Miles to date - 104.2
Another long hike for Dave today, and it was not his intention. When he called, he was moaning about his hurting feet. His intended stopping point turned out to be in a swampy area, and he said he was nearly carried off by the millions of mosquitos. He was out of water and had to go on a mile detour to get some, but he plowed on. He was looking for the first good campground as he could not pitch his tent just anywhere - this is bear country. He needed a place to be safe from the bears and to be able to hang his food in a tree (or put in a bear-safe locker). No luck. A few miles further he came to a road and knew from his guidebook a couple of motels were not far away. He stuck out his thumb to hitchhike into town. An elderly woman, at least 80 years old he said, picked him up. He was very surprised she would do so, then decided it was because she needed someone to talk to. He heard her life story - she's German and lived in East Germany but in the Consulate Section so had access to West Germany where she met her husband and since he had grown up in Maine they came back to the US in 1952 and she thinks Mt. Katahdin is an absolutely beautiful place.........
I think it was a small price to pay for the ride into town when your feet are killing you! He is in Branchville, NJ.
Dave said he had his choice of two rat trap motels. The only difference between them was their location, one on the south of town and one on the north. He stayed at the one the woman chose. For $55/night he doesn't have a tub to soak his feet in, a pen or a Gideon Bible. He felt cheated! The one good thing about this motel is it is next to an excellent Mexican restaurant. Dave had water-diet Coke-water-beer-water-and a chili poblano. He said it was the best he's ever had. (Maybe he was just extra hungry?? Maybe not.)
Dave saw a beautiful pond today absolutely filled with lily pads. There evidently were many large bullfrogs, as the noise was tremendous.
The hiking girls were "Clutch" and "Glad Gal". He was supposed to meet them at his planned campsite, but the mosquitos must have scared everyone away. Thank you.
By the way, when he reports his miles, he does not count the detours and side trips required for water, trips into town and re-provisioning. The miles are strictly miles on the trail. Today he probably walked at least 20 miles total.
I am still wearing my exercise clothes and need to head to the shower. I took a cardio-dance class this morning, filled two trash barrels with debris from our Saturday night storm, went to a second dance class, worked on the July-Sept. Flower Delivery schedule for church then went to Molly's for dinner. I threw a football with Chase for a while, and came home to do more computer work. Off to the shower!
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