Date: 2017-08-15
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Steam Lean-to
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

We had a great breakfast this morning. The owners of the landing served coffee while the hikers lounged on the front porch in the morning sun, chatting and lounging before we began our hikes for the day. We managed not to rush the dining room but quickly took our seats as breakfast was served, enjoying the eggs from the owner's hens, bacon, and all-we-could-eat blueberry pancakes. The 8 of us went through two and a half trays of pancakes before finally running out of steam. We checked out, packed the last pieces of our gear, and then headed down to the dock to wait. Overhead the sun shone, dissipating the refreshing morning chill which hung in the air. The waves lapped gently on the dock as we waited and soon enough the low drone of the motorboat could be heard, finally emerging from down a deep cove. Lost, Snap, and I hopped on the boat and I scored the bow seat as we skimmed over the water. Must be pretty nice for the owners... live on a lake, get to take a couple boat rides a day to get hikers... not a bad existence.Soon enough though we arrived back at the small dock that marked the trail back to the AT and watched the boat head back to pick up the next batch of hikers. After changing from our sandals into our hiking shoes we hit the trail, retracing our steps from the day before back to the trail. The trail followed one of the lake's tributaries, dipping down to its banks in places and slightly into the woods in others. At points the river widened almost into a pond and we kept an eye out for Moose or other wildlife which might be enjoying this morning at their pond as well. Disappointingly we didn't end up seeing any wildlife, though that probably wasn't helped any by turning on Lost's pump-up playlist as we ascended a steep bank/hill neighboring one of the ponds. In queuing up our morning entertainment Lost accidentally merged her pump-up and sad country playlists which yielded an interesting music mix for the morning, alternating between motivational and thought-provoking themes.We had heard that there was a great beach on one of the lakes that we'd pass about 7mi into the day and soon enough we crossed over small dirt road, passed some small campsites, and emerged onto a sandy beach which looked down the length of Nahmakanta lake. The beach encircled the lake, narrowing in places, and we almost opted to follow it around the lake (which we knew the trail circumnavigated) except for a small portion of the coast along which it turned into a large boulder field. Even though we ever following the lake shore, the trail crossed up and down the steep hills which bordered the lake before we finally descended back to its shores and to our goal. Just off to the right a small spring filled a hole in the ground and following its outflow we emerged onto a beach. We walked the beach for a couple hundred feet before finding a small hideout complete with folding chairs, a straw hat, and a carpet. Packs down... feet up... ahhhhh. It didn't take long for us to end up in the water, swimming around the shallow sandy beach, trading glances with a couple of loons who swam farther out, diving occasionally into the deep. Lost's loon calls didn't seem to strike their fancy and they eventually moved on as we got out some lunch and lounged. I enjoyed the leftover pizza I had packed out of White House in my beach chair, the sole visitors to this peaceful lake save one small rowboat aways down. Monkey, Tiptoe, Silly Spilly, Pluck showed up in the early afternoon, having camped just a couple miles before White House at another lake-side beach that we had passed yesterday, and they joined in the lounging. Lost and Pluck blew up their air mattresses and floated around for a bit on the lake as Monkey collected a number of the freshwater muscles that grew in the lake and started cooking them into some ramen for lunch. It would've been super nice to camp here for the night, but alas, we were only ~20mi from Abol bridge and both Lost and I had people to meet there tomorrow, so mid-afternoon we reluctantly packed up and headed out. The next mountain kicked our butts as we dragged ourselves and our packs up it in the heat of the day, quickly drawing a sweat. So much for there only being one mountain left...The view at the top made up for it and I waited at the overlook for a few minutes, admiring the sunlight shining off the water of the lake I had just swam in below, and Katahdin rising imposingly in the distance. The fully breath of the mountain was now visible, the deep green of the forests slowly giving way to the gray rock of the table-lands and summit and gray streaks down its sides marked rock slides which had cleared the forest from its flanks. The mountain seemed to stretch on, transforming into peak after peak as it faded off into the distance.The descent from the peak was much easier than the ascent and we kept most of the elevation that we had gained. Not long after the trail came to another pond, this one sitting in a bowl carved out of the rock which surrounded it. I found one of the best blueberry patches I've ever come across along the banks of the lake and stopped to feast, enjoying the large tart berries, my favorite type. As I picked, not 20ft off the trail, I watched a large group of day hikers trundle past me, completely unaware of my presence despite my proximity. It wasn't until I happened to snap a branch while picking that one finally noticed me, giving a yelp as she mistook me for a bear momentarily. Lol.The outlet of the pond had carved a deep gorge in the rock and the trail slowly descended to its banks as the gorge widened. The trail crossed on a logging road which bridged the river and we dove back into the forest once more. Not long after the trail met up with another river (presumably rainbow stream) and followed it until finally coming to the shelter. A large log protruded from the ground just outside the shelter and had been carved into a huge (somewhat creepy) tiki/totem Theme song: if You're happy and you know itBattlecry: I am pizzaRain on shelter roof is soothingDrink mystery liquid, whiskey, lost doesn't really like it since not fireballRain on tent is best sound to fall asleep to