just in case.

It was close by, maybe 0.3 miles total. And the trail to get to him had gorgeous lake views one way, stream views continuously, and then a waterfall, too. It was stunning. I got there and Tim, the owner let me reserve a spot for breakfast, but told me his cabins were sadly full. He offered me some lemonade and I happily obliged. Sitting on his porch, rocking, and watching hummingbirds come to his feeders on his deck with the creek passing by down below was the highlight of my day. His dog, Charlie was a cute and loving addition, too!

His nephew’s wife brought me a white claw to drink (she laughed and said, “this is me offering trail magic” lol) and we chatted awhile. Her and her family are visiting Uncle Tim like they do every summer. She’s an ER nurse so we had tons to talk about. It was getting close to 4:30 and I made the comment that I needed to go try to find me a spot for my tent at the shelter, and she and Tim told me of a great stealth spot just on the other side of the bridge.. the way I’d have to walk back to the camp in the morning for breakfast either way. I graciously thanked them and headed off to snag it before anyone else did.

The spot is perfect. It’s nestled in the woods next to the creek, and just at the fork of the AT and the bridge to get back to Harrison’s camp in the morning. My plan is to pack up, leave my pack sitting at the fork behind a tree, and pick it back up on my way out. What perfection!

I set my tent up, then I went to the waterfall area and washed off in the rock pools just before the water went over the edge. Then changed clothes and hung wet ones to dry. I ate my dinner and prepped my camp for my return. Then, completely unlike me, I got my headlamp and phone and walked back to the hunting camp.

Everyone was sitting around watching the hummingbirds. They are magnificent little creatures. They remind me of fairies. While sitting around and talking, they told me of a side trail by my camp to walk to the big pond to watch the sunset. So that’s where I am now.. sitting on the shore watching the sun go down, basking in its warmth. I’ve had a wonderful last few days, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Tomorrow, I have to be at breakfast by 7am, and then just under 4 miles from here is a where the Appalachian trail crosses the Kennebec River, the only river the AT doesn’t have a bridge to cross and can often be too unsafe to fjord. To remedy this, the AT pays someone to shuttle hikers across the river by canoe, and the canoe has a white blaze on it.. so it’s the official route of the trail. The canoe person doesn’t started until 9am.. so I can take my time eating breakfast before heading that way.

That’s all I have for you today. Hopefully I’ll have some decent service soon. I had none today to attempt to upload yesterday’s blog. I’m getting into more remote areas of Maine, so the daily posting may be a thing of the past for a little while. Lol don’t be too sad 😉 love y’all! Goodnight! I’ll just be over here dreaming about “patriotic pancakes.”

Start: Bigelow Col Campsite (AT mi 2012.9). Stop: Flagstaff Campsite (AT mi 2022.8). Today’s miles: 9.9 miles. Total AT mileage: 998.1 miles

Today was, in a word: incredible. And it being my 100th day on trail makes it all the sweeter. The wind whipped all night, but it only lightly sprinkled until about 10pm. With all the wind, the outside of the tent was dry by the time I woke up.. which wasn’t until a little after 7:30am. It still felt cool outside of my sleeping quilt, so I stayed put until I was sure the sun was up and going to be beaming on me. My clothes were still soaked, and the thing about having one pair of shorts and one sports bra: if they’re wet, you’re wet, too.

I got out to pee, then got back in to eat breakfast in my cocoon. Then slowly packed everything I could before having to take off my camp clothes and get into the wet ones. I’ve decided I don’t like my short sleeved shirt. It bunches under my arms and annoys me throughout the day. So, I did wear my long sleeves, but everything else was the wet stuff from yesterday.. including my socks. I have a few more days before town, so no point in making both pair of socks wet.. yet.

I finally left camp at 8:35, and moved slowly up to the peak of Bigelow Avery Peak. It felt like an incredibly short climb, and I had to remind myself that it was only this easy and short because I slept in between the two peaks. When I got to the top, it was stunning views all around. Ski mountains one way. The mountains I had crossed another way, and lakes upon lakes the other way. 360 degrees of gorgeous no matter which way I turned my head. It was so pretty, in fact, when I realized I had service I sat on a rock wall and worked on uploading yesterday’s blog.

