I woke up to yet another gorgeous day. The guys never ended up showing up last night which was dissapointing, maybe they camped with Lynn. I sat in my tent to get ready for the day and heard a weird buzzing noise, I looked up the trail to the cliff to find Yeti standing there. In a couple minutes he was down at my tent, seems the boys had some morning beers and Spongebob and didn't get on the trail until 12:00. The bad part, Yeti hadn't seen Breaktime until the start. He thought that was quite unusual and stopped frequently to see if he would catch up. Yeti ended up camping before Lynn, with Ireland. He didn't stay long since he too was out of water, and probably hungover. Not long after I heard the same odd buzzing, it was now Lynn at the cliff yelling for me. She came down and we left together. We found Yeti laying in the sun on a rock with a view, we joined him. We would be getting Into town today and with no sight of Breaktime, we were in no hurry. We sat for awhile, Hobb and Chickadee came and we talked with them for a bit before they pressed on. Lynn left since she felt like she was dragging and Yeti and I stayed a bit longer. I re-painted his nails, and he butchered mine. Not before long he flew by me on the trail and was gone. He and I ended up hiking kind of together the second half of the day. It was more of, he was up front, then Hobb, then I. Hobb and I talked for the whole downhill into town practically. The terrain was back to looking like a trail and the long downhill was hurting my knees. Hobb and I talked of the Camino, his house that took him 15 years to re-do himself, how he and his wife met, the complications of the marriage for the first 12 years with her parents, jobs, and more. I loved listening to him talk. We stopped a few times and his wife Chickadee caught up. They thruhiked together when they were 38 years old and now he is doing another thruhike; she's been with him since Pennsylvania and will finish with him. They are great people and I am so lucky to live so close to them, can't wait to go over for pizza as Hobb invited. They stopped to take a break and Yeti and I did as well to wait for Lynn, but no sign. He and I continued on and we talked the rest of the way down. Must have killed him going my slow pace in order to hold a conversation. He turned back to tell me something and noticed Breaktime! At least we knew he was alive. The rest of the walk was Breaktime out front, Yeti behind, and then me. No more conversation. We got to the trailhead and waited for Lynn, we saw her coming down so that was a relief. Yeti had talked to a day hiker and thought we could hitch a ride from him, seems Breaktime talked with the same guy. We secured a ride with him and I ran over to the hostel to pick up my package. Miss Janet and Baltimore Jack were there with an array of hikers. We jumped in Townie's car and he brought us back to Gorham. We went to Walmart to re supply and he even waited in the car for us to return us to the trail! In Walmart, Tumbles had left us in kind of a bind. Tumbles had been helping Yeti out with his re supply; and yet Tumbles had gone on. I knew I had a bunch of food so I told Yeti we could share. We picked up a few things; bagels, two blocks of cheese, summer sausage, and granola for his breakfast. He told me he would carry all of my food so it would almost be like slackpacking, I was beyond thrilled. I got a pre-made grinder to take into the woods for dinner. Lynn decided she was going to stay at the hostel, after spending 3 nights in that town, I wasn't about to spend another $33.00. On the way out of Walmart I heard "Ashlee!" I turned to look and saw three un-identifiable people on the bench; I turned and continued walking. I heard my name called again, who the hell knows my real name in Gorham, NH?! I then realized it was Alpine! Nick and I had started the trail together 5 months prior and I have seen him here and there since, but man he has changed. I ran over and gave him a big hug, he talked with Lynn and I for a few minutes and we got our picture taken since we are the last ones of the original crew. It was so good to see him. We dropped Lynn at the hostel and the boys and I went back South in the woods to camp by the creek. We found Axeman, Spiff, Sweet Tooth, her dad who has been supporting her the whole way, and Rocky (her Rocky not ours.) We miss you Rocky, hope knee surgery went well! Breaktime, Yeti, and I set up right next to the creek; we walked up to join the group for the fire though. They were cooking sausages over the fire and I enjoyed my deli sandwich. The last sausage was offered up, Breaktime declined so Yeti cooked it for us to split. We even split some kind of chocolate peanut butter bar too, thanks Axeman! It was nice to sit around a fire, it had been quite some time since that had happened. Can't complain camping on top of mountains to see sunsets, but they're not fire friendly. I bushwhacked back down to our campsite feeling lost for awhile but found my way, calling it a night. The sound of water while I sleep now seems foreign too!
No comments:
Post a Comment