One of those nights. I must have been thinking about too much. I tossed and turned with Pokémom, who was tented next to me. Every time she turned on her very crinkly air mattress, I turned. The difference is that my mattress is much quieter. The sun rose and so did I.

Blue was a bit slow moving this morning. She had a long conversation with God. Good reason and being I was late yesterday. I’ll just be patient and relax for a bit. I love relaxing. Norman was pretty chill today. After the river crossing of yesterday, he was still trying to process his place on my pack. Norman will always be my number one! He has made it farther than any other and he has no plans of jumping ship. He’s in it for the long haul.

Blue and I headed northbound to our first river ford, only a half mile from camp. Before we even made it to Marble Brook, we had mud and water to tackle. I’m about done with all this muck! We approached Marble Brook and prepared for thigh high water crossing. There was an island in the middle of the river that everyone mentioned. Head towards the island and cross again to the north bank. The water was cold and wet. I was submerged above my knees and Blue rolled up her shorts. We made it to the island and again to the shoreline. Great wake-up refresher on our morning stroll.

Blue started sharing with me her struggles and her conversation with the Lord. This has been a tough trail. With the weather, rain, mud and muck, little views or change in scenery, and being quite mundane, she is at the end of her rope. Unlike myself, Blue came out here to support me. And she has done more than her fair share of that! We have made it through a lot of trials and honestly, the worst of trail conditions. She has endured so much and Blue doesn’t have a vested interest any longer. I completely understand. My reasons for this trail are much different than hers. And just like anyone else out here, you need to know and understand your why! Without that, you will find many reasons to leave. We talked and shared and in the end, Blue is the only one who can decide to continue or leave.

The trail had its PUDS today, pointless ups and downs. We took a couple of breaks and made it to the West Branch of the Piscataquis River. The river flows quickly and can be waist deep here, but was only knee to thigh deep. Another cold water crossing but not very swift and a fairly easy crossing. Once on the other side, we put our shoes back on and headed to Monson. It was an east four miles, or at least I thought it would be.

The trail was doable but seemed to take a bit longer than expected. This is what placed the final screw in Blues mind. She realized that she had hiked enough, had seen enough mud and muck, and really wasn’t in the mood to walk any more miles. If God could open the doors, to secure her a rental car, then she was ready to go from Blue Blazes to Yellow Blazes. Yellow Blazes are typically known as hikers that hitchhike from place to place. She would be more like a Golden Blazer, being she would be driving from trailhead to motel.

As we merged onto the road to Monson, we had many Maine-ah who welcomed us to their town. One guy, ET who hiked many miles on the AT pulled over and offered us a ride. Ends up that he was born and raised in Monson and his Mom, for retirement, bought Shaws Hostel. She ran it for ten years before she sold it to the new owners, Hippie Chick and Poet. ET’s Mom still lives across the street and loves the hiking community. What a great place to land.

Blue reserved us a private room at Shaws Hostel for two nights. Praise God because there’s a storm coming our way. We got acquainted with the place, I found some loaner clothes as everything that I owned smelled like…you know what! I jumped in the shower and Blue started making phone calls. Before I knew it, she reserved a SUV and plans to slackpack and support me through the 100 Mile Wilderness. Yeah for me! I have a personal Sherpa, at last.

When I started planning for this adventure many moons ago, I knew why I was doing it. It started as a child and honestly, the good Lord placed this on my heart before I was conceived. He knew how He would use me, He knew how I would reach people in a different way and place, and He prepared me for a wilderness experience. So 60 plus years later, here I am. I have a path and a destiny, that was ordained many moons ago. I have no idea how it will play out but I don’t need all those details. I just need to trust and believe that He will go before me. So far, I’ve been covered by his mercies and grace. Thank you Jesus for always filling in the gaps when I couldn’t. Thank you for bringing me Blue when I so needed her, and thank you for preparing me for our next steps together. I love your ways and know that they were set in stone way before I was even born. You are in charge, my director and my composer. And I will follow you for the rest of my days. Amen.