Date: 2003-08-22
From: ME4, Rangeley (1600') 

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to (2955') 
Miles today: 10.2

Aloha! Argh! Such a day I've had! I'm tired! Sometimes leaving town is the hardest thing a hiker can do. Today proved it. To top it off, I'm pretty sure my knees are never going to speak to me again once this trip is complete. After screaming at me for the last two weeks, they're not going to have a "voice" left. Ugh!   Today began pleasantly by joining Coffee, Gutsy and Mama Gutsy for breakfast. I can highly recommend the hotel's raspberry pancake breakfast special. They were tasty. After breakfast time was spent running errands in town and, thanks to the Gutsy Clan and their rental car, things were accomplished fast and easy. Well, things could have been faster had the post office opened earlier than 9:30a but such is life in a small town. {sigh}   While in town I learned an interesting fact - most Maine banks do not allow more than a $100 deduction from the ATM. (Had this problem in Andover too.) It's their way of attempting to slow drug use. Interesting. They also charge a $3 access fee here too. Frustrating.   Moving on, while Coffee and I completed our errands the Gutsy Clan played trail angel by taking a new-to-me NOBO named Jolly to the store and then back to the trail with us. He was a lucky guy to find us! All errands were accomplished successfully with the exclusion of the most important one - getting a new memory card for my camera. I'm currently sitting at around 460 out of 500 pictures on this one and I get real jumpy about losing them. Char has mailed another card to Rangely but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have arrived. Bummer. I hate having to now be selective with my pictures. Let's hope it gets forwarded to Stratton.   We finally did get back on the trail but not until 1100a. We spent some time with the Gutsy Clan taking pictures prior to going. After having had ample time to discuss the Gutsy¢s, we've come to an unanimous decision - Gutsy comes from good stock. She's had some awesome ladies in her life and corner that love and support her very much. It's hard not to succeed at whatever you chose to do when you have strong backing. The three generations of Gutsys are formidable. She's a lucky gal. It was wonderful to meet some of the people that made her the special person she is today. I feel pretty dang lucky.   Once on the trail, it didn't take us long to reach the Piazza Rock Trail and formation. The formation is a mammoth of a rock. It's huge! We took the 200' UP side trail to see it. Massive doesn't even begin to describe it. It was fun playing Hercules for a time.   From there it was UP again past Ethel Pond (2200'), UP past Mud Pond (2325') and UP past Eddy Pond (2680'). The first four miles of the day went UP. But it wasn't until Eddy Pond that the UP truly began. A steep 1600' UP that went on forever! UP to Saddleback Mountain (4120'). Argh!   Saddleback Mountain is one of the most spectacular above-tree line stretches of the trail in Maine. For many years, Saddleback was the controversial "missing link" in Maine during federal attempts to buy lands along the Trail to protect it from encroaching development. In late 2000, a deal was struck to sell the Trail corridor across Saddleback to the government; the deal does, however, permit future development of the ski resort on one side. It was a hell of a climb to get there but so worth the sweaty effort!   The only problem I had once I crossed above the tree line were all the false peaks. One false peak after another. You'd work your way to what looked to be the peak to find when you arrived that there was another peak set further back. Once you got there you'd do it again. And again, and again, and.... you get the idea. The views were phenomenal as you went but it was still tiring to think you're there when you're not. I didn't think I was ever going to get to eat lunch!           Obviously I did get lunch and was joined by Coffee, Notes and nine college freshman and their guides. They were actually there first but that's beside the point. A pleasant bunch of kids. They're also tenting here tonight. They didn't arrive until a few minutes ago, around 9p. Because we knew they were coming and would need the limited tent spaces, I have chosen to once again sleep in the shelter. Poor choice but it does help them out.   Back to the trail... supposedly from Saddleback Mountain on a clear day you can see Mt Washington, Katahdin and the ocean. Ocean? