Date: 2012-09-10
From: Little Bigelow Lean To

To: Pierce Pond Lean To
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 172: Unlike yesterday, todays hike is very flat. We walk along the lowlands all day today, passing by Flagstaff Lake, West and East Carry Ponds, and finishing the day at Pierce Pond. The lakes in Maine are beautiful, looking as pristine and remote as they probably did thousands of years ago. As we walk along the shores of Flagstaff Lake, we hear the forelorn call of loons echoing across the water. The air has a bite to it today. Much of our walking is in close proximity to water, and there is a strong breeze chilling the air. The sun is out for most of the day, but disappears periodically behind fast moving clouds overhead. During the morning, our group comes upon a 30 foot stretch of water in front of us. There is a bog bridge (2 logs), traversing the water, but they are floating in the water at our end. We gingerly step on the logs to test their steadiness, and see them sink into the water under our weight. Once again, we remove our boots, put on our crocs, and slowly inch our way across the logs to the other side. To fall here would put us up to our waists in mucky, brown water. Fortunately, we all make it across safely. Moving along, the terrain remains flat, but is still tough in many areas as rocks, roots, and mud litter the trail. Despite the flat terrain, I begin to run low on energy about 6 miles into the day. My body is really beginning to feel the effects of this long journey now. No amount of food is enough. I will make it to Mt Katahdin OK, but I'm going to need a good, long rest when I get back home to fully recover. As we near West Carry Pond Shelter, SilverGirl and Passionflower slowly pull ahead of me until they are out of sight. Reaching the side trail to the shelter, I walk in and meet them both there. I am hoping that lunch will rejuvenate me for the 10 miles we still have left to hike during the afternoon. After lunch, the first couple of miles are OK, but then I once again run low on energy. SiverGirl sees that I am struggling to keep up and drops back behind me for the final 8 miles. As we walk along a combination of nice trail and trail littered with rocks, roots, and mud obstacles, I feel as though I'm staggering at times, on the brink of falling down. Finally, at 4:45, we arrive at Pierce Pond, our destination for the day. The shelter is full, and there are several other hikers setting up tents wherever they can find a flat spot. The pickings are slim, but eventually we find a flat spot where we pitch our tent. There is a stiff breeze blowing in off of Pierce Pond as we set up camp. We are forced to put on all of our warm clothes, including winter hats. After setting up the tent, we walk over to the brook for some water, cook a delicious dinner of zucchini casserole, our favorite on the trail, and then dive into our sleeping bags for the night. Tomorrow will be a shorter day as we only need to hike 4 miles down to the Kennebec River, where we will catch the canoe ferry across. We will then get a ride 2 miles down the road to Northern Outdoors, where we have a room reserved for the night. It will be good to have a shorter day and a little bit of rest before we head on to Monson on Wednesday.