Trail Letter 15: 6/27

19.8 miles today. Yesterday I only did 1.9 miles to Piazza Rock Shelter, it’s built near this giant overhanging rock that appears to defy the laws of Physics, and so I spent some good hours there sitting on top of the rock, contemplating.

I’ve been meeting more SOBOs every day. Last night I stayed with Smoothie, Slowpoke, and Asgask. Passed Sparkles (a dude), Albacore and his buddy, Spanky, and another couple whose names I didn’t get. It’s been interesting to see these SOBOs, whose boots I was in 3.5 monts ago. I can, I feel, pick out the ones who aren’t likely to make it and the ones that are. They’ve also provided a good rubrik for me to see how the Trail has changed me, at least in terms of backpacking skills and mental and physical endurance. I imagine most of them look at me with at least a hint of jealousy, and I look at them inversely. I see the trials and hours upon hours of sheer walking they have before them, and I’m very glad that I’m not just starting.

Tonight, I’m staying at a special place. There are some buildings on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, the second highest peak in Maine, and one is an old ski lodge. Signs were posted at the cutoff saying the buildings were all closed, but I decided to climb the extra 1/2 mile to the 4,637′ summit anyway. The view here is spectacular — hopefully tomorrow morning I’ll be able to see Katahdin, but it’s been so hazy/cloudy that I doubt it. I’m gonna cowboy camp next to this porched in area, so if it should rain I can stay dry. Black flies are super-annoying up here, though. Maybe, just maybe, there won’t be another person in Maine sleeping at a higher elevation than I am tonight (I don’t know about shelters/camping on Katahdin)!