Date: 2007-10-22
From: N. side of W. Pleasant River, Maine

To: Carl A Newhall Lean-To, Maine
Miles today: 6.5

We were going to get up at dawn; but, I woke up at dawn and looked for "Lentil" and did not see him; so, i went back to sleep. I could not sleep much because the sun was very bright. Some of the leaves had now fallen and then sun was bright. I looked towards where Lentil should be again. I wonder where he went. I woke up to go get some water and saw him in the totally different direction than what i remembered last night. I got some coffee in me and we packed up our stuff and then pondered the crossing of The West Pleasant River. It did not look all that deep nor the current that swift. It was very wide though. I decided to try not to get my boots soaking wet again; so, i crossed in my gore-tex storm socks. The water was sooo cold and the rocks hurt my feet. When I got across, I thought how nice it would have felt to feel that cold on my feet or my whole body last night. The bottom of my feet are like leather; so, I could not imagine how that stream crossing would have felt to a "tenderfoot". We got going on a real easy trail through "The Hermitage". It is alot of large old growth White Pines that are protected by The Nature Conservancy. We then got to a blue blazed trail to Gulf Hagas(hey-gus). It is called the Gand Canyon of the east. There is no camping for 10 miles or so in this area. We jokingly were saying, "No camping, stopping, standing, or using the restroom in this area." The last few days, I had been cussing the Maine, "Maine, how can I quit and go home. You keep giving me one beautiful sight, after the other, damn you!" To be honest: Lentil was getting a little tired of my negativity. I had not really thought about it because i usually always hike by myself. So, I was trying to not think out loud or even better, think positive. We saw a sign when we crossed the river: Kathadin 83.3 miles! The torture could not last much longer! Lentil wanted to do the 5 mile loop through The Gulf. It was such a beautiful day. I gave him my camera and I stayed and dried everything out for the first time in awhile. I tried to take a nap; so, I could go deep into the night; but, each time, i would get close to nodding off: a bug, a noise, or a falling leaf or pine needle would disturb me. Not even some of Lentil's Jim Beam, could do it. When he came back and looked at his pictures: I thought the gulf was pretty; but, his camera style was much different than mine. I will show you soon. I asked how was it? He said, "if that is the Eastern Grand Canyon, then I prefer the western." We got going around 3pm. I should not have hung out there all day; but it was nice to walk in dry boots. It was a gradual climb of about 5 miles to the Carl A Newhall Lean-To. My "Mojo" had gone. He really tried to motivate me. When we we got to th shelter, I had to "bow out". With the rain coming, I had to stay in this shelter, intead of getting caught up on Hagas Mtn , West Peak, Hay Mtn, or White Cap Mtn(3650 ft) with no shelter. He kept going as he likes to camp on mountains and these were suppose to be "the last big ones". We had been hearing that since The Presidentials. As I got my bedding together: I felt terrible not keeping up with Lentil. I know it was irrational; but, I felt like I did when I said goodbye to "Mr Happy, Mo Lassus, Shadow, & NumbToe". And my three hours with you know who(kidding now, everyone settle down)? The rain started early in the morning and I tried to stay positive: 78.6 miles to go....2,095.6 from Springer Mtn.