8-24-12

AT miles hiked today: 10.2
Total AT miles hiked: 1130.6

I'm tenting at Little Bigelow Lean-to after hiking the Bigelow peaks today. I thought the miles would go a little faster, but it still took a while to get up and over these last big mountains in Maine and we didn't get to the shelter until 7pm. I guess it's okay to give my ankle the consideration it needs on this terrain, and ease it back into the big miles tomorrow. I also had to take a lot of pictures today, because it was so pretty.

I love the Bigelow Range! It's beautiful, the hiking is not too hard (relative to the rest of Maine that we've already hiked), and there are many great views. The pines, the moss, the balancing boulders, the caves, the ponds, the river, the peaks and the nice campsites and lean-tos make this one of my favorite areas of the trail.

I saw Craisin today, just before the shelter. I met him at Fontana Dam, with Houdini, and then again at Trail Days. He has gone so fast that he caught us even though he has hiked 900 more miles than we have. He had been hiking with Ranger and Rebound before he got the "plague"in Rangeley. He thought he lost them, but they got it, too, and they all reunited tonight here at the shelter. I met Sharky today, heading south. He is the first hiker I've met who is doing a yo-yo hike. He got to Katahdin and turned around and is now going southbound.

We have to hike 19 miles tomorrow to catch Toe Knee and Dame Quixote at the previously arranged shelter. We tried to stay in touch today, but we didn't both have service at the same time. We didn't hike as far as we would have liked, but at least the tingling stopped in my ankle and now it's just occasionally painful when I walk. That's an improvement, right?