Woke up freezing this morning. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as I'm at 2,000+ above sea level in early March. Things warmed up quickly after I got moving though. Actually had a hot breakfast of instant oatmeal (see picture above for how excited I was about that). Took us an hour and a half to pack everything up and get going. We definitely need some practice with this whole backpacking-efficiency thing. But that's the whole reason I'm here during my spring break.
The hike today was astronomically harder than yesterday. I think I was lulled into a false sense of security by the meandering rhododendron forests. We climbed four mountains over the course of the day, and I think I had to sit this underused, out of shape body down on a log about every 200 yards. I was sucking eggs up Sassafras Mountain when we really met our first fellow thru-hiker. His (trail) name was Blind Bob, and yes, he is completely blind. He and his companion are filming a documentary as Blind Bob completes his thru-hike, the first completely blind person to do so using only a GPS and his metal walking sticks. He takes his journey one step at a time, carefully planting his feet. He moves slowly, but with purpose, and a goal. All of a sudden, my throbbing feet seem so inconsequential. Blind Bob, you blessed me today. May God bless you and your journey.
We made it through all those mountains to a beautiful creek where we refilled our water canteens. You couldn'tve asked for a more beautiful spot if you'd picked it out of a catalog. We're using a "double purification" technique - a ceramic filter and a UV pen light - the idea being that filter #1 gets all the big stuff, and filter #2 gets the microbes. We may succumb to fatigue, starvation or bear mauling, but we will NOT succumb to water-borne parasites. Mountain stream water - REAL mountain stream water - tastes better than anything you can buy in a bottle.
After refilling, we walked about two more miles before we camped. It was much milder tonight, not nearly as cold. A full three course meal was the perfect end to the day. Black bean chowder, rice pilaf and freeze dried fruit for desert. Perfect.
Quote of the Day: "That's a man-killing or a woman-killing climb, either one, ai'nt it?" - Blind Bob
Miles Travelled Today: 12.2
Miles from Springer: 16.5
Miles from Katahdin: 2,162
Feeling: Thankful
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