Imp Campsite 1888 to US Route 2 1896 (8 miles, 870.6 total miles)
We all slept in a little this morning, very tired from our long and strenuous hike the day before. Sunshine left a little before Catchup and I, who had another late start at 9:30AM.
The day began with a hike up Mt Moriah, which was quite vigorous for first thing in the morning, even though it was only a 1.3 mile climb and about 900 feet of elevation. There were several sheer rock faces to hike what felt like a straight up incline.
The views of the Presidential Range, the Carters, and Wildcats behind us were quite stunning with blue skies and puffy clouds overhead. Moriah had several views before the final summit, which was a .1 side trail up to the top.
On the side trail, we saw a few thru hikers, though none I knew the names of. After the summit we had quite an easy easy descent down to Route 2, though the first part of it was rather steep.
A couple miles after the summit, we found Sunshine laying on the ground taking a nap near a water source.
She looked exhausted, and asked if we knew about the weather coming up later. The forecast was calling for a large storm to roll in, and in the night there was an expectation of heavy rain, hail, and damaging wind.
Sunshine suggested we bail out at Route 2 and stay in Gorham, instead of resupplying there and hiking another 7 miles after town.
Catchup and I were both on board with whatever made the most sense for Sunshine. She’d been eating and sleeping as much as she could, which we both thought was a positive sign.
I’m a big fan of listening to the body at all times, and if her body was calling for sleep and town food to process everything she’d been through, then I was on board for that.
Plus hearing that we were cutting the day short and would get to sleep inside and not pack a wet tent had me feeling all sorts of excited for going back to Gorham.
Sunshine left before we did, while Catchup and I had a couple snacks and filtered water for the next few miles. Sunlight dappled through the bright green foliage overhead, and Catchup helped a section hiker find the trail past the stream.
We continued on, but soon stopped after another mile when we found a fantastic swimming hole in Rattle River. The water was ice cold, but the dip felt amazing with how hot and humid the air around us was.
After hanging out for a bit at the water, we had an easy, gradual downhill to the road. I collapsed my trekking poles and enjoyed the easy terrain, which was relatively free of rocks and roots, and I was reminded of hiking into Gorham from Pinkham Notch.
Sunshine was waiting for us at the road, and we met a few SOBOs in the area. We were able to get a shuttle with a nice trail angel named Dan, who took us back to The Barn.
Inside The Barn, I was very happy to see Iver and Johanna, the Swedish hikers I hadn’t run across since Connecticut.
The last and only time I’d seen them, we were all three feeling homesick, and they were adjusting to jet lag and life on the trail, including a lot more humidity than they were used to.
This time, they seemed happy and accomplished, and had acquired trail names. Johanna was now going by Pilgrim, and Iver was called Tracker.
Ironically, they had just wrapped up their long section hike at Pinkham Notch, and were going to travel for another few days before heading back to Sweden, where they both had new jobs lined up.
I had just ended my day at Route 2, where I had quit my hike last time, so it was quite meaningful to see them again when I did. It was awesome catching up, and seeing them at the end of their trip, like what had happened with Turtle earlier in my hike.
Catchup, Sunshine, and I worked on finding local accommodations, then left our packs at the hostel and walked back over to The Public House a mile up the road. We had appetizers and bbq pizza, and finalized our reservation at the Quality Inn.
After checking in and heading to our room, we saw another room with four thru hikers staying the night. Acoustic and his friends were enjoyable to chat with. We spent a few minutes with them before we walked back to The Barn to pick up our packs.
I carried my much heavier pack full of food to the hotel, and the three of us had a singing/dance party to “Colors of the Wind” and “Will You Be There” while we walked down the street.
After dropping our stuff, we headed down to the indoor spa area, where we enjoyed the pool, hot tub, and sauna for a few hours.
I ate another PB&J on a bagel with dill pretzels for dinner, and we all talked about pets for a bit. I’d been confronted with some things that were triggering me to think about Frankie deeply, and I had to spend a little time self soothing and processing buried traumas.
Bed was around 9:30, with a continental breakfast to look forward to in the morning. The storm arrived just before we turned in, and sheets of rain drove down from overhead. It had been a good day, with a nice break for everyone. I was glad Sunshine asked for what she needed, and we were able to accommodate. Last one to Katahdin (or Springer) wins.