Last Post Before We Finish! 150 to go!

So, T-Toe's toe is much better, though the hornets had a good time with many other parts unfortunately. We're almost to the 150 miles point and sitting pretty here at some lodge-like place in Caratunk, ME. Easier terrain lately, though some very beautiful country with serene ponds. We hit the only place in the U.S. with a human-powered ferry still in operation. We loaded up our two packs, signed a wavier, and then I helped him paddle us back across the river. He even had resupply products in the back of his truck since Caratunk is a little short in the resupply arena. We're a bit tired from getting up extra early to catch the ferry, so we'll leave you with our top ten things we'll miss and top ten things we're excited for (we've vetoed individuals from this list):

Top Ten Things We Look Forward To:

• Hot showers!
• Fresh food, like FRUIT
• Dry feet!
• Couches
• Having a variety of activites every day!
• Music
• Cotton shirts!
• No more aches
• Being able to watch thunderstorms, while inside
• Rest and relaxation

Top Ten Things We'll Miss:

• Trail Magic
• Hitching
• Eating mass quantities of food whenever we want
• Jumping into my amazing sleeping bag after a tiring day
• Beautiful vistas
• Swimming in pristine ponds
• Searching for wildlife....bears, moose, snakes...
• Cool trail towns
• Thru-hiker discounts (like 50% off for this sweet room!)
• My beard (that is from Sparky!)

A New Fashion For Hikers

Since you last heard from us we've traversed all of New Hampshire and gotten a fair way into the lovely state of Maine. The White Mountains didn't smack us down, though our progress through them was rather slow with all of the tough peaks and "steps" that make the Great Wall of China steps look like they were specially designed for a retirement community. Nothing like placing your foot such that your knee is at about eye level!
Anyway, we summited Mt Washington of "the highest recorded land air speed anywhere" fame, and luckily it was only blowing hard enough to
knock over those under eight years old and to break T-toe's glasses in two. It was pure luck that we had crazy glue and black duct tape or we wouldn't have been able to get that new "faux hiker nerd" look we've been searching for. Fashion is so important on the trail.
We tackled others in the presidential range and stayed at two different huts which are like crosses between a B&B and a remote wilderness cabin. They have a full staff, bunk rooms, and normalish toilets. We stayed in the huts for free by doing a little work in exchange for food and lodging. Quite the sweet deal. In one, we even slept in a room called "the Dungeon" which is really an emergency shelter for idiots that are up there in the dead of winter.
Short of nearly getting run over by the cog train that leads down off of Washington and one day averaging a third of our normal speed, we really enjoyed the spectacular views and great weather in the Whites.
So, guess what happens on the AT after the Whites. Yes! You guessed it--Maine and more super-tough terrain! We stayed and resupplied right before Maine, catching up with some old friends, and proceeded to eventually hit the hardest mile on the AT which, as I'm sure you know, is called the Mahoosuc Notch (rhymes with flatoosick splotch). 2 hours and 15 minutes! On good terrain that's flat with the stars aligned, we can do that distance normally in 20 to 25 minutes. What we didn't know ahead of time was that this Mahoosuc fellow had a second part and an arm.
My shoes are starting to fall apart, and we're excited to be two weeks from finishing. We're in Rangeley, Maine now, getting T-toe's toe checked out (it's looking infected), so hopefully tomorrow the doctor will use her magic toe-wand to get us back on the trail to Katahdin. We split with Evergreen unfortunately because we needed to zero here, but we're at a great hostel that we have all to ourselves that's run out of this guy's house (it's like we're just chilling in someone's grandpa's family room right now). We made it here with the help of our new friend Scott who not only drove us the 10 miles to town, but drove me back to town to have dinner followed by driving back to the hostel after getting T-toe a large pizza. He called the hostel today to see how T-toe was doing. Don't worry, she easily finished the entire pizza.
That's the story. 220 miles left. The hardest part of.Maine nearly done. A refined ability to consume 3000 calories in 11 minutes. Let's knock this sucker out!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

NH! 440 miles/2 States to go!

Yea! We crossed over the Connecticut River and are now in NH, which means we are onto our final 2 states! Today we took our last "zero" day until the end, or that is the plan at least. So much has happened since NY...we have a new hiking buddy, Evergreen, who we met about 2 weeks ago, and who miraculously lives in Hanover, so we have been resting on nice cozy couches, eating great meals for the past day and a half. We leave again tomorrow morning (surely we can't stay in the same place for too long) and will head into the Whites, supposedly the most challenging but most rewarding section of the trail. We are excited to see some great views, and a bit nervous about the unpredictable storms, but we have mastered the crouching down technique so we will be fine. Some highlights over the past few weeks: - Awesome views from the summits of Mt Greylock, Bromley Mountain (Funny to be on the top of a ski mountain without any snow and to read the ski maps from the top), Stratton Mountain, Killington Mountain -A record high of 7 trail magics in a day! Started with (1) pancakes for breakfast in a cabin (a beautiful, cozy cabin run by ATC volunteers, close to a pond where we swam, fireplace inside to warm up after a chilly, rainy day), followed by a (2) cooler of sodas, (3) a box of granola bars/ Moonpies etc, (4) a trip to the "Cookie Lady's" house, you can only guess what that meant, (5) 2 more coolers and huge barrels filled of goodies, (6) a box of sodas, and (7) a night stay at Tom Levardi's house, a super kind generous man in Dalton, MA who opens his home to hikers...hot showers, laundry, bed to sleep on...what a day! -Staying right next to Big Branch River---so nice to cool off after a long day -Clever chipmunks or squirrels...not sure who to blame for eating my cookies and bagels from my stuff sacks that were bear-bagged....guess it was only good enough to deter the bears! But watch out for the sneaky rodents. -Hiking with family! One of my aunts came out to hike for awhile in CT. It ended up being a long road walk, a trail detour, which cracked us up a bit. We did see a nice waterfall too though, and were spoiled to lunch at a cafe. -Another aunt and cousin also came out for a few days...it happened to be raining when we met up with them the first night, which meant postponing their "wilderness experience" for a little while and getting a cabin for the night. We indulged in yummy food and loved sleeping in a dry place. Hiked from Gifford Woods State Park into Hanover, where we hung out and roamed around the Dartmouth campus -Lot of soft cushiony pine needle trails, which I love! - Seeing lots of cute orange newts, which I kindly escort off the trail, so they won't get squished. I am quite appreciative to be indoors right now, as it pours outside. Hoping it will rain all night, and the SUN will be shining bright again tomorrow. We are off on to the final stretch....