From Hazard’s notes:
Day 115: September 1, 2009
Travel:
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to, ME
To: Moxie Bald Lean-to, ME
Beginning: 7:45am
Ending: 5:00pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 22.8
b) other – .2 to and from Harrison’s camp
c) AT Mile Marker – 2045.8 cumulative.
Weather:
AM & PM: Sunny and beautiful all day.
People: Tim Harrison, Ferryman Dave Corrigan (http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/120433.html).
Animals: None
Money: $10 for breakfast, $2034 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Woke up early and made the short hike to Harrison’s Pierce Pond Camps to have our over-the-top trail breakfast. When Tim let us inside the kitchen and dinning area the whole room smelled of delicious food. He told us there was hot water for tea and coffee and that the food would be ready in just a few minutes. He came out of the kitchen carrying these big platters of 12 pancakes layered with all kinds of fresh fruit including strawberries, blueberries, and apples. That alone would knock out almost any normal person but we upped the ante with a plate of bacon and eggs each. After we stuffed ourselves full and had a few minutes to digest, it was time to thank Tim and head out. We tossed our trash and filled our water with what Tim called the best tasting water in the area and then got back on the trail. Spoon still wasn’t talking to me this morning so we walked in silence for a little while before I fell behind and was walking alone once again. I caught up to him a few miles down the trail at the Kennebec River where we had to take the ferry across. The Kennebec (meaning “long, quiet water”) is actually the most formidable unbridged water-crossing on the Appalachian Trail. The official route across the river is via the Kennebec River Ferry sponsored by the Fletcher Mountain Outfitters and operated by “Ferryman Dave” a registered Maine Master Guide. There is actually a white blaze painted in the bottom of the canoe. Ferryman Dave and Spoon were getting close to launch when I arrived and they waited for me to fill out the liability waiver and throw on a PFD. Spoon took the front of the boat and I sat in the middle snapping pictures while Dave steered in the back. When we arrived on the other bank of the river we collected our gear and hiked on climbing steady to Pleasant Pond Lean-to. Crocstar and Nick were relaxing at the lean-to eating lunch. I took the time to eat some of my food and rehydrate.
PM: We all departed after filling our water at the spring and headed toward the summit of Pleasant Pond Mtn. which wasn’t a very pleasant climb being very rocky and rooty in addition to its steepness. The view from the top was just another testament to how beautiful the state of Maine is from above. The trail took me back down to the valley, around Moxie Pond, and through swampy forests before reaching the side trail to Bald Mtn Brook Lean-to. I thought I smelled the smoke from Crocstar’s cigarettes but I was motivated to just keep hiking. The trail turned from the usual dirt path to a rock slab covered by moss on either side of the narrow trail leading me closer to the top of the mountain. Soon the trees faded away and the trail was only identifiable by rock cairns set on top of expansive bare stone. When I had almost made it to the sign designating the Moxie Bald Mtn. summit I heard Spoon call my name from behind me and down the mountain I could see Spoon and Crocstar making their way up towards me. I snapped a picture of them on top of the summit as I made my way down, not really wanting to hang around too long because the sun was getting pretty low in the sky. As I left the summit, I had to make a bunch of moves to avoid large patches of mud that the trail had turned into. I was quite successful in keeping to the edges of the trail but as I hopped from one rock to the edge of the trail and landed in a bush, the bush pushed me back out to the middle of the trail and my boot sank a good couple of feet into the wet mud. I screamed “Noooooooo!” and struggled to regain my balance but the damage was already done. I hiked down the mountain to Moxie Bald Lean-to with a heavy, muddy, and wet boot and sock. When I got to the lean-to I was relieved to find only Nick’s gear inside but saw that at the edge of Bald Mountain Pond he was sitting with another hiker at a picnic table. When Spoon and Crocstar came into camp I was super pumped to tell them that we had a picnic table and they let out cries of excitement. Our reaction regarding a picnic table was not unfounded since it had been a really long time since we had had a picnic table at our shelter. They are very rare in New England. The guidebook states that there are “many moose in the area” and we were all hoping to see or hear moose at some point on the trail. We had a quiet evening with no moose activity and I read a Backpacker Magazine I had thrown in my pack from Pleasant Pond Lean-to then went to sleep.
