Pitt Stains, Wet Socks and B.O.

Day 1
I realized today just how hard it is to leave town and get back on the trail after having such a good time. The Lakeshore House was an amazing experience. The food that Rebekah made for us was wonderful and her hospitality was second to none. We only hiked in 9 miles today, but with a pack weighing close to 30 pounds it felt a lot longer. It will be nice cause I will be eating a lot better now! I only took one picture today and one yesterday so here they are. Tomorrow is a 15 mile day I think so it'll be bed time soon so I'll say goodnight now.
Day 2
We woke up at 3:30 to the sound of thunder and rain. I've found that hiking in the rain is actually fun. I hiked about 6 miles until I caught up with Stitch. We did the last 7 together. He's good company. The shelter is nice, but we have quite a few people in it tonight. It'll be an early night. Tomorrow we'll be hiking by 5 in the morning. Here are the pictures
Day 3
We started hiking today at 4:40 in the morning. Right now I'm sitting on top of Pleasant Pond Mountain soaking up some sun before our 7 mile descent into Caratunk.
We made it into town and stopped at the post office before hitching into the white water rafting lodge. It was a beautiful lodge with a pool and hot tub and it was only 12 bucks to stay at! I ate a huge plate of Mac and cheese and a burger and went to bed a happy boy :)
Day 4
We hitched a ride back to the trailhead this morning. The first thing we did was cross the Kennebec river. We had to use a canoe because the water is too deep. It was fun though!
Today I was reflecting while walking and listening to music. I was thinking about how fortunate I am to be able to be living out my dream. I am 13 days into my hike and I'm having the time of my life. The people are always nice and it's just always so peaceful out here. The downside is that I'm always hungry now and I miss my family quite often. I got kind of a wake up call today thinking about the northbound thru hiker who drowned this past week on the trail. It really reaffirmed the thought that life is truly finite and can end at any time. It got me thinking about what if something happened to a family member and I wasn't there to say goodbye. I wasn't there to enjoy there last moments with them.
Anyways it started raining about 12 miles into our 15 mile hike today. We got to the shelter and it was completely full with other SOBO thru hikers that only did 10 today so I had to set up the hammock for only the second time on the trail so far. I forgot how comfortable this thing is! Well, it's time for bed. We have only a 10 mile day tomorrow, but it's through the Bigelow mountains so needless to say it will be tough. Here are today's pictures.
Day 5
I woke up to it raining. Luckily the rain stopped and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We hiked 12 miles today to a campsite. During the day we hit the supposed 2000 mile mark. It doesn't really help us SOBOs, but it was still cool to see. We climbed over Little Bigelow mountain then down about 2 miles to the campsite. Here are today's pictures.
Day 6
I woke up to rain. :( not cool at all. We finished up the Bigelows today on a cloudy, rainy and cold day. Were sitting in a lean-to eating lunch and waiting a bit to go our last miles into Stratton. Sorry no pictures today. I don't really want to ruin my phone :/
-I want to send a big thank you to Steve Willis. He is currently housing 4 hikers including me in a cabin. He has fed us which for hikers is a lot of food and is currently making brownies for us. I can't thank you enough for your hospitality and your willingness to house and feed 4 stinky, hungry and tired hikers.