Date: 2003-09-17
From: Grafton Notch, Hwy. 26

To: Andover, ME.
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: clear sky

Good morning world! I'm feeling much better today, thank you! I feel even better after one of Paul's Pine Ellis Breakfasts, (but you have to sign up for it on the bulletin board the nite before...rules you know.)By 8:00 a.m., slack packers are loading up to be dropped off at the appropriate drops. Paul hauls me back out to Grafton Notch to do Bald Pate Mtn. thru Dunn Notch Falls to East B Hill Rd. That's my pick up point. Lene will be waiting for me...no problem...I hope.By 9:00 a.m., I'm strolling up the mountain with a day pack, carrying only lunch and a rain jacket. This is wonderful! There's still lots of run-off, but the Trail is well drained. Everywhere is drinking water. Splashes of fall, especially the maple trees, seem to almost glow like marischino cherries against the darker pines. Squirrels stop felling pine cones in order to chatter at me as I pass.The two and a half miles to Bald Pate lean-to pass quickly midst the symphony of autumn sounds and colors. The register here is full of hiker tales of the resident bull moose. This big guy shows up in front of the lean-to and gorges on the tender bushes and then stands around within a few feet of humans as though we don't exist. We're talking about a 1,500 lb. beast who stands 7 ft. tall at the shoulder. Right now he's acting like a giant bunny rabbit, but he may not feel that way for much longer! I hang around the shelter for awhile, hoping for a great pic of Bull Winkle. I've spent over an hour lounging about. Humph! Got to get a move on, as Lene will be waiting for me on the road at 3:30 p.m. (This gets more important as the day wears on.)The stony caps and layered ridges of Bald Pate West and East are seen, enjoyed, and left behind at an easy pace. Imagine my surprise as signage on Bald Pate East estimate my road crossing to be 6.3 miles that-a-way and my watch tells me it's 1:45 p.m. What this means is that I have to do 3.5 hours of hiking in less than two. I'm gonna be late. I told Paul I'd be at the road at 3:30 p.m. and I'm not gonna be there. I underestimated the time it would take to slack pack this section. Well, THAT took the edge off a wonderful day, as I hurry on down. Get there, get there, get there! I'm trying to make up time when a mis-step brings me to the ground. I'm startled and a bit scared. Am I ok? Yes, thank God. An angry bruise on my left shin, but am ok. One of the hiking sticks is shattered. I've landed on it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Better the stick than my leg, but am still late. I slow down. Just gonna have to be late, only have one stick. That's bad. An old tree branch, stripped of it's limb-lets, helps me down the mtn. past Dunn Notch and the lovely Twin Falls, which I didn't get a chance to enjoy cause I was still LATE!Well, I finally come on out to the road a bit after 4:30. Lene and Mala are both there, Lene waiting for me, and Mala waiting for his bunch. God bless her, Lene has more lemonade, and the fact that I was more than an hour late doesn't seem to bother her at all! This is a wonderful lady! I apologise a lot and she just brushes it off with a couple of her REAL LATE horror stories.If you are real, real, real late, they have to call the cops and organize a search party and go out and look for you, until you (or the body) shows up. Well, I was real proud that none of that had happened, and she seemed glad that I hadn't broken my leg when I fell down. We all rode on back to town, allowing as how it had been a great day to hike and I wasn't near as bad as some that she's had to deal with over the years! I LOVE this lady!Good feelings abound, and a dinner of cheeseburger and fries at Addie's Place back in town have me feeling aces. The place is full of hikers and a nobo bunch can only sit there laughing when one of the girls orders the "Pancake Special." (If you can finish it, it's free!) Three pancakes, each one 18" across and 2" thick. That's one humongous pile of pancakes, I tell you for sure! They all laugh and take her picture looking at a mess 'o pancakes, enough to feed all of 'em. It's been a good day and I sign up for a slack pack and another one of Paul's famous breakfasts in the morning.