Day 141 - 8/03

Daily mileage: 9.6
Total trail mileage: 1890.8
Starting location: US 2
Ending location: Dream Lake
Weather: Rain last night. 68 - 76 degrees during the day. Cloudy all
day. Rain in the morning. On and off drizzle the rest of the day.

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=44.443738,+-71.093008

After getting up, having breakfast with Hopi across the street, and
packing my bag, I finally headed back to the trail. Fortunately the
rain had pretty much stopped. It didn't take more than five minutes
to get a hitch, which is the third time I have had to hitch on the
trip. The guy that picked me up was on his way from Vermont to Bar
Harbor, Maine and had hiked this section of the AT before.

Now that I am out of the Whites I started seeing a few bugs again.
They aren't bad, but through most of the Whites I didn't see any
bugs. I have heard that I successfully missed blackfly season.

I ran into a guy heading in the opposite direction, and I asked him if
he was thruhiking and where he was headed. He said yes and to the
next shelter. Since the next shelter is past the road for Gorham, I
made the observation that he was skipping the town. He said he
already went into town and he was headed North. At this point we were
both confused since we were headed in opposite directions and we both
thought we were heading North. Well, it turns out that he saw a
moose, got turned around at the pond, and accidentally went back the
way he came from.

Unfortunately the moose was gone when we got to the pond. I missed it
by 15 minutes! There were plenty of fresh tracks in the mud though.

The new shoes seem to be working. At least they aren't falling
apart. They seem to have better traction, but it is hard to tell
since the rocks were all wet today. I did slip a few times. The
shoes don't even pretend to be waterproof, but even after stepping in
a puddle they feel dry within a few steps. My other shoes stayed wet
much longer.

This is the first time I am in my hammock and using my stove in a
while. I had to remember how to set it up. The huts spoiled me. I
am camping out next to a lake and am hoping a moose comes by in the
morning.