Date: 2009-08-19
From: Lighthouse Landing Wilderness Camp

To: Cooper Creek Falls Lean-To 
Miles today: 13.8

It¢s 7:30 pm, and I am sitting on some boulders in front of a lean-to with Cooper Creek running alongside just in front of me 5¢ below. The falls ¢ a series of twisting cascades, are to my right. The creek is probably 30 yards wide with a long sandbar in the middle. The water is so clear that even in the fading light of day I can still see every detail of the bottom except for the deep, ¢swimming hole¢ that extends from just below the falls to the boulders I am sitting on. Sounds quite picturesque, doesn¢t it?! When I arrived here a little after 5:00 pm, the first thing I did was to get myself situated in the lean-to, even though there are some lovely tent sites around. But since there is nobody else here, and it looks like we might get some showers like we did last night, I opted to stay in the shelter this evening. I am now writing in my journal while eating my dinner ¢ the exact same thing I had for lunch: peach-flavored tea and a ¢calzone¢ that my waitress made up from my pizza left over from last night. *I¢m confused because last night in the previous entry you said you had an omelet. Can you tell me what you want to do? You didn¢t mention pizza dinner. She took the four leftover pieces and flipped two over on top of the other two, pressed them together, and put them in the fridge overnight. This morning, she handed them to me as I was leaving with the admonition, ¢Waste not, want not.¢ And believe me, these ¢calzones¢ are too good to be wasted! In a few minutes, I¢ll heat up some earl grey tea and open a pack of cookies and light the last half of my last cigar while I share with you four high points of the day ¢ a truly exceptionally ordinary day on the Appalachian Trail. These four standout experiences are, of course, in addition to all of the beauty of the Maine woods revealed with each step and all the human action of the north-bounders, like Larry (who lost his trail name a while back), and ¢Shenanigans,¢ and ¢Pork Chop,¢ and ¢RB¢ (whose wife only knows what that really stands for!), and the other folks that I met along the way. The first noteworthy event I want to share with you occurred just before breakfast while I was in my room packing my gear when I heard a chomping sound and looked out my window. There, only 30¢ away, stood a full bull moose munching away on the meadow of weeds along the shoreline. After about half an hour of this ¢salad bar breakfast buffet,¢ he stepped out of the tall weeds so I could take his picture and then slowly ambled off into the woods. After an all you can eat breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes for myself, Bill told me that ¢Baxter¢ has been a regular at this camp for several years now and can almost always be found at this time of the morning enjoying an ¢all you can eat breakfast.¢ After Bill motored me back across the lake and dropped me off closer to the trail (a service for overnight guests!), I quickly realized that this was a truly perfect day for hiking. The temperature and humidity were noticeably less than yesterday¢s, and the skies were clear. It felt like one of those pretty hikes in autumn, Indian summer days. The terrain was sublime ¢ flat to slightly uphill most of the day, and there were hardly any mud holes to contend with as in the previous two days. Around 10:00 am, I took a short detour to follow a spur trail leading to the edge of one of the lakes that I was passing and, stepping onto the boulder, I saw Katahdin in its full glory for the first time! Although it was over 40 trail miles away, its size rising out of the relatively flat terrain around it was truly dramatic and breathtaking. It was especially so on this clear, sunny day.Special experience number three came around noon when I took another side trail prompted by a sign posted on the tree saying, ¢Sand Beach 100 Yards.¢ And oh, what a spot! The sand was fine, not course like the other beaches*what other beaches, when?I¢ve experienced, and it extended out into the water far enough so I didn¢t have to walk on the rock. I was able to get in deep enough to begin to swim. I crossed my poles at the end of the side trail of the beach and hung my shorts on them ¢ kind of a ¢hanging-a-tie-on-your-doorknob¢ kind of warning as for a college roommate if you follow by gist ¢ and plunged in for a refreshing dip. After swimming, I sat on the beach in the sun and simply relaxed, took in the scenery and the warm breezes, and dried off. It was truly a heavenly spot! I stayed there for an hour and swam a couple of more times and easily could have remained there for the rest of the day. The fourth really cool thing that happened occurred on Joe-Mary Road, which is a gravel logging road, where Cathy Pringle had dropped my mail drop; supply for me. I was just about finished sorting my food and repacking my pack when a double-long truck loaded with 30¢ logs came over the hill and ground to a stop. The driver had seen another fellow in the same spot earlier in the week and was interested in what we could possibly be doing this far into the deep Maine woods, fiddling around with some kind of gear. He had no idea that the Appalachian Trail crossed this gravel road at this point. When I told him what I was up to, he smiled and said, ¢Well that makes sense.¢ He then looked over at his teenage son, who was riding with him, and said, ¢Come on up here,¢ and urged him to climb up the steps to the truck¢s window from where I was standing on the ground. He then handed me two fresh, homemade sugar donuts and an ice cold bottle of vitamin water and said, ¢Here, you need this more than we do. Enjoy!¢ Both he and his son beamed. So did I, especially when I took a bite of the donut (Fabulous!). There¢s nothing like finding a ¢Trail Angel¢ in the middle of nowhere, especially when he did not know what a ¢Trail Angel¢ was. He was just being a decent person. And that is certainly always noteworthy to recognize when you find it, no matter where. Well it¢s now pitch black, and the stars are out (no rain). My cookies are gone, and my cigar is out. Having swum in the pool and washed myself and my hiking clothes in the stream when I first arrived at the Cooper Creek Falls Lean-To, I¢m feeling very refreshed and relaxed. I¢m ready for bed. I¢m feeling a bit lonely this evening and was hoping for some company to drop into the lean-to, but it looks like it is just going to be me and the Cooper Creek Falls, along with memories of Baxter the moose, Katahdin the mountain, my perfect private beach, and the ¢Trail Angel¢ trucker, his son and those fantastic donuts! Another exceptional, though not all that exceptional day, on the AT . . . on the downside of things, however, I should note the passing of my beloved tummy pouch in which I have kept my camera, phone, knife, snacks, and map since early in my AT journeys. The zipper broke. As a result, I am having to learn new ways to manage all that stuff ¢ pockets or backpack? Backpack or pockets? I guess, somehow, I¢ll figure it out and survive.