Date: 2014-09-19
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to, Mile 1983.6

To: ME 27, Stratton ME, Mile 1997.1
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: few clouds

This morning my watch temp showed it was about freezing in my tent. I packed up and went to the shelter where Mailman and No Rush were eating breakfast. while I was eating breakfast Mailman headed out and said he was going to the privy and would walk slowly up Spaulding Mountain until we caught up. A little later No Rush left and I left shortly after him. The shelter is slightly off the AT, with the privy at the side trail leading to the shelter from the south. There's another side trail from the shelter to the AT slightly north of the privy trail. No Rush and I left by the north side trail, assuming Mailman had done his business and was well ahead of us. I soon caught up with No Rush and he had me pass him since he likes to hike in the rear, well back if he wants some solitude. I scurried on up Spaulding Mountain to catch up with Mailman. Just north of the top of Spaulding Mountain there's a rock with a plaque commemorating the last section of the AT to be completed in 1937 and honoring the Civilian Conservation Corps folks who worked hard during the Great Depression to build much of the trail. Thanks trail builders! :-)After several miles, I started to wonder if I had somehow passed Mailman without knowing it. After 5 miles, I passed three hikers at a camp site and asked if they had seen him. They said he hadn't passed there in at least the past hour or so. I stopped by the Crocker Cirque Campsite to use the privy and found Sloth and Southbound there, getting ready to pack up. (A lot of hikers slept later this morning, waiting for it to warm up some!) I hadn't seen Sloth since I met her in PA. I hadn't met Southbound before; he got his name on a section hike a couple of years ago when he hiked 12 miles in the wrong direction!As I approached the top of South Crocker Mountain, I started to notice some strange clusters of something on the ground that at first looked like thin shavings of birch bark. Then I realized there weren't any birch trees around. When I picked one up I saw they were thin flat ice crystals. They apparently grow out of the ground where the soil is wet and freezes. I only saw them near the tops of South and North Crocker Mountains. Ice Crystals on the Ground Frozen Footprints in the Mud!On by way down North Crocker, a young hiker passed me and said that he had passed Mailman and No Rush a good ways back. Shortly after that, I took a break and checked my messages. Linda had texted Mailman and said he knew I was ahead of them. Turns ou that Mailman was in the privy when No Rush and I left without going by it. Eventually he and No Rush texted each other and figured out what was going on!Shortly before I reached ME 27, Southbound and Sloth passed me. The were still trying to get a hitch when I got there, so I joined them. Very soon a minivan pulled over. The driver was from Portland. He said he never picks up hitchhikers, but a friend had just finished the AT and told him that he must pick up other hikers!Not much later, Mailman and No Rush showed up and we checked into the Stratton Hotel/Hostel. Puzzles was there; Mailman and No Rush had known him foe some time. He's a travel nurse and works in the ER. Then we all went to dinner before calling it a night.