From Hazard’s notes:
Day 109: August 26, 2009
Travel:
From: Hall Mtn Lean-to, ME
To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to, ME
Beginning: 5:30am
Ending: 4:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 21.1
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 1948.8 cumulative.
Weather:
AM: Overcast in the early morning. Started to drizzle once I got over Old Blue Mtn.
PM: Sun finally came out in the late afternoon.
People: Girl at Bemis Shelter, Trampoline, Another Harvard freshman orientation group, Phoenix, old dudes.
Animals: A vole/weasel/rodent type creature.
Money: $0
Notes of the day:
AM: I think we were all awake shortly after 5:00 am because it was still dark and cold. Once again we were the first group on the trail after a quick breakfast. It was still a little dark by the time we made our way down the mountain, following Sawyer Brook. I made a stop to fill up my Camelbak from the fast moving, crisp stream in preparation for Moody Mtn. Moody was surprisingly difficult in that the trail had been washed out by heavy erosion and a new temporary trail marked by orange flags navigated us around the damaged trail. Since this was a new reroute we had to do a lot of bushwhacking up the mountain before finally rejoining the AT. By the time we got to the top, the sun was still reluctant to come out, which didn’t look good for us. Spoon was waiting for me at South Arm Rd at the bottom of Moody Mtn. I crossed Black Brook and asked him what was going on. Crocstar and Nick had just left from taking a break and Spoon wanted someone to chat with while going up Old Blue Mtn. It didn’t take too long before he was speeding up the mountain, leaving me in the dust. At the summit, it started to rain, so with great dismay I put my camera in my dry bag inside my pack. No more pictures today. At the bottom of the mountain I ran into Spoon stopped at the Bemis Stream Trail junction. I joined him in a snack and he told me that he wasn’t feeling very motivated to hike today and needed someone to help pick him up. We cruised up the Bemis Range and towards the top we both jumped out of our skins when a large rodent-like creature tore off into the woods. The misty rain continued even as we stopped at Bemis Mtn Lean-to for lunch. A girl heading south was slackpacking today but her pack looked really full. She told us that since she had an empty backpack that she had no excuse not to pack out the huge garbage bag left at the shelter. Pretty awesome in my book.
PM: All through lunch Spoon was talking about how he didn’t think he could keep going and just general un-motivating negativity. The weather report when we were last in town had indicated that thunderstorms where coming in later this afternoon and the motivation for getting up crazy early was to get all of the hiking done before they came through. Even though it was already misting, I didn’t want to be on the trail when things got worse, so I told him as soon as my bag was packed I was headed out. Sometimes the situation requires that you hike regardless of how you feel and you have to suck it up. After I left the shelter, I didn’t see him the rest of the day until he walked into camp later that afternoon. I walked through the misty mountain tops where the trail ran across a long section of flat rock, down some tricky downhill, until I hit Bemis Stream. I little rock hopping got me across the stream and I made my way back up to Maine 17. Before I made it to the road I ran into another hiker that I knew I had seen before but he was going the opposite direction. It was Trampoline who we met way back around Boiling Springs and he was finishing his thru-hike on a flip-flop. I wished him luck and trucked it up the hill to the road. The sun was surprisingly starting to come out and by the time I got to the road, I was soaking up big rays and blue skies. Sitting on top of some rocks next to the road was another group of 10-12 college age students so at this point I could safely assume it was another freshman orientation group and I asked them from what school were they from. The guy who was apparently running the show turned to me and said in a drawn out pompous tone, “Haaarvaaard” and before I could engage in any kind of small talk he dismissed me, “Have a nice hike”. I shut my mouth and hiked on. I wouldn’t want to ruin his group’s wilderness experience with my funny clothes and funky smell. I had an easy 3.7 mile hike around Moxie and Long Pond over flat terrain, only having to high step through some deep mud pits running up the middle of the trail. After nearly losing my foot to a particularly deep mud pit, I finally arrived to Sabbath Day Pond and the shelter that was a couple hundred feet back into the woods. Crocstar and Nick were relaxing in the shelter and starting to cook dinner. Spoon arrived shortly afterwords and he was sour for a few minutes before lightening up and smiling and joking around again. I think the sunny afternoon and evening really made a difference in the mood. Later on, a guy named Phoenix came into camp wearing a Carolina Panthers jersey and muddy Crocs. He told us that he had been hiking just about the entire trail in his Crocs and it showed. His feet were stained with dirt. He said after days of washing over a series of zero days he still couldn’t get his feet clean. He was also chock full of trail knowledge and the type of hiker that made sure you knew it. Some middle-aged gentleman came into camp who knew Phoenix and later some other hikers came in and had trouble finding a place for their tent so we squeezed them into the shelter. It got rather cold overnight, which I guess we can start to expect in the nights to come in Maine. The cold front that was supposed to bring the rain probably helped a bit.
