Mud Runnin'

• Back to the trail! I had a great 0 mile day in Monson yesterday at Shaw’s.
• Today I completed 21.6 miles with 3284 ft of total ascent. I traveled from Monson to the Bald brook Mountain Lean-to. My total mileage listed is a little messed but as this is the first day I’m officially heading south I’ll start listing what mile of the AT I’m current at vs just trying to sum up the miles of the previous days.
• Last night, Tropical storm Debbie rolled through and dropped buckets on the trail. I was so glad that I was taking a rest day! But the storm meant the trail was especially wet and muddy today and that the river crossings were dangerous. I was suppose to cross both the East and West Branch of the Piscataquis River, but the water levels were so high and the current so fast that I was recommend to bypass the crossing via a nearby road.
• I ended up using the road to bypass the rivers and that added an additional 2.5+ unofficial miles to my day. A few good things about the road walk was I got some sun and I walked by a few people renovating a house by the river and they invited me in and offered me a cold drink! It was a great pick me up after having to take a detour off the trail.
• Today was also the first day I starting hiking with sore legs. I’m sure it’s from submitting and mostly descending Katahdin 2 days ago and then laying around all day yesterday. My calves are tight and my left quad is sore too. After expecting to be sore daily in the 100 mile wilderness and then not really having any issues, my delusions of my legs just feeling great this whole hike have vanished.

Peace!