Date: 2010-09-07
From: ME 27 Stratton, ME

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up and looked out the inn's window to see the streets wet and rain coming down. I told the girls we would wait a few hours to see if the rain would let up and if not, still leave Stratton. Red, MacGuyver and I waited until mid morning when the rains stopped. Our goal for today was to go up and over the Bigelow Mountains and spend the night at Little Bigelow Shelter. Since we were leaving late in the morning I told the girls we would be doing a night hike to accomplish our day's goal. Also, we knew the the ascents and desecends would be slow moving because of the wet environment.Red, MacGuyver and I went out to the street from White Wolf Inn, placed our backpacks on the ground and was beginning to put our thumbs out to hitch a ride when a pickup truck pulls over. Inside the pickup's passenger compartment were a elder couple who are friends of the Appalachian Trail. They knew AT Troll, who I had not seen since Virginia. I was glad to hear he was still on the trail and about 3 weeks behind me. The couple dropped us off at the trailhead and we started our climb up Bigelow. We decided to meet at the Horns Pond Lean-to for lunch so that everyone could hike at their own pace. We did this a lot so everyone could hike their own hike and more importantly we look out for one another for safety. The first climb up the South Horn (3805 ft.) did not seem that bad and everyone made the shelter in good spirits. We found out from the caretaker the shelter at Avery Memorial Campsite (3815 ft.) was eliminated due to hikers destroying sensitive alpine terrain. The campsite is at a high elevation and any weather front coming in would make the night interesting with wind and temperatures. We decided to stick to our plan, knowing weather fronts could be coming in and continue northward.The next section was going to be more strenuous with another climb, this time up Bigelow Mountain west peak (4145 ft.). I passed the Avery Memorial campsite that was indeed an isolated area to camp. A small spring here was nothing more than a mud puddle and I was glad to be carrying extra water. Late in the afternoon everyone met at Avery Peak (4090 ft.) for a rest and to admire the views. Little Bigelow Mountain east end, who we nickednamed, Junior, kicked my butt (I later learned everybody else had a problem with Jr). The views of Mt. Avery during the sunset were incredible. The orange sky lit up to the left of the mountain and a white cloud stretched across the middle of the mountain and extended to the right. The scene was beautiful, peaceful and quite. I started down the steep rock face and boulder strewn trail that was slippery as ice. It always seems that when I see the word little I take notice. The word signifies a warning it will be the baddest, toughest and meanest of the group. Little Bigelow did just that. I was the first one to make the shelter from Team Alpha in the total darkness of night. It was hard to see the blue blazes especially the one across the stream. I found Red across the stream trying to locate the blue blaze to the shelter. We found the shelter full and I setup my tent and Red decided to cowboy under the shelter's overhang. MacGuyver had not arrived yet and Red and I were getting worried. It was very possible she could pass the blue blaze completely. Red thought it was a good idea to go to the trail junction and wait for MacGuyver's light piercing the dark. We were there not 10 minutes when we saw a dim light coming down the trail. MacGuyver's headlamp batteries were dying and she could hardly see a thing in front of her. We led MacGuyver to the shelter and she also cowboy camped next to Red. During the night it rained, everyone stayed dried and the trail maintained its slippery weetness.