AT17 - Day 6 - Adjusting

Day 6: 8/9 207.5-246.4 Cowboy Camp

            I got up 3:45 and made the climbs up over the Saddlebacks under cool even cold weather.  The top of Saddleback was windy and very cold, but the sunrise was gorgeous and put me in an excited mood.  The middle third of the day sucked.  Rolling flat with just heinous roots and rock as Maine has.  I was in a bad mood and my energy levels were all off (hypoglycemia, nausea, dizzy/lightheadedness).  I wasn’t freaking out, this has happened to me before on these hikes.  I speculate, you keep crossing thresholds of exogenous calorie (ingested as opposed to already stored in body) use and that insulin/glucagon system has to readjust to keep the blood sugar just right.  No big deal, your body figures shit out.

After crossing ME 17, I made the climb up Bemis mountain.  This put me in a better mood and the views up top were/are sensational.  I worked my way across the ridge and topped out Old Blue Mountain right before sunset.  I decided I would make the descent and camp, so that I could start on the uphill of the climb of Moody first thing in the morning.  About half way down the descent though my legs were aching and my eyes grew tired.  I decided to just walk, eat dinner and cool down.  Not making it all the way down, I was able to camp on a small ledge at 20:30.  As I was taking care of my feet, I looked up and saw a very small Owl.  My best guess is that it was a Great Horned Owl.  He was bobbing his head all around like a crazy, like he had the best club music stuck in his head, it was really magnificent.  I grabbed for my phone, but he took off.  It is not like I could capture it anyway with the darkness, oh well.  I finally feel like I am finding my groove.  Perhaps not getting rained on or cowboy camping really helps me embrace the trail.

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