Date: 2013-09-17
From: Little Swift River Pond Campsite

To: Stealth camp at Eddy Pond
Miles today: 8.4

I slept hard last night. I had on my long john top, a fleece top and down jacket, long john pants, knee socks and a hat. Add that to the 12 degree sleeping bag, and I was as comfortable as can be, but not hot. I woke up to pee and went right back to sleep. When I woke up again, the sun was beaming yellow against my rain fly. I saw what I thought was a pair of human legs standing right beside my tent, when I realized that it was the silhouette of two trees. Even after all this time, my mind still has a time interpreting shapes. I quickly scrambled out of my tent; I wanted to see the sunrise over the pond. The sun was nestled into a "V" shaped notch in the trees across the pond. A light steam swirled and danced across the surface. I scanned the pond for moose but saw none. I headed back to my tent to make breakfast and pack up. We'd planned to be on the trail by 8:00, but we didn't set off until 8:20. I've come to realize with my little group. Whatever time is agree upon is generally 20-30 minutes earlier than the actual starting time. And yet, time and time again, I find myself fooled.We passed a few ponds and made good time as we headed toward the road crossing to Rangeley. When we got to the stream crossing we found plastic baggies with little foil packages inside thumb-tacked to the tree. They contained freshly baked cookies and hand-written notes of encouragement. AT fortune cookies.We sat in the parking lot and had an early lunch. The sun warmed us up so we shed a few layers of clothing. There was a laminated sign asking about information about disappearance of Inchworm (aka Geraldine Largay) the section hiker who went missing at the end of July. We were in the area where she was last seen. Eerie and sobering. The hike after lunch was easy. I thought we'd easily make it to Saddleback Mountain, but we stopped at the Piazza Rock Shelter to see the "Your Move" privy. It's a 2-seater with a cribbage board in between the two seats. Of course Hobo and I had to get a couple of posed shots. Our 5 min stop turned into a half hour break. The caretaker showed up, and he told us about some stealth camping spots near Eddy Pond. The trail got rocky and rooty and muddy and wet after that. We stopped to fill water in preparation for our stealth camp atop of Saddleback. But once we found the pond campsite, our group came to a screeching halt. I made my case for continuing up Saddleback. Walking Stick made his case for stopping at the stealth site. Hobo was stuck in the middle. He was going to forced to be the tie-breaker. So I relented. If I were alone, I wouldn't have hesitated to continue on, but as it were, if we pushed on, I felt that I would be responsible for their misery if it turned out badly. The thing is, this is a gorgeous place to camp, ideal really. But I'm getting more and more anxious about getting to Tom. And if we keep up these short days, then I won't make it to him when he's available to be gotten to. And that's making me crazy. I tried to enjoy my early evening by going for a swim, but the water was iceberg cold. I made it in knee-deep, and then I crouched down into the water. It was just too cold. I climbed back out to the rocky edge and I sunned myself on a rock. It would have to due. We cooked and ate by the pond's shoreline, and then we moved closer to the tentsites so Walking Stick could build us a fire. He built us a nice, roaring fire. It was nice. Finally, we retreated into our tents. I need to get some sleep because we are planning for a 7:00 am departure (my stipulation for stopping early). If we aren't going to hike late then we'll have to start hiking earlier. I'm ready to get to Tom.