Date: 2006-08-18
From: Pleasant Pond

To: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 9.0

Spent a solo, but not so quiet, night last night at Pleasant Pond. The shelter is very close to the road and the pond, and both are very busy. There was a lot of traffic on the road and what sounded like a battalion of teenagers having a wild party on [a] motor boat[s] on the pond ¢ or maybe in a house on the shore. They were whooping it up until the late hours.   Was up and on the trail at 6AM, in what was an excellent day to hike. Cool and overcast at first, but gradually warming up to a bright sunny day. The first task of the day was the ascent of Pleasant Pond Mountain. Not too bad at all ¢ a few steep bits of rock and root, but worth it for a 360 degree view from the alpine zone on the up. There were great views of Moxie Pond ¢ realy a fairly large lake ¢ and mist filled valleys surrounded by silent waiting mountains.   The descent down is even better. It is a slow up and down, but mostly down, on a bright sunlight trail across smoothly gently sloping rocks, dipping up and down into the trees. On the way down I met 46er and Story Teller [cf photo in archive] SOBO thru hiking. They had started out NOBO from Springer in April, and flip-flopped from Windy Gap in PA. He is a retired electrical engineer who worked on submarines and she is a high school math teacher. Originally they are from New York, but they now live in Connecticut. Oh! the people you meet, and the places you go, and the stories you hear, while hiking on the AT.   During the short jog along Moxie Pond Road, I saw a single fisherman trying his luck in Joe¢s Hole, named after a legendary fishing guide. He was having little luck that I could see.   Crossing Baker Stream, which feeds into Joe¢s Hole and Moxie Pond, was an easy rock hop today, and the rest of the trail up here was foot candy. I know that the profile shows it to be a gradual ascent, but it is so smooth and gradual that it seems like it is flat.   So I got here in the early afternoon. Very nice shelter. Standard Maine Type with skylights and Deacon¢s Seat. I was told that the little wood plank at the entry of the shelter is called ¢The Deacon¢s Seat¢. Nice water source from the stream. The privy is a good 0.5 miles south on the AT, across the brook, and thru a small meadow past the campsite ¢ I love meadows, when they are dry.   I have had a late lunch ¢ Strawberry Carnation drink, crackers, peanut butter and half a Snickers bar, and have settled in to await developments.      The register is full of warnings of deep mud pits on Moxie and difficult fording of the West Branch of the Piscataquis River. Hopefully the recent dry weather will have helped things out by now. Plan 13 miles tomorrow ¢ 4.1 + 8.9 = 13, is the correct calculation, not 8.9 from the last shelter, a number that I used in planning, and a mistake that I have now made twice! Need to check them numbers !!   I was reflecting as I hiked today on the notion of forgiveness, brought on no doubt by my meeting with the Bigelows and the water bottle discussion, and it has led me to the formulate this:Thought for Today ¢ The following conditions are necessary for forgiveness;1. Repent ¢ Admit that you made a mistake and say that you are sorry.2. Restore ¢ Try to repair any damage done, or perform proportional good deeds.3. Regret ¢ Take actions that will decrease the chances of doing the same thing again.[#3 is the hardest]