Total trail mileage: 2045.7 (approx)
Starting location: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Ending location: After Moxie Bald Mountain
Weather: Rain last night. 62 degrees in the morning. 65 - 69
degrees during the day. Cloudy all day. Rain in the morning. On and
off drizzle the rest of the day. Foggy at times.
I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=45.271057,+-69.762014
I got up early, packed up, and headed over to the pancakes. They were
good. Breakfast consisted of 4 rasberry pancakes, 4 blueberry
pancakes, 4 apple pancakes, eggs, sausage, coffee, and juice.
After breakfast I headed down to the Kennebec ferry where Dave the
Ferryman gave me a ride across in the canoe. The Kennebec River can
be a dangerous ford, because there is a dam upstream that releases
water at unscheduled times. The water level can rise 2 - 4 feet
during the time it takes someone to cross. So, the canoe ferry has
become the official AT route. The canoe even has a white blaze in the
bottom of it.
A few leaves are already starting to change. Either they are changing
early this year or Fall in Maine starts much earlier than further
South. I had been saying that my one regret about how I did this trip
was that I wouldn't be able to hike in fall. Perhaps I'll get a few
days of Fall afterall.
I have been seeing and hearing loons for a couple days now. Last
night they were especially loud though. Of course it probably helped
that I was right next to the pond.
The trail today was great. It was really easy terrain followed by a
rocky climb up Pleasant Pond Mountain followed by really easy
terrain. Coming down Pleasant Pond Mountain was slow, but other than
that I was making really good time. I decided to stop at the middle
shelter to make dinner before continueing on and ran into Warcry. I
ended up talking to him and a Southbounder for much longer than I
intended before heading out. Which meant that I was hiking up and
over Moxie Bald Mountain in the fog, mist, and approaching darkness.
Going up the mountain was neat since the rock cairns would emerge from
the fog. However, for the record, coming down wet rock slabs in
failing light is not fun. Miraculously though, I did not fall at
all. Someone said that La Sportiva shoes get better grip after the
rubber has been worn down a little. It seems like that might be
true. I didn't slip too much today even though there were plenty of
wet rocks. I was going very slowly so I didn't lose the trail and
didn't fall. When I got back in the trees I found a place to pitch my
hammock. Hiking the remaining mile or so to the shelter will be much
quicker in the morning when I have light.
Tomorrow I head into Monson. Monson is my last time off trail before
entering the 100-Mile Wilderness and climbing Katahdin. Just over 130
miles to go!
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