Date: 2012-08-03
From: stealth camping 1 mile south of Horsehoe Lean to

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean to
Miles today: 12.0

We had a leisurely cup of coffee with AG and Spools who passed by while we were still hanging around our camp. After breaking camp, we came to our first ford of the day, across the west branch of the Piscataquis river. It was another fairly easy one so we decided to keep our shoes dry and cross barefoot. (No leaches this time!) We stopped for lunch along Bald Mountain Stream and then on to the Moxie Bald Lean-to where we met Sprite and her hiking partner (whose name escapes me at the moment), who are heading north. They warned us about the lack of water on Moxie Bald Mountain, and said they saw AG and Spools on the summit up there, and Fugitive (Crystal) at the Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to. I do love the community and communication network on the AT. It's one of the many beautiful things about this hike.We summitted Moxie Bald by 5 PM. It was a beautiful mountain-- perhaps my favorite so far (though competition is tough out here... Katahdin, White Cap!) Moxie Bald had stunning views and was a fun climb over granite surfaces. Unlike some of the other mountains, however, it was largely smooth granite rather than a long hard scramble over large rocks and boulders. In dry conditions, it was hard to beat this for a nice, fun hike. In reading the log entries at the Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to, it seems that others share my high opinion of this mountain.Overall, the hike today was the easiest bit of the trail we've encountered so far. The first 10 miles were mostly a gentle upgrade, and the trail was unusually free of massive rots and boulders. Is this still Maine? The Moxie Bald Lean-to, where we met Sprite and her partner, was beautiful. It was just off the trail, clean, with a lovely pond and, joy of all joys, a picnic table). We wished we could have stayed there, but it was way too early in the day, so we pressed on. The hike up Moxie Bald was strenuous but not unnecessarily so like some other climbs we've hit. We met "Candyman" from Switzerland on the way up. I'd already heard about him before meeting him-- he arrived on the trail with a heavy pack full of swiss chocolate that he started dispensing to others on the trail. Curious about his Swiss background, I asked him if he knew Swiss Miss and Alien (also from Switzerland) and how he came to be on the AT. He said he read about the AT in an outdoors magazine "while on the toilet". It's always amusing how things sound when translated so literally. :-) I wondered if Swiss Miss and Alien had read the same article. Candyman indicatd that he loved his journey here and was glad he'd done it. He did note, however, that in his country, after one spends a full day hiking, there's a restaurant on top of the mountain. Something to think about when planning our next hike. :-)We arrived at the lean to sometime around 7 and had the place to ourselves all night. We set up our tent just outside the shelter and went to bed early after reading some creepy but entertaining June 16th entries in the shelter journal. It seems that a toothless couple (surmised to be local crackheads) decided to get it on in the shelter while others were still awake and desperately trying to ignore what was going on next to them. (Another good reason for avoiding the shelters in favor of our tent!) It was quite entertaining to read the multiple viewpoints of the same incident.