When I posted it and soaked up a bit more views, I forced myself to get my pack on and continue walking. I now had a decent descent to maneuver, and then climb up and over Little Bigelow Mountain.. which in comparison looked small but wide on the elevation map. I had started this day 3 miles ahead of my initial plan anyway, so I really had no actual goal in mind for where to stop. I could go 8 miles total and get a bunk at a hostel in town, I could go almost 10 to a lake, 15 to a shelter.. today’s options were endless. I decided I’d just see how I felt when I got somewhere. But one thing was certain, I had to get off this mountain.

I started the downhill and it had moments of slick, hold onto the trees to not slide down a rock face, brace for dear life.. but they were short sections surrounded by beautiful, thick wooded forest with huge moss covered rock boulders. It was serene.. and for a Friday, I really didn’t pass or get passed by many people. At some point mid morning I started listening to an audiobook. I’m enjoying it.

On the uphill of Little Bigelow, I decided the second I found a semi decent rock or stump or fallen tree log, I’d stop for lunch. I was maybe 0.1 from the summit when it came, and I didn’t even care to wait to see the summit sign first. I stopped and ate my peanut butter tortilla.. it gave me a little heartburn, but not as bad as in the beginning.. so maybe the weight loss is helping me in that department.

After lunch I continued on, at a “can’t be bothered” pace, listening to my book. I snapped pictures when the views came, I meandered, I enjoyed. At some point at a shelter, the one everyone stopped at yesterday except me, I got water from a fresh spring that was super cold and even more refreshing. It’s a little annoying to only have one bottle.. I chug and then have to filter again instead of having one filtering while I’m catching up on my water intake. Even so, I took my shoes off and sat a while, aired out my toes from my wet and very disgusting socks.

Once I crossed the road that the hostel picks up at, I saw that I didn’t have service. That makes that choice an easy one.. plus I really don’t need another town stay at this point. All I’d want to do is get another water bottle and wash my socks.. haha. I just kept walking. I came across the “pond” that looks as big as a lake. The water is crystal clear and so gorgeous. There was a sandy beach, but I continued on the trail, excitement brewing.. I decided after seeing that water that I’d go to the campsite listed on my app, find a tent spot, and go for a swim!

Which is exactly what ended up happening. I walked around the pond on trail for maybe half a mile before I came across some tent sites. Dirt pads down in the woods. I continued, just in case something else was better up ahead-but then ran into a couple tenting.. so I turned back, wanting to make sure I got my spot early, especially on a Friday afternoon. It was 4:30 when I found my spot. It was down a hill a bit more than the original I saw, slightly out of view from the passerby’s on trail, more flat, and closer to the water. After I set up the tent, I walked down to the water with my camp clothes, food, and water bottle in hand.

I had an entire beach to myself! It was absolutely beautiful! I laid out my shorts and long sleeve hiking shirt to air dry, then promptly got in the water. I was nervous about leeches, but this water is super clear so I decided it was a small risk. I had my lighter in my food bag if it came down to that. Another hiker told me that you hold a flame to the leech it releases itself. I swam, floated, and washed my body. It felt so freeing! Then, I sat out on a big rock on shore to dry.

When I started getting hot, I took off my undies and bra (to lay them out to air dry) and got into my camp clothes. I continued listening to my audiobook, gazing off along the waters, watching birds fly and ducks squawk. I cooked and ate my dinner sitting on a piece of what appears to be driftwood. Once done, I went back to camp to throw my bear line, seeing how I’m the only one nearby and there’s water so close.. and unpacked the rest of my gear so when I come back for bed, it’s all set and ready to go.

I brought my headlamp with me and decided that I’d sit on the beach and watch the sunset. It’s already darker back at the tent than it is down here, but I don’t want to leave this serenity just yet. Even if I am tired. So, I’ll sit here a while longer, listen to my audiobook, then gather up my clothes and go to bed. Today has been just one of the best of days. The terrain looks pretty smooth sailing from here, too. A couple minor blips on the elevation profile, but nothing major.

I hope y’all have a Goodnight, and the sweetest of dreams.