“Lord of the Webs”

AT Day 97; LT Day 10

Miles Today: 20.52

Long Trail Mile: 162.5

(Stark’s Nest [tent])

The Long Trail is not like the AT. It is far more difficult. From what I’ve seen this far, it’s mile-for-mile the most difficult thru trail that I’ve ever attempted.

Today’s miles barely broke 20, and it was the most exhausting 20 mile day of my life. It feels far more like I’ve hiked 30+.

We both took falls again today, and I had one that scraped some of my shin off.

The mud bogs are many and the black flies have become omnipresent.

The trail itself is made of root and rock and nothing stable to stand on. It’s a constant balancing act and hiking this trail looks a lot more like a mildly controlled, long-distance stumble than anything resembling the fluidity of “hiking.”

I mean it when I say these have been the slowest miles of my summer. I’m almost a hundred days in, but nothing like this before now. To put in perspective, we started hiking this morning at six, hiked until past six, and only have 2.4 miles to get to our resupply hitch. But we weren’t willing to do them tonight.

Thank god we will have tomorrow to rest.

Because these miles aren’t like the others before them.

These miles are brutal.

—

This morning I became royalty.

I am now the King of the Webs.

Remember those worm webs from the Shanendoas? Or maybe you’re a new reader since then…

Anyways, first thing in the morning trail is always spattered with webs that set up overnight. They’re usually worm webs from some kind of caterpillar, but every now and then you’ll find a spider web strewn across the trail.

Well this morning they were like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. And it went on for 5 hours! There’s almost nobody else out here hiking the Long Trail, so nobody ahead to take the webs before me. It was so bad there for a while that I was getting them across my face every 2 or 3 steps! I was literally wearing hundreds of them at a time. And every few miles I’d get a full spider web directly in my face. Complete with bugs, debris, and of course at least one spider.

I’ve not had a beard most of my life, and I don’t pretend that the one I’ve grown over the last 97 days is flattering. But I never would have imagined that pulling webs and spiders out of it for 5 hours at the start of your day could be as bad as it actually is. It was ridiculous.

It may have been one of the reasons that Plinko let me lead all through the day. Although he normally does anyways.

—

At one point today we met two mountain bikers who are on an 8-day bikepacking trip. It was at a road crossing where someone had left a box marked “trail magic.” Right away one of them offered me mushrooms, which made me laugh and I declined, as temperatures were just too hot to be doing that and not getting overwhelmed by it. But I thanked him and let him know I’m set for when the time is right. We talked for around 20 minutes and I gave them a coyote tooth to commentate our meeting.

He was enamored with how white they were when I opened up my baggie to show him. I suspect it’s because he was high on a little bit of mushrooms.

It’s only 8:16 but I’m so tired I can’t stay awake. I need to go to sleep. More tomorrow.

Sleeping under a ski lift tonight.

Wormwood.