Miles 2076.2 | After another rough morning of stomach issues and skin irritation, we packed up fast and hiked backward toward town — a humbling but necessary move. A trail angel gave us a lift, and with my mom unavailable, my sister Erin came to the rescue and picked us up for a stay near Bangor. Clean toilets, real showers, borrowed clothes, a walk-in clinic visit, prescriptions, and actual groceries marked a full shift from survival mode to recovery mode. By the evening, Miles and I were alone in my sister’s quiet suburban house, eating dinner at her kitchen table, both exhausted and disoriented — grateful for care, but unsure what this pause meant for the end of the trail.
TMI WARNING I woke up with a diaper rash and the terrible urge to poop again. I ran into the woods and went. When I got back to my tent I took immodium again. Miles and I packed as quickly as we could. I put on a pair of his boxer shorts, because mine were all gross, and we hiked back to town. We met a lone southbounder on the way who thought we might going south too. He was sorely disappointed. When we got to town it was sunny again. A trail angel of sorts was hanging out at the trail head and he offered to take us into town.
I got in touch with my Mom. She was too busy to come and get us for the next two days. My sister offered to come and pick us up and we could stay with her. She was living in a house with her boyfriend near Bangor, about an hour and a half away. She said she’d come pick us up in an hour. While we waited for her, we went to the general store and got sandwiches, ginger ale, and used their toilet. I cannot even explain how satisfying it was to sit on that cold, clean porcelain toilet. I was disgusting.
My sister arrived right on time and drove us back to her house. She set us up in their guest room and we showered and wore her clothes while ours were in the wash. Erin and her boyfriend had to go to a concert that night, so they left us her car keys and directions to the walk-in clinic. I drove Miles and I to the clinic. After, we went to Hannaford, the local grocery store, and picked up the prescription and food. By then, we were both hangry.
Back at Erin’s house we made dinner for ourselves and ate at their kitchen table. It was weird being in their house alone. I felt like Miles and I were playing house in a model suburban home they have in those development communities.