Home Stretch

Aug 8th

I had a graduation dream last night at Big Pond. It was like a college graduation, but I sensed it was more about my spiritual journal over the past 7 weeks. I continue to be in a Verizon dead zone and have not been able to contact Gina to let her know that I will more than likely be in Claryville tomorrow. Had a small black bear cross the road in front of me, it paused looked at me, I talked to it as I always do with bears, and then it went off down the hill into the woods. My only encounter with a bear the whole hike. On the map I had 8 miles to hike to get to Balsam Lean To. I started hiking at 7:30 am. Around 11 am the trail came to a crossroads. I hiked down the road a ways to see if there was a house I could approach and ask to use a phone. There was no house, at least within a distance I was willing to walk. I flagged down a car. The man said he was going to a little store and would call Gina if they had a pay phone. I gave him the information. I continued on to lake/pond ??????. As I approached the entrance I talked with a group of women and explained my need to get a message to Gina. They were surprise to see that none of their phones could get service. Like me they expected to be able to get service at any time and anywhere. One of them said she would deliver a message to Gina when they got home. (she did and that is how Gina and Pat knew I would be in Claryville the next day). From that point on the hike was a continuous uphill eventually to 3200 ft. I began to realize that I was going to complete the hike that I started on June 18th. The weather is mild, a strong breeze, my arms and leg are cut up from the raspberry bushes. I have water but am drinking it rapidly as I sweat very heavy. At 3 mile mark up the mountain there was a lean to. Someone had left a can of refried beans. I opened the can and ate half of it and buried the other half. I did not want to overload my stomach with a heavy food. At a rest stop, a day hiker came by, reassured me that I could make the Balsam shelter but she make an off hand comment that I could always camp. The day hiker went ahead, got to the look out point, and came back heading down hill. I wish I could hike that fast. She did complement me on my light weight pack compared to other long distance hikers she had met on the trail. I continued to hike but felt exhaustion coming on. I also had a limited amount of water, which re-enforced the idea that I had to make the shelter before dusk. There have been times when I was moving fast on the trail, and rather than a smooth hiking gait, it was more like a controlled stumble; this was my method of hiking today. At some point I hit a rock or root and twisted my left leg. I began to have a small sharp pain in my let hip joint. This was a different sensation from the sensitivity I have mentioned before in my hip replacement joint. Over the course of the hike, I have said to myself "give me a trickle of water and a 3 X 7 ft flat spot and I can make camp. I could not gauge how far I had come or how close I was to the shelter when I spotted a very small spring flow going across the trail. I looked down hill and saw a small pool of water. I investigated the pool. I could get 2-3 oz's of water at a dip. I decided to make camp on the trail. The trail was on a 30-yard shelf with steep sides both up and down. I dropped my pack and took a 1 gal Ziploc with my green cup to the pool. The water was murky and I got more than enough to filter out 3 liters. As I was unloading my pack, I notice a flat spot behind a 5 ft vertical out cropping of rock. The tent just fit. When a strong wind came up during the night, the rock blocked it. I slept well after hiking 9 hours today. One more day and the hike is completed.