A special post for this post-MDW Tuesday. I returned from the western Maine mountains late last night. I was cold. I was wet. I was willing to bet that you constructed this maze. But I returned refreshed, if not slightly blistered and hobbled.
My cousin Jerry is hiking from Georgia to Maine. All 2200-ish miles. It was a struggle to keep up with his hiker legs. But some serendipity kept the green tunnels and roots-laden trails moving:
- A pair of Brit brothers (Sticky and Nozzle) on a northern New England section hike who responded to each other ironically with “yes my lord?”
- A budding trail legend (Leafblower) who carries a battery-power leafblower (Leafblower’s leafblower).
- Running into a campsite giving out “trail magic” after hiking all day. Mac and cheese and hot dogs and PBR never tasted so good.
- One of the trail magic volunteers, “Marlboro Man” who was not a hiker but did have great taste in music and chain smoked by the fire. This week’s playlist is my best effort on recreating his. Heavy jam band and roots rock influences. Some classic rock for good measure, too, especially a stellar live version of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” by the band’s frontmen, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.
- A group of Colby freshmen on their orientation trip, including a girl named Gusty, which Jerry and I thought would be a hilarious trail name. She said it derived from her real name, August.
- Encountering some elder hikers, Hiking Home and Sunshine, and then meeting Hiking Home’s wife (who gave us hot chocolate) at the terminus of our trek at Height of Land, a million-dollar vista above Mooselookmeguntic Lake. OFNL reader and my old man Jack picked up a couple weary backpackers there.
Overall, a wholesome adventure. Except for one strange hiker we met at a lean-to who felt the need to tell us why he hated St. Louis (incarceration in a Missouri prison) and why he hiked (therapy to prevent him from getting violent). Not all who wonder are lost, but this guy definitely lost a few screws along the way.
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