So Judy and I headed for Baxter State Park Wednesday morning after our visit to the Millinocket ER to meet up with Jay, Miguel and eventually Jerry. We found Jay’s car and knew that they were on the trail to meet Jerry. Judy and I started down the trail. We spent a lot of time looking at the mushrooms, fern, and trees. I learnt about ‘trail trees’ from Judy. Trees that the Native Americans pruned in such a way to point to water sources. We ate our lunch sitting on canoes by Grassy Pond. The weather was beautiful the company suburb – Judy, fresh air, beautiful scenery, a lovely pond the size of a large lake in KY. Who could ask for anything more – except that Jerry and company to walk by. We ate and talked and rested on the overturned canoes (they were on land in case anyone was wondering.) We decided to start walking again and made it about a total of 2 miles in before I caught sight of EUERKA! What a sight! And what a hug! The moment I was looking forward to for a long time…..
Wednesday night Jay and Miguel camped and Judy, Jerry and I opted for a motel room.
Thursday morning we headed for the park. Expectations were high! As we pulled up to the gate the ranger excused herself to take the daily weather report. She came back with the news of ‘2/3 of a perfect storm was coming in’. ‘Never in 5 years of working here have we had this situation’. So we continued back to the campsite to meet the other two. Two deer crossed the road. On the way we past Stump Pond – a Pond full of stumps, thus the name. As we passed the pond there were three moose grazing in the pond. What a treat!
When we reached the campsite the thru hikers had gathered around Jay’s fire. What next? Nothing to do but wait. Some of the hikers were running low on food. We emptied our food bags that were in the car, laying things out on the hood of Jay’s car. The hood became like an altar. The hikers were happy.
So now, we’re waiting.
Jerry had developed a pain in his right hip. He was having a hard time walking. So when bad weather moved in perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. The original plan was to summit on Thursday. The weather gods had other plans. The ranger at the gate said that they were predicting 2-5 inches of rain and winds of 70+mph. The mountain was closed. No ifs, ands, or buts. Friday brought the same news. The mountain was off limits. Winds of + 70 again. Heavy rain. There was a report of a tornado in town here with trees down. Judy and Jay had gone out for a walk and experienced the high winds and heavy rain in person.
Oh, but wait, let’s back up to Thursday evening when the 5 of us spent a night in a tiny two bedroom cabin with a small bathroom. Ah, the night sounds. When Jerry got up in the morning he wanted to go for a walk. His hip was still bothering him. We walked for about 30 minutes. He was in pain. And tension was increasing when he considered if he could actually finish the hike. Since we knew it would not happen on Friday we decided the best thing was to revisit the ER this time with Jerry as the patient. The personnel were great. The doctor ordered x-rays. They decided there was no bone damage either to his hip or his right elbow – oh, didn’t I mention that, bursitis had set in after a fall a couple of weeks ago. Leaving a very sore elbow trying to work a trekking pole. The doctor said that a few days rest would be great but he also knew that Jerry wanted to finish. An anti-inflammatory med and some Tylenol to hold him over, Jerry left with the assurance that no permanent damage would be done if he did in fact finish on Saturday.
Friday was a down day, a day or rest, laundry and recuperation.
So, here we sit waiting to see what the weather will bring tomorrow. There is a rather large collection of thru-hikers also waiting at Baxter. We’re the lucky ones. Besides an okay motel room (actually two) we have family and friends here to support us. GO EUREKA!
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