The Cabin to South Arm Road

Had a nice breakfast to start the day with Earl and Marge. They are really wonderful people. 

There were lots of SOBO's (southbounders) at the Cabin with us last night. It's a an interesting dynamic between SOBO's and NOBO's. Everyone gets a little defensive I think when one or the other start throwing out advice on upcoming trail. I have decided the best way to handle it, is to wish them a great adventure and not offer any advice unless they ask. I guess unsolicited advice is never really that welcome :) 

Hiked over Wyman and Moody mountains and down to South Arm Road. It was raining and chilly when we got to the road and there is a campsite right there, which is where we planned on staying....but, it was early, cold and rainy and with Andover just a few miles away.... and a restaurant with hot chocolate there... we decided to hitch a ride in for a meal and then come back out to camp. Not much traffic on the road but my yellow rain coat is a good attention grabber :).

The first car that stopped was a Jeep Wrangler and they couldn't fit us all in with our packs, so they gave us beer instead. A few cars later and we were on our way. Had a burger and hot chocolate at the General store, before catching a ride back out to the trail to set up camp.

At the store we ran into several hikers we hadn't seen for awhile. Martial Arts, Mosey, and Jungle Jim. 

Camping by the trailhead tonight and Mayonnaise Pockets is here. Haven't seen him in quite a while and found out his hiking buddy, Texty, was off the trail. He quit at Manchester Center, VT. 1647 miles in. I can't imagine being so close (and yet so far) and stopping.

The mindset out here now that we are in Maine has totally changed. Everyone is ready to get 'er done. We are tired, we are wet, we are tired of being wet :) As Mambo said, he is a thru-hiker but he wants to be a through hiker. It has been fun, challenging, exciting, life-changing, hard, hilarious, and emotional. Looks like we have a good stretch of sunny days ahead. We are hoping to pound out some miles and enjoy camping and swimming by some of the beautiful lakes that we are coming up on.