Journals From The Hundred Mile Wilderness – Night Four

The following is an excerpt straight from my journal as Shaaades and I, two run down North Bounders, trudged through the last Hundred Mile section before Mt. Katahdin. In these journals you will encounter desperation, determination, rain, rivers, hope, and a profound longing to stay in the woods forever. Today, we have just reached White Cap Mountain and are feeling rejuvenated after a long three rainy days. 

September 8th, 8:25pm

I AM A NEW WOMAN.

I am rejuvenated I am alive the world is my oyster I am a little bit – lotta bit – starving I am a force of nature EVERYTHING IS DRY BECAUSE THE SUN IS SHINING

AND (SPOILER ALERT) WE SAW KATAHDIN TODAY. 

The joy of waking up a warm, sunny world after three days of rain is immensely powerful. Shaaades, Blueberry and I stumbled out of the shelter ready to seize the day. Sure, our things were still extremely damp, yes we all squeezed into cold wet sticky socks, but we knew there was good, dry news waiting for us atop White Cap Mountain. We only had to hike 7 miles to get there.

Needless to say, we fucking FLEW UP UP THAT GODDAMN MOUNTAIN BABY. It’s amazing what a little sunshine will do. Our spirits were sky high, and we were only climbing higher.

Hiker Trash on White Cap Mountain

No sooner than we arrived at the summit was Shaaades dumping out all the soggy contents of his bag onto the sunny rocks.

We we were on top of the world, we were so ready to go.

You want to hear some MORE good news?! Karim Hunt CRUSHED IT this week in Fantasy Football. So basically, everything was perfect. Shaaades had dry things and absolutely killed his friends in Fantasy, and I finally dried off my back, because – I know I definitely didn’t tell you – it’s been chafing really terribly.

Look at this. I couldn’t fall asleep last night it hurt so bad. It grew into a massive butterfly without me even noticing. BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER NOW BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!

It’s getting more difficult to ignore the inevitable ending to this hike.

I got up to leave White Cap Mountain and shouted, “Alright guys, I’m READY TO HAVE THE ICE AROUND MY HEART SHATTERED.” The guys laughed, “Ok we’ll see you later Lil Wayne.”

The thing is, I was a lot less emotional than I thought I’d be when I first saw Mama K. I am determined to pretend like this hike is going to last the rest of my life. I was really nervous I wouldn’t be able to tell which one was her because I’m markedly terrible at identifying mountains in the distance.

But with Katahdin? There is simply no doubt that it’s her, a monstrous 5000 footer that consumes the horizon.

I think the gravity of the situation was lost on me because I was so fucking happy to be alive and hiking that I couldn’t focus on what was coming for me: the end. I stuck my hand in the air and waved. “CONGRATS GUYS YOU MADE IT!” I yelled towards the mountain that was still at least 50 miles off. I was calling out to Rocket Fuel and Boundary and whoever else, because I knew they were up there somewhere, a distant speck on the top of the world.

Lil Wayne, Shaaades and Blueberry FLY ON TO CAMP

Dude the terrain after White Cap Mountain? Holy shit. It’s flat! IT’S FLAT IT’S FINALLY FLAT! I seriously think we hit 4.5mph as we soared down the trail. Our spirits were so high, Shaaades was blasting his “Hulaween” playlist, and it is just so amazing to be walking on actually flat ground.

Alright, maybe there was a hill or two, but I couldn’t even fucking register it because I was so AMPED to be hiking fast and smooth.

I had forgotten one huge detail, though: flat land + no views = too much time to think.

Too much time to think about things like how

I am really, really, dangerously low on food.

I’ll survive…..but…..I really don’t have enough food. At all. I’m confined to consume about half of the calories I need to sustain myself through the remainder of the hike and I can’t get any more supplies for at least 2 days.

I read a log entry written from Boundary from the Shelter at the base of White Cap Mountain. She had written it a few days earlier, and I completely understood where she was coming from:

“If Katahdin wasn’t 40 miles away I would quit.”

I was so incredibly hungry the last 3 miles before camp that I made a fatal mistake…I started to fantasize about all the food I wished I could eat. 

God, it was so terrible! It was awful! Here I was, in the middle of the woods, cruising, listening to my stomach grumble audibly. I created an epic spread in my mind, imagining smiling women dressed in gauzy clothing and dangling gold jewelry serving me endless bowls and platters of:

  1. Pierogies
  2. Baklava
  3. Chicken and cheese enchiladas
  4. Pasta doused in red sauce
  5. Fluffy garlic bread
  6. Yogurt with walnuts and honey
  7. Fresh cantaloupe and blueberries
  8. Chicken and apple sausages

….I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

So I need to hit the hay, now.

Like right now. Because if I stay awake any longer in this tiny tent I am going to remember how fucking hungry I am, how that RomBomb was not enough, and I will try to eat more out of my shockingly light food bag. Plus, there’s a gross array of bugs that are settling on the outside of my tent trying to get at my sweet headlamp.

Goodnight world, my heart aches with excitement and forlorn. 

Fly on!

Lil Wayne

 

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Comments 2

  • Bill G : Oct 20th

    If you were out of food why not hit White House Landing. 12 miles north of Jo Mary Road.

    Reply
    • Lil Wayne : Oct 20th

      Oh that absolutely would have made sense! Like I said, we weren’t actually going to die, and between lack of cell service and funds, we decided to just keep going because it seemed far less complicated. I also had a deadline and couldn’t afford to spend a night at that spot. But you know, when you’re hungry, everything just gets really dramatic.

      Reply

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