September 26 - Nahmakanta Stream Campsite (Day 191 – milepoint 2116.4)
Good, long day. Paka and I got out early and he finally saw his first Moose. Two of them, in fact, feeding near the shore on the far side of Mountain View Pond, submerging their entire heads under the surface of the water to reach the vegetation at the bottom. We were excited to find canoes nearby but, alas, they were chained and locked. Someone was thinking.
We’re all a bit spread out in the 100-Mile Wilderness right now. Cosmo and Spice about five miles ahead; Landshark, Easy Walker, Huff, and Puff (who left Monson a day after us) hopefully not far behind. The plan right now is to finish on Monday the 29th, weather permitting. Searching but not really feeling any emotion around it at the moment. Just enjoying being here now.
Chewy found the Bible in his pack and isn’t speaking to Paka.
Aquaholic
September 25 - East Branch Lean-to (Day 190 – milepoint 2092.9)
Now that it’s colder, my appetite is cranking again. I know I’m not carrying enough food to fully feed me for the next three days so I’ll just continue to eat as my appetite requires and then start stealing food from Paka Bear.
Paka found another hard-back Bible in a shelter today and, as far as I know, it’s been in Chewy‘s pack all day. We actually saw Katahdin for the first time today from White Top Mountain. We were more than 70 miles away but it looked much closer. It’s gonna be a big climb.
Aquaholic
September 24 – Junction at Gulf Hagas Loop Trail (Day 189 – milepoint 2077.4)
I’d be surprised if it got much above 50 degrees today, which made crossing the West Branch of the
Pleasant River a bit of an ordeal. Foot-numbing c-cold!
After the river crossing, the Trail meandered through a forest of huge, white pine trees (some up to 130 ft), an area called The Hermitage.
According to the Trail guide, “In the colonial days, the biggest and best of these white pines were used as masts for sailing ships and warships, and were considered property of the crown. Anyone caught poaching one of these trees, was hanged.”
Magnificent forest.
Redwood, Cosmic Ivy, and I arrived at the junction of the Gulf Hagas Trail late in the afternoon, stashed our packs in the woods, and attempted to cover the 5-mile Gulf Hagas loop before dark. I had been told about this place by a kayaking friend of mine from Maine. He made me promise I wouldn’t pass it by and I’m glad I didn’t.
Referred to by some as the Grand Canyon of the East, it has it’s own unique majesty, only similar to The Canyon, though, in that it has a stream running through it. A very deep, narrow gorge, definitely one of the most beautiful places on the Trail. Wish I had my boat.
We finished the loop just before “too dark” and joined Paka, Achilles, and Chewy, who had already made camp at the junction. Feeling good but pretty tired after my first 20+ mile day in over a month.
Aquaholic
September 23 - Long Pond Lean-to (Day 188 – milepoint 2060.8)
Another FAT breakfast, a warm farewell to the Pie Lady and to our final trail town.
I’ve just learned that Spice had a considerably more interesting stay in Monson than the rest of us. Seems he got a ride into town the other day from a nice local girl with whom he apparently hit it off because she was later searching for him around town with a huge ham sandwich she had made him.
Well, she eventually found him and Spice was absent for the rest of the afternoon and for Monday Night Football last night. We were all teasing him for most of the evening since we arrived to the shelter… until he spoke:
“Say what you want, guys, but none of you have ever had a ham sandwich that good.”
We entered the Hundred Mile Wilderness today. Only 99.4 miles to Katahdin.
Aquaholic
September 22 - Monson, Maine (Day 187)
Day off to worship the Autumnal Equinox.
Outstanding breakfast this morning followed by visit to the P.O. and then joined The Pie Lady to the next town for some errands.
I ate three Big Macs for lunch.
Another great dinner and I don’t think I’m going to make it over to Shaw’s Boarding House to join the gang for Monday Night Football.
Aquaholic
September 21 - Monson, Maine (Day 186 – milepoint 2045.5)
Up early and covered 18-or-so miles by 2:00. What a pleasure to hike where there is so much water.
Streams, ponds, lakes – Maine takes the cake!
Cosmo and I got a ride into town from an elderly couple who summer up here and winter on the east coast of Florida. Very nice folks. They dropped us at The Pie Lady’s home/hostel where we are joined by Redwood, Moose, Chewy, Woolybooger, and Blubud.
The rest of the gang are over at Shaws Boarding Home. Very nice accommodations here and The Pie Lady (Sydney) cooked us up a dinner that rivals any of the best meals on the whole trip. Hence: food-induced coma.
Aquaholic
September 20 - Moxie Bald Lean-to (Day 185 – milepoint 2027.5)
Rainy, muddy day. Spent most of it hiking alone. Feeling a little tweak in my left knee. Just hold on for ten-or-so more days…
I’m not anxious for this whole thing to be over, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve had a pretty full experience, so it actually feels about right to be almost finished.
