Days 7-10

Day 7-Things are not looking so great for us. My knees are going out and I am having trouble walking. Matt's feet are killing him. We just need a zero. This 100 miles of hell is killing us. We wore out in the ffirst few days. Joe is hurting also. Once we get to Monson we will figure out what we are going to. Weare going to start with a few zeros and lighten out packs. But I don't know how much more my knees are going to take. I would hate to quit now. I think I just need rest. But it all depends on if we make it out of this hell. This morning was good but the Down hill really took its tole. My left knee was hurting Cuz I transfered all my weight to it. I just hope I make it the next 4 days. But it's going to be hard. But we need to get out. Matt said he would carry my food so I have less weight. I just keep on praying. This is not how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be fun and relaxing. But this damn storm took everything out of us. I am scared though. I just hope I can make it out. I almost tore my toenail off while crossing a river. The water was rushing really fats and almost took me out. I almost lost a pole and I dived for it so my foot got caught between 2 rocks. We are getting eaten alive by Mosquitoes and black flies.
Day 8-today I could barely walk. We walked a few miles to the road and waited an hour and a half for a hitch hike, but no luck. So i climbed white cap to get cell signal. I called Shaws lodging to shuttle me out. Then I had to climb back down the mountain to get to the road. I am hoping my knees are just bruised and I can be back on the trail on a few days. These people are so nice. When I got to Shaws there was a reporter from Appalachian trail. Com. He took pictures of me and interviewed me. I am glad I pulled out so I could relax. If I would have gone on I would have hurt myself worse. I think it was the best decision. I really like this writer. He bought me breakfast and desert. Trail magic right away. Some of the locals also bought me some beers. 9 days of hell was not fun. Just happy to be out of the 100 mile. I miss my boys though. They decided to keep pushing on. I am so proud of them because they are hurting also. I really wish I was with them. Last night we got a taste of little bears. A mouse got into one of our food bags. The bag was right nest to matt. I woke up Cuz I heard something moving around. After listening for a bit I called Matt's name and he sleepily said "what". I then told him I thought there was something in our food. He paused for a second then jumped up swinging and kicking yelling "you little fucker". He then lifted a bag. There was a little mouse in the bag. It had chewed I hole to get into the bag and could not get back out. I was a little upset but could not help laughing at the reaction the boys had. Tonight I ate at Lakeshore with a couple of sobo girls, number 2 and trooper. They started a few days before we did. They got taken out because of knee injuries as well. They also told me how they both got washed down the river because it was so high. Also, 2 guys from Tampa joined us that were just section hiking through the 100 mile. We ran into them earlier at rainbow. We all sat there and told stories. They told me that a few days off my feet and some I've knees will feel much much better. That made me feel do much better.
Day 9- today I hung out in Monson. I said farewell to the girls from last night. As I was relaxing and icing my knees, I heard that 2 other guys had come in. I got excited and ran down the stairs. It was not matt and Joe, but Adam and Mariano from the wilderness! I was so happy to see familiar faces and they ran up to me and gave me the biggest hugs ever. It was like seeing an old friend. We talked and hung out all night and they joined me in the bunk room. After they showers we all went back to Lakeshore for dinner and some brews. The locals were excited to see me every after one night. I can't begin to tell you how exciting and cool that was. I felt like I was Norm walking into cheers. Felt a lot like home. There was a man there named Jill. He was telling us of his stories of hiking the trail back in 69-70. We also talked to Rebecca, the owner. She was really cool. Later we ran into matt 2. The other guy that started the trail to same day as us. It was a great reunion minus my 2 boys. How could life get any better?
Day 10- today we had french Toast for breakfast. Spent the morning talking to her and Emerson who are related to the owners. They were from Boston and came up for the weekend to visit. They told me how they hiked the wilderness 7 times. I got to spend a good chunk of the day taking to sue. She is this little old woman with massive calves that hikesthe trail also. IIt's amazing how many people here have hiked it. She told me how her and dawn came to Monson to help make it a hiker town. Everyone is just so sweet here. I can't began to tell you how much I love it here. As we were sitting at Lakeshore we got to see a little tornado. Crazy!! That kind of stuff never happens here. It was just a bad storm. It's making me worry about the boys. I am just glad that I am safe here. There were some locals playing live music. Adam joined them with his harmonica. There was singing and dancing all night. Later we went upstairs and played apples to apples and drank. Made some life long friends tonight. We walked around and swam in the lake and became so close and lifted our spirits.