What a Difference a Day Makes

It is often said that plans for full-time RVers are made in jello.  That can also be said of long-distance hikers.  Stuff happens--unexpected weather or trail conditions, family emergencies, injuries.  Our hiking buddies have gotten off the trail.  Not only did their plans change, but ours did, as well.  Here’s the story.

Last Friday, we were making plans for our last few days in Gorham.  We were scheduled to leave on the 26th and wanted to get done those things we had put off doing till the last minute.  We were sketching out a rough plan when the phone rang.  We hadn’t expected to hear from the hikers until the 24th, so we knew something was wrong when we saw Herb’s name on the phone.

Herb’s knees were giving him considerable problems and he had decided to call a halt to his hike before he did serious damage to himself.  Dwight was undecided whether he would continue or call it quits also.  We were to pick them up Saturday morning.

Saturday was spent in agonizing decision making.  We had the maps spread out to study distances and trail profiles.  Between the four of us, we were able to come up with about a dozen different options.  The one Herb finally decided on was to go home.  Dwight decided to continue with his hike.  We dropped them off at their motel and agreed to pick them up later in the afternoon for dinner.

During the afternoon Dwight learned from his wife that there was flooding in his hometown in North Georgia.  They’re RVers and there was 6 inches of water under their trailer.  He immediately changed his plan and opted to go home, as well.  They were a couple of sad guys last night.  Not even the wine or chocolate chip cookies could cheer them up.

This morning, we put them on the bus to Boston from where they will be flying out later in the day.

One last meal together.

For us, we had decisions to make also.  We have reservations at the campgrounds along the AT all the way to Millinocket.  We could continue on and do some hiking on the AT ourselves, we could stay here, or we could move to Vermont or any other place in New England.  We knew we didn’t want to move too far south and the higher temperatures.  In the end, we decided to extend our stay for a month here in Gorham.  The weather is great, the monthly campground rate is great, and the hiking is limitless.  So, here we are looking at trail maps and making plans.