I woke up at 5 having barely slept, and I grabbed a massive breakfast at the AT cafe that came with my night’s stay. I ate with Preston, who sat down next to me on the bus ride yesterday. After breakfast, a bunch of us crammed into a van to head to the Katahdin trailhead.
I almost cried when I saw the first white blaze. After all of those doubts yesterday, I realized that regardless of what happens, I get to climb the most beautiful mountain on the trail today. Worrying about a week from now doesn’t help much.
The first views above tree line were breathtaking – we had perfect weather, and you could see for miles. Then, it was a huge rock scramble to for the next 2 miles. And by rock, I mean boulders. 2 miles took over two hours – about four hours total to get to the top. I stayed up there for an hour eating lunch and looking down on Maine’s lakes and mountains. The 360 degree view was higher than anything else in sight.
I took my time on the way down, resting and taking in the view for a while whenever I found a good boulder that jutted out. I hiked mostly alone, but sometimes with Peebo and Drill – a super nice couple from Missouri that hiked 300 miles of the trail down south before this. These are their trail names. The names can be self-proclaimed or given to you. They can describe a characteristic about the person, or just be from some random occurrence from one of their first days on the trail.
I was having a great time all the way down – right up until Drill pointed out that my scalp was a deep pink. I buzzed my head on Friday, and I hadn’t applied enough sunscreen for four hours above treeline on a clear and sunny day. My poor scalp hasn’t seen the light of day in years, and I scorched it on Day 1. Drill gave me her bandana to wear and cover my head. The flower patterns somewhat infringe on my badass look, but beggars can’t be choosers- right?
I took an L on the sunburn and figured the night would be smooth sailing, but no sooner did I get back and start setting up camp that I glanced at my right leg. What did I see? A big. Fat. TICK. I pulled it off and blood came out of the little hole it punctured in my leg, which quickly turned into a purple spot. All of my fears about Lyme are now running through my head, and I’m sitting here trying to decide whether or not to take the antibiotics I preemptively got from my doctor. I am pretty sure that a tick has to be attached for more than 24 hours to transmit Lyme, and even Lyme takes weeks to actually kick in, and months before it can have permanent damage, but better safe than sorry, right? I’m just not looking forward to the minor gastrointestinal side effects of the medicine during my first day in the woods.
The day had far more ups than downs, and tomorrow I head into the Hundred Mile Wilderness.
Trails And Travels 