Hemlocks and Dreams

August 25

Miles: 16

Location: White House Landing hostel

Weather: A little breezy, but otherwise perfect for hiking; a little too chilly for swimming though– not that that stopped me from jumping in the lake.

Complaint of the Day: Why can’t every day on the trail like this? Life on the trail would be so much better if they had designed the whole thing to be this flat and easy, but nope, they had to toss all those mountains in along the way for some reason. Jerks. 

It took the trail almost 2100 miles, but it has finally got things right. Today is the type of day I was dreaming of when I decided to hike this trail. The trail was flat and easy and it followed by a number of small babbling brooks and scenic ponds while going through a mixed hard wood forest of beech and maple and birch and pine and… hemlock. Oh, man, hemlock. I love hemlock. Tsuga canadiensis. I have seen pockets of hemlocks here and there along the entire trail, but today was the first time I really remember seeing large groves of big, old growth hemlocks. If you have been around trees like this, then you probably already understand. But for those of you who haven’t been so lucky, I am not sure I can totally explain. Being in a grove of trees like this is like… being in a church. But no, that is not enough. I don’t think that there is any church or grand cathedral anywhere that can match the feeling of silence, of solemnity, of quiet power and knowledge that these trees seem to have.

I came across the first of these big groves this morning. I was excited to see them– I hadn’t seen a place like this since the last time I was in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was still early, I had barely been on the trail for two hours, so I didn’t really need to take a break. But then trees insisted, so I obliged them. I took my pack off and sat down against one of them. And I just sat. I listened. I smelled the scent of the air and of the ground around me. I allowed myself to be present. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that particular moment. Virtually everything I done over the last few weeks ( or even months) has been done with an eye towards Katahdin, my finish line. I have pushed myself to go farther and faster, just trying to get there before my largely self imposed deadline. I hadn’t really taken them time to just sit and enjoy my surroundings, to appreciate fully where I am. These trees did that for me. 

………

I am spending the night at a cool hostel/fish camp that is located in the middle of the Hundred Mile Wilderness. It is a neat set up at an old logging camp right on the lake. I called them from the boat dock next to the trail and they came over their boat to pick me up and shuttle me to the lodge. It is a tad pricey, but it is a very convenient place to have the last of my trail food sent to. Tomorrow I will take off and push hard down the trail. I need to do the next 40 miles in two days if I am to summit Katahdin on schedule.