Total trail mileage: 2013.9
Starting location: Avery Memorial Campsite
Ending location: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Weather: 53 degrees in the morning. 74 - 78 degrees during the day.
Clear and sunny all day.
I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=45.158124,+-70.099633
We got a late start this morning. Rather than getting up at 2am like
planned we got up at 2:30am. I had set a backup alarm for 2:30, and
it was fortunate that I did.
I packed up everything in the dark and started hiking up to the
summit. Fortunately a moose didn't come down the trail in the middle
of the night and accidentally step on me. I was out of water so I was
hoping to pick some up at a spring on the way to the summit. Well,
the spring was dry, but there was a muddy puddle nearby. Rather than
hunt around in the dark for better water, I decided to filter the
muddy water. I am glad I have a filter rather than purification
tablets for times like these.
After I got water, I continued to the top, wedged myself in between a
rock crack, and made dinner/midnight snack/breakfast and tea. Apple
Juice, Scout, Smokestack, Zen, and Devo arrived shortly after.
Avery Peak was probably an ideal location to watch the meteor shower
from as well as look at the stars. The night was so clear, and we
were on top of a ridge above treeline. It was fantastic. It was such
a rewarding experience, and I am definitely glad I got up early for
it. The sky was the clearest I have seen stars since I was in New
Zealand.
But, it was cold. I had on most of my clothes including my down
vest. Zen pulled out her sleeping bag. The temperature wasn't really
that cold (low 50s), but there was no protection from the wind and we
weren't moving.
When the sun started to come up, we moved 100 yards along the ridge to
be near an old building up there. That point was better to watch the
sunrise from, and the building shielded us a little from the wind.
One of the windows of the building was broken out, so we climbed
inside for a bit. There was a bunch of broken glass and entering
probably wasn't the best idea, but fortunately nobody got hurt. The
sunrise was the best sunrise I have seen all trip. Again, it was
definitely worth getting up early for it.
After the sun was up it was a normal day. I passed the 2000-mile
mark! I can't believe I have walked over 2000 miles in the last 6
months. I took a lot of breaks during the day since I was in no rush
and still got to West Carry Pond fairly early. They rerouted some of
the trail since I was last in this area (12 years ago?). I do
remember the dirt road, the pond, and the lean-to though. I decided
to stay at the pond and will likely zero here for the sake of zeroing
somewhere on trail.
I went swimming in the pond for a bit. It was crazy to think that I
had most of my clothes on in the morning to try to stay warm and I was
swimming by the afternoon to cool off. The water wasn't too cold.
There were a number of small, furry creature encounters today. I
stopped for a quick break on the trail, and a squirrel started to
angrily chirp at me. I looked up, and it was sitting on the branch
and would try to false-charge me. I don't know what it thought it
would do. Then at lunch there was a chipmunk that would come within a
foot of my leg to try to get a crumb. It was all over the place and
wasn't afraid of humans at all. Then, when I was sitting at the lake
I saw a ferret-like creature run along the rocks. I don't know what
it was, but it had a body like a ferret, just smaller.
My pack is continueing to fall apart. My repair job on the shoulder
strap wore through the other day so I had repaired it again. Today
the zipper for the top compartment broke, rendering that pouch
useless. Good thing I can fit everything inside the main
compartment. Katahdin is definitely the end of this pack's life.
I forgot to mention yesterday that barring bad weather when I try to
go up Katahdin, my summit date has been set. I should be finishing
August 25, which is less than 2 weeks from today. That gives me
enough time to take it easy through the rest of the trip.
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