Day 15

June 18, 2009

So, I'm hiking south on Route 11 when, lo and behold, I find that I'm starting to run low on water. It's nothing to worry about, really, because I'm spending most of the day within earshot of running water.
As I get down to my last bottle, I start to think that refilling would be a novel idea, then a lady pulls to the side of the road and gets out of her car. She walks toward me and proceeds to let me know that my cell phone coverage isn't going to work.
(What an interesting thing to tell a guy hiking down a barren road in the middle of Maine.)
I assured her that my cell phone (Sprint) hadn't worked for the past two weeks, so it really wasn't anything new to me.
She offered me a ride into town but, of course, I had to turn her down. But, that opened up the door for me to tell her who I was and what I was doing. She was pretty excited about the whole thing and was pretty well beside herself trying to figure out how to help me.
I thought this would be a great opportunity to ask if she happened to have any bottled water in the car with her.
She did not. :(
But, she was more than happy to drive the rest of the way into town, keep her hair appointment, then bring me back some water when she was done. This sounded like a good plan to me...
at first.
A couple of hours later, I finally run out of water alongside the Katahdin Ironworks Road and my lips are getting quite 'chappy'.
At this point, I'm starting to feel a little desperate and foolish for deciding to wait for her delivery instead of refilling in the creek somewhere when I had the chance. I'm just on the verge of knocking on someone's door and begging for water when a car pulls up in the distance.
She made good on her promise, though, and brought me, get this, an entire gallon of water!
Normally, this would be a ridiculous overload of weight but I was EXTREMELY happy to oblige.
I filled up all three of my water bottles and still had plenty left in the container. So, I gladly drank till I could drink no more.
She assured me that I was within a couple of miles of the town and I should stop at a place called, 'The Junction' to find myself some food.
So, I did.
And, believe it or not, they knew I was coming! The nice lady had apparently already been there and told them all about me and what I was doing AND she even prepaid for my entire meal.
How cool is that?
The guy running the place is named Donnie and he set me up with all the fixins!
Delicious!!
He runs the place with his brother and it's WAY MORE than just a convenient store with a lunch counter. It's a supply store, campground, concert venue, outdoor movie theater PLUS who knows what else! It's really pretty cool and you can check it out at: www.theJunctionGeneral.com.
His parents eventually came in to grab a bite to eat as well. I got to meet them and they decided to let me come spend a couple of nights in their fifth-wheel trailer in the front yard.
This is turning out to be quite a day!
For those of you who know anything about the lore of the AT, you've probably heard of Bill Irwin, the first blind man to hike the whole trail. Well, it just so happens that when he got to that part of the AT, he came into Brownville and stayed with this very same couple.
He apparently even mentions them in his book.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Mr. Blevin said something about needing a 'taxi service' in the morning, so this should be interesting.