Date: 2005-08-24
From: Long Falls Dam Rd., ME

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

start: Long Falls Dam Rd., MEfinish: Tarping at Pierce Pondmiles: 13.5Aah, it's good to be back in Maine. I drove up yesterday to complete one of my two remaining skipped areas - Long Falls Dam Rd. (the one with "2000 mi." painted on it) to Monson, about 54 miles. The AT makes you not a normal person anymore, I guess (understatement). I couldn't drive north without following the roads nearest the AT. Sure does make for a longer drive, but it was a beautiful, cool day. I looked for hikers at several trailheads, but the only ones I met were Cross Stitch, High Pockets and two others in Kent, CT.I got as far as Gorham and decided to call it a day. Driving rt. 2 across Maine in the evening isn't my idea of fun. The possibility of a moose collision is quite high at that time of day. So I got a cheap room at my favorite motel, Northern Peaks. The only drawback was that I had to get going insanely early to drive the remaining 3-1/2 hours to Monson and meet Mailar at the trailhead by 8:30 am.Mailar was waiting when I got there a few minutes early. It was good to see him, as the last (and really only) time we were together was in Vernon, NJ. He got ahead of me (again) from there and stayed ahead until he got off for a bit in Dalton. Then he got back on and finished up a bit behind me, but didn't summit Katahdin, as he's waiting for really nice sure-thing weather. He thinks he'll have it tomorrow and the next day, so he's summitting 8/26.I put my pack in his SUV and we headed for Long Falls Dam Rd., stopping at Shirley-Blanchard Rd. on the way to drop a case of soda he had brought with him in a brook crossing the AT near the road. It feels as good to do trail magic as it does to get it. Note to self, do soda drops on my way home. Maine is one of the few places where the AT takes a much more direct route than the roads, so we had about a 2-1/2 hour drive, plus another 3 or so for Mailar to and from his house. Thanks Mailar, you're a real dude. May you have a good summit day and may trail angels always watch over you.Stumpknocker, remember when you looked at the map of Canada on my wall at home and expressed interest in a northern trip? I hope you meant it, because Mailar and I are gonna make you come on a very-wilderness canoe trip. You too, Goldilocks (of course).It felt good to get hiking - I set out a bit before 11:00 am. Today's hike was over gentle terrain, some roots and rocks, but mostly soft trail, no real climbs, in a mixed conifer and deciduous forest. The trail skirts the shores of West Carry Pond, East Carry Pond, and Pierce Pond. It's classic Maine canoe country, with blue-blue skies and oh-so-white puffy clouds, and low forested hills serving as backdrop to the sparkling clear waters. The skies were mostly cloudy, and there was one short stretch of rain, but it was generally very pleasant and cool, with almost zero bugs. Feeling like fall is right around the corner.I saw a few southbound hikers today: one day hiker from Harrison Camp, moving very fast, two section hikers, and two thru-hikers, one named Memphis. I also met Nomega, a northbound sectioner, at Pierce Pond Lean-to.I arrived at Pierce Pond at 3:40, and that was the end of my short day for three reasons. First, I couldn't make the ferry across the Kennebec by 4:00, 3 miles away, second, Harrison Camp nearby serves breakfast to AT hikers, and third, Pierce Pond is a lovely place to camp. I ate some food and walked the 1/3 mile to the Harrison's to get a glass of lemonade and tell them I wanted breakfast in the morning. The trail passed near the outlet stream from Pierce Pond, complete with waterfall.I went back to Pierce Pond and set up my tarp under some pines very close to the shore. It was too cool to swim for a change, so I took a long nap, waking just as it was getting dark to cook my dinner.Now it's about 10:30 and I'm getting ready to sleep again. The loons have been singing on the lake and I can hear the rush of the nearby waterfall. This campsite reminds me of some of the better places I've camped on canoe trips.