From Hazard’s notes:
Day 111: August 28, 2009
Travel:
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to, ME
To: Stratton, ME
Beginning: 5:50am
Ending: 3:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 21.5
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 1990.4 cumulative.
Weather:
AM: Really, really cold when I woke up. Just wanted to get hiking to warm up.
PM: Sunny and got to low 70s I think by mid-afternoon.
People: College orientation group (Bowden College), our hitch to town, Gail from White Wolf Inn. Crocstar & UCOC.
Animals: South Crocker Toad
Money: $30 room for two nights ($117/4), $10 snacks and ice cream from grocery, $10 for fish fry special. $1964 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Spoon and I woke up to the coldest morning on the trail thus far and immediately layered ourselves with as much clothing we could get our hands on. It had to be close to the freezing mark because everything I touched felt like ice and my fingers were getting numb. We packed up the tent and our stuff as quickly as possible so we could get moving on the trail to try and get warm. We left camp with UCOC just stirring and Crocstar fast asleep under Spoon’s Dry Fly. Only a few minutes into the hike I came to the sign for Poplar Ridge and a spectacular burst of red, orange, pink, and yellow as the sun crept over the mountains in the distance. It was a really amazing way to start off the day. I also took off my Marmot because I was getting too hot and I realized that this morning was one of the only times on the trail I actually used my rain shell. The trail dropped down to Orbeton Stream where I forded and then followed its banks upstream before making a slight turn to head up the steep Lone Mtn. At the top, Spoon was waiting and eating a snack. I pulled out something in bar form and joined him. A few minutes later Nick came huffing up the trail and stopped for a minute to hydrate. He was surprised that we had booked it out of camp so early and the only way he was able to catch up so fast was because he still couldn’t eat breakfast in the morning due to the Lyme medication. I asked about Croc and Nick said he was still asleep when he left and we all laughed wondering when he would wake up and realize everyone was gone. The trail from Lone Mtn to Spaulding and then Sugarloaf seemed all too easy and Spoon and I had an early lunch at the trailhead to Sugarloaf summit around 10:30 am with only 10 miles to go. We ate peanut butter and crackers while Nick, who really wanted to get into town, moved on by snacking while he walked to make the best time. He ended up getting to the road around 2:30 in the afternoon beating us by an hour. After lunch, I called my Dad to discuss our final arrangements for pickup at Katahdin while I headed down to the Carrabassett River. Before it got too steep I hung up and concentrated on not tumbling down some jagged rocks. Spoon was waiting on the other side of the river. I forded the river over some planks thrown between a few of the larger rocks to make it across without getting my feet wet. We filled up on water in the swift moving river. I later learned from Croc that the Carrabassett swept away the pop-top to his 1-liter Platypus which means he had to rethink how he managed his water supply.
PM: From the river we had to gain roughly 2000 feet in just over two miles to the top of South Crocker Mtn. which resulted in some pretty steep sections to get to the top. On my way up I stopped for a moment on a rocky stair climb and looked over to see a toad staring at me from under a rock. He sat, unmoving, judging me for being so slow and out of breath. The top of South Crocker was not the end by any means and I had to hike over the mile long saddle to reach the slightly higher peak of North Crocker where Spoon had taken a break. All that was left was a long and steep descent down the mountain to Maine 27 where we got picked up in a matter of minutes. This road had a great reputation for being a great spot to hitch a ride. UCOC got picked up by Susan who runs the hiker hostel in Stratton when some other hikers he met at the road had called her and he was in the right place at the right time. Crocstar later told us that he got a ride without even putting his thumb out by a guy going the opposite direction. He’s got a gift. Our hitch offered Spoon a beer which he gladly accepted, while she knocked one back and they both sang Space Oddity at full volume as we rolled into town. The song wasn’t over when we got to the White Wolf Inn parking lot so Spoon and our hitch belted out the final verses as UCOC wandered over and stared in amazement. He wasn’t sure if we were going to have a hard time meeting back up in town since he didn’t have a phone, but he said there was no way anyone could have missed hearing us coming. I went into the Inn and booked us a room for two nights since we had all unanimously agreed to take a zero day in Stratton for a few reasons:
1. Spoon, Crocstar, and I had not taken a zero day since our break in New York City.
2. Tropical Storm Danny was forcasted to hit the Maine coast tomorrow along with a cold front bringing rain from the west. We did not want to be hiking in that.
3. Our bodies were just plain worn out. I for one felt like my body was falling apart.
Crocstar finally called me around 5:00 pm letting me know he was in town. I directed him to our room and he told us that he ended up sleeping pretty late into the morning and that his ribs were hurting him pretty bad today slowing him down. The Inn was pretty small, only having 10 rooms available, but on the first floor was their restaurant which served daily dinner specials. Tonight’s special was a fish fry of fried halibut with french fries and cole slaw for around nine bucks, but the real kicker was that an entire second plate of food was on the house! Crocstar and I killed off two plates each of food while Spoon ordered the Wolf Burger which featured a sausage patty in addition to the beef. After dinner we went to Fotter’s Market to pick up beer and I bought some Ben & Jerry’s that ended up being a huge mistake because I went to bed with a nasty stomach ache. That really didn’t bother me too much because I knew when I woke up tomorrow I didn’t have to move if I didn’t want to or hike 20 miles in the rain.
