Behind The Eight Ball

Day 186

Monday September 25, 2017

Miles: 1876.3 - 1883.5.   Completed 7.8

Time: 7:00am - 4:40pm

Weather: Hot and sunny with some clouds

Tented at IMP Shelter and Campsite

The climb out of Carter Hut was just as steep as the decent last night. The day was filled with rocky ups and downs.  It was all the more tricky with the added slickness the humidity caused on the rocks. At least the thunderstorms that were predicted never formed. That probably would have been more then we could have handled. 

Another day with less than ten miles. It’s normal to have your miles shortened when you get to New Hampshire and Maine due to the difficult terrain. It’s to be expected. But with the set back of going home for two weeks the calendar is slipping away and our short mileage days are making me worried we will not be able to finish on time. Baxter, home to Katahdin in Maine, the Northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, closes October 15. It’s September 25th and based on my 2015 schedule we are behind the eight ball. Somewhere soon we need to make up  miles. That is extremely stressful for me. I worry about the logistics a little too much and Shortcake doesn’t seem to worry about them enough. Somewhere we need to meet in the middle.

The nice benefit though of low miles is sometimes we actually get in early which means hopefully more rest. On those rare occasions when we are not hiking from sun up to sun down I like to rest in my home away from home and do nothing. 

Black Bear’s Tent

I love to take naps and I so looked forward to being able to escape the busy world of my “real” life and nap mid day some place along the trail. That never happened in 2015 and so far it hasn’t taken place for me this time around. There is no time for extended breaks at our speed if we want to get to our goal. Naps are a luxury we can’t afford. They will just have to wait until I get home. 

Happy Hiking.