Day 53 - Miles to go before I sleep. Many, many miles. (23/8/2016)

I found Trout!!

We've been within a few hours (or sometimes less than that) of each other for ages, it seems, but we could never quite find ourselves in the same space. After an early start this morning, I found him at the next shelter! He had 17 miles planned today, and I figure I'd stick with him. Turns out that if I did that, I'd do my first 20 mile day.

It was great to catch up with him. Apparently a few people he's mentioned me to have exclaimed "Is that the apple guy?!" One day I'll blog about why, but for tonight, I need to sleep off a 20 miler.

Start: 501 mile mark or so
End: Big Branch Shelter
Distance: 20.6 miles

Days 38 & 39 - (8-9/8/2016)

Two interesting days. First, my plan had been to pop into Lincoln, do a quick resupply/laundry/library blog update, get some food, and move on. That plan died almost as soon as I arrived. I loved this little town. A woman with her baby in the passenger seat of her pickup let me ride in the box and took me to North Woodstock where  I had a wamlette for breakfast (an omelette served on top of a waffle). Then I headed to the Lincoln library where I spent 2 hrs on the computer updating the blog and uploading photos. [Can I just throw a quick shout out to Public Libraries everywhere? Support yours.]

Then I met Brendan. Brendan is a heavy drinking, middle-aged businessman who struck up a conversation with me at a brewpub that, strangely, did not serve any of its own beers. It turns out that Brendan was a high-flying "Wolf of Wall Street" type real-estate mogul who was adapting to small town life and missing his power-brokering, deal-making days. He drew a stark contrast to the way that I live my life, and while he seemed on the one hand jealous of me, I couldn't help but think that he'd probably hate living the way I do. He liked his Porsche, million dollar mansion [large enough to drunkenly land a helicopter in the yard, if needed, which he had at one point], and expensive watch. As much as I'd like some of those things too, I'm not sure the lifestyle would suit me anymore than my lifestyle would have suited Brendan. It's good to meet peopl who live differently sometimes to help you see why you make the choices you do.

That night, I decided I'd had enough of hostels for now so I splurged on a "cheap" motel (it's peak season in Lincoln, so cheap was relative). Did I mention I liked this place? Even the next day, it took me almost 6 hours to finally leave town.

Which, it turns out was lucky!

While walking along the trail, thinking about the usual (food, where would I sleep, food, etc...) I came upon a speedy trail walker/runner who, from a distance, seemed familiar somehow. When he got closer, I recognized Jesse, an old friend from undergrad whom I hadn't seen more than once or twice in the 15 years since those days! He did a double take, we hugged, and then sat down had a good long chat. Jesse [Slacker] is a longtime ultra marathon and trail runner and just happened to be taking a summer break to visit and run some of the White Mountains. It was amazing to run into someone so randomly, here in the wilds of New Hampshire.

Me and Slacker

Shortly after, Timber and Legs showed up (they'd met Slacker the night before at a hostel). After days of no familiar faces, I was now surrounded by on and off trail friends again. All of this was made possible by my failing to leave Lincoln on time, twice.

So to Brendan: Thanks both for the beer, and making it too hard to leave Lincoln. Keep hiking.

Start: Liberty Spring
End: Between North and South Kinsman Peaks
Distance: 8.4 miles

Upcoming Mail Drops

I now have several packages chasing me down the trail since it turns out that anything from Canada or abroad takes 8-14 business days to get to me. I'll try to start posting addresses further down the trail from now on.

My next locations will be:

Serje Robidoux (trail name Wallaby)
c/o Hiker's Welcome Hostel
P.O. Box 25
Glencliff, NH 03238
ETA: 12/8/2016

Serje Robidoux (Hold for Hiker)
c/o General Delivery
50 S Main St,
Hanover, NH 03755
ETA: 15/8/2016

Serje Robidoux (Hold for Hiker)
c/o General Delivery
2046 Route 4
Killington, VT 05751
ETA: 18/8/2016

As always, if you send something please let me know by email (and include a tracking number if you have one). That way I can bounce things forward if I outrun them. From Canada, XpressPost seems to be very fast (but I assume expensive).

Next Destination

My next resupply/mail stops will be Rangeley, ME, Andover, ME and then Gorham, NH. I may skip Rangely depending on speed and food situations, but I should be in Andover mid next week. Gorham might be a better choice if you want to mail something. (And that's right before I hit the White Mountain range, which is meant to b a very difficult section.)

Serje Robidoux
c/o General Delivery
165 MAIN ST
GORHAM, NH 03581-9998

ETA: 31/07/2016

If you do mail something, send me an email with [TopPriority] in the subject line. If I miss your letter/package, I can call the post office and ask them to forward it on.

Next Destination

My next stops will be Caratunk, ME and then Stratton, ME. I should get to Stratton by the 18th. I'll definitely pop into Stratton for a resupply and to check mail, but I might not stay overnight.

I had a delightful surprise package from an old friend that was so unexpected it almost made me cry (it was also food and I was soo very hungry....;) )

Serje Robidoux 

c/o General Delivery 

95 MAIN ST 

STRATTON, ME 04982-9998 

ETA: 18/07/2016

If you do mail something, send me an email with [TopPriority] in the subject line. If I miss your letter/package, I can call the post office and ask them to forward it on.

One More Sleep

Hard to believe this crazy idea I had a few weeks ago is about to be a thing I'm doing.

Here's what has to count as 8-10 days of food.

SOBO Schedule

This is my schedule for major legs of the trail:

• July 2, Mt. Katahdin ME (0 km - 1,300m climb to the start)
• stopping in Monson ME after the 100 Mile Wilderness on July 11
• July 18, Stratton ME (311 km)
• July 29, Gorham NH (522 km)
• Aug 8, Glencliff NH (650 km - slooowwwly through the white mountains)
• Aug 30, Kent CT (1,171 km)
• Sep 11, Delaware Water Gap PA (1,450 km)
• Sep 28, Harpers Ferry WV (1,884 km - no turning back!)
• Oct 10, Waynesboro VA (2,145 km - if these were miles, I'd be just about done)
• Nov 1, Damascus VA (2,775 km)
• Nov 20, Fontana NC (3,266 km)
• Nov 28, Georgia Border (3,405 km)
• Dec 1, Springer Mountain GA (3,531 km)

To make that schedule, I'll have to average around 23.5km per day (14.5 miles). That's based on walk times for people going from Springer Mountain to Mt Katahdin (northbounders) in 5 months. It may have to change since my days will be getting shorter, not longer. I may not be able to keep that pace up when I only have 10 hours of daylight to work with.