Date: 2005-08-09
From: Wilson Valley Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: few clouds

Miles hiked today : 15.815.6 AT miles + 0.2 mile of side trailI woke up this morning at 5:35 a.m., packed, ate breakfast, and hiked out with Opa at 6:35 a.m. It is good to have him back and he seems to be operating at 100%. Yesterday, he was as feisty, witty, and snappy as I remembered him to be before he had fallen ill. The same held true today.The hiking this morning was difficult due to the many ups and downs in the trail combined with several blow-downs and muddy patches. At 8:15 a.m., I reached Vaughn Stream, which had a tricky rock hop due to a wet, slippery rock precisely where the water was running the fastest. I made it across without incident and sat for a 10 minute water, snack, and rest break, while enjoying the view of the well fed 15 foot tall waterfall.At 8:40 a.m., I arrived at Long Pond Stream, which did not appear to be rock hoppable. I walked a short distance upstream and downstream, scoping out the situation, and finally sat down to change into my Keens. The cold water felt good on my feet and I was successfully across and back in my boots at 8:55 a.m.5 minutes later, at 9:00 a.m., I reached the point where I had only 100 miles remaining on this hike. I can remember reaching Neels Gap and thinking how cool it was that I'd hiked 38.3 miles. At this point in time, that distance doesn't seem very impressive, though I'm excited by breaking into the "double digits" remaining, rather than triple or even quadruple digits remaining.Following the trail for the next 0.8 mile was wonderful, as it followed the path of Long Pond Stream. I was treated to several small waterfalls and some unique natural formations, such as multiple channels cut into the rock. At 9:15 a.m., I arrived at Long Pond Stream Lean-to and stayed for a 30 minute rest and snack break.Leaving the lean-to, I began a steep, hot climb up Barren Mountain. The sweat was rolling off my face and I badly wanted to guzzle the single liter of water I was carrying, though I knew I needed to ration it until the stream after the next lean-to. At 10:30 a.m., I'd covered 1.1 miles to arrive at the Barren Slide. I dropped my pack and walked down the side trail to check out a rock slide of enormous boulders with a far reaching vista. 10 minutes later, I resumed my climb up Barren Mountain, reaching the abandoned, partially deconstructed firetower at the top at 11:35 a.m. I stopped for a 5 minute rest and water break before pushing on.At 12:05 p.m., I passed the side trail to Cloud Pond Lean-to, though I bypassed it as it was a 0.6 mile round trip and I still had 6.9 miles to cover. At 12:50 p.m., I reached a stream and stayed for 1 hour, 10 minutes, during which I ate lunch as well as gathered and treated water.I had thought that the 5.4 miles from the stream to the Chairback Gap Lean-to would go by quickly, as I had already done the big climb of the day and only had 3 minor climbs remaining. I soon found out that I was mistaken. At 3:15 p.m., I'd covered 2.9 miles and had already finished the ascent and descent of Fourth Mountain, so I stopped for a 10 minute break. At 4:20 p.m., I reached the summit of Third Mountain, which had a phenomenal vista, similar to that present at the Barren Slide.I was a little dismayed that I'd been hiking for nearly 2.5 hours and had only covered 2.1 miles. The ascents and descents had been a bit steep, though I didn't believe that I was moving quite that slowly. I was out of water, so I continued on, arriving at a stream at 4:40 p.m. The crossing of the stream was via 2 thin tree trunks about 15 feet long, one of which was 3 inches in diameter while the other was 5 inches in diameter. I carefully walked across and stopped for 15 minutes to filter 2 liters of water, immediately drinking 1 of them.Hiking on from the stream, I only had the climb of Columbus Mountain remaining before the Chairback Gap Lean-to. I easily covered the 486 foot climb over 1.3 miles, arriving at the summit at 5:25 p.m. 25 minutes later, I'd descended to the lean-to, only to find that it was already full. I grabbed one of the few available tent spaces, pitched my tent, and then climbed down a steep hill to gather water from a stream that didn't appear to be moving. After climbing back up the hill, I began the water treatment and finished setting up my sleeping gear.I snacked while waiting for the water treatment to finish, then cooked a tasty dinner of red beans and rice, which I'd found in the hiker box at Shaw's Lodging. I was very hungry after a tiring day and ate heartily, which enabled me to consolidate my food, eliminating 1 of the 2 plastic grocery bags of food. During the time I'd been treating water and setting up my tent, I'd also been listening to the steady rumble of thunder in the distance. Fortunately, the storm never reached my campsite location.After dinner, I retired to my tent to journal and read. Tomorrow looks to be a challenging day with several climbs over a 17.1 mile stretch. The last climb tomorrow is White Cap Mountain, which is the last major climb before Mount Katahdin. That will be nice, as I've been looking forward to some more of the easy miles I had going into Monson.Bedtime at 9:40 p.m.