Very curious about the transition into the outside world.
Aquaholic
September 19 - Pleasant Pond Lean-to (Day 184 – milepoint 2014.4)
Paka Bear found the Bible, rocks, and trash in his pack this morning and vowed revenge…
Landshark and Spice, who didn’t make it to the river yesterday, forded this morning at a much lower and more reasonable water level, and we all set out to find a restaurant for breakfast before hiking. We got a ride with Steve, “The Canoe Ferrier,” in the back of his pick-up truck. He took us to Northern Outdoors, a rafting company / outdoor resort / restaurant / bar.
As we ate breakfast, our waitress, Annette, informed us that we didn’t have to be river or overnight guests to be able to use the
facilities.
“Facilities?” we asked, “what facilities?”
Swimming pool, hot tub, basketball court, paddleball court, pool, foosball, and more.
Needless to say, a full day of hiking was no longer in the day’s equation. We almost sprung for a cabin for the night but decided we should move on.
“Gluttony control,” I declared.
“What’s gluttony?” asked Chewy.
Hiked with Landshark today, who tells some great stories. When we got to the shelter, I mentioned how nice it was to hike along and exchange stories with Shark.
Cosmo lit up and said, “Did he tell you the furniture-moving story about when the dresser drawer opened and all the dirty magazines fell out in front of the whole family?”
” Yep,” I replied.
Paka: “I love that one.”
Spice: “Did he tell you any of his pole vaulting stories?”
“Yeah, I heard those back in Pennsylvania.”
Gonna be missing these guys soon.
Aquaholic
September 18 - Kennebec River – Caratunk, Maine (Day 183 – milepoint 2008.6)
Another beautiful day but, well, that’s beside the point…
For a while now we’ve been playing a repetitive joke on Paka Bear by hiding our trash inside his pack so that he carries it without knowing. (Childish, yes, but Paka provokes.)
We continue to do it because:
- we continue to get away with it.
- it continues to amuse us.
So, today we were all enjoying lunch at Pierce Pond Lean-to. Cosmo and I were getting ready to leave and noticed Paka eating his lunch while reading down by the water. I pulled out my ziplock bag full of trash and began collecting others’ as well. As I stuffed the trash deep into Paka‘s pack, Cosmo and Redwood handed me two sizeable rocks to add to the loot. Then, Easy Walker handed me a large, hard-back Bible that someone had left in the shelter, and we added that, too. We know Paka hiked away from the shelter with the extra items in his pack, and, to my knowledge, he has managed to arrive here at camp next to the Kennebec River, unload his pack, tent and all, and at around 11 p.m., still doesn’t know.
We’ve been talking Bible all day, a ridiculous amount of Bible talk, and Paka thinks it’s just the usual weirdness. It is possible that he found the loot at some point and is cleverly playing his own little joke on us. If so, he’s earned it. But if we find that he still doesn’t know in the morning, it might be fun to see if we can get it all out of his pack without him knowing he ever had it.
Highlight of the day: Kennebec River crossing. Some local river folks provide a canoe shuttle for hikers twice a day (morning & afternoon). Paka, Redwood, and I were a little impatient and decided to “wade” across (without our packs). We also thought it would be cool. But high water and a swift current turned the “wade” across into a pretty tiring swim. Very good thing we weren’t wearing our packs. The canoe shuttle ferried across with our packs, arriving promptly as we crawled onto shore, and I didn’t feel quite as cool as I thought I would, only just a little cooler than everyone else.
We set up camp next to the river.
There’s a road nearby so a couple of us went into town for Chewy birthday provisions, which included several packages of bacon, which we wrapped around sticks and roasted over the fire along with hot dogs and marshmallows and popcorn…
Aquaholic
September 17 - West Carry Pond Lean-to (Day 182 – milepoint 1994.5)
I was coming down the mountain from Little Bigelow Lean-to this morning and the terrain suddenly got easy, which usually triggers a faster pace…but not today. I just continued walking easily and enjoyed the morning.
It got better when I arrived here at Flaggstaff Lake. A huge, beautiful lake on an equally beautiful day, and there’s nobody here but me. I’ve been here for about an hour now. Now THIS is what “escape” with “peace and quiet” looks and feels like. Some canoes turned over on the shore off in the distance.
It’s amazing what “sunny and clear with a nice breeze” does for a day.
We’ll be passing the 2,000-mile mark tomorrow and we’ll be celebrating that milestone, along with Chewie‘s birthday, in Caratunk, which oughta be interesting.
There was a nice entry in a shelter register today: “It’s not a race. Slow your pace. The one to Mount Katahdin with the most memories, Wins!”
Aquaholic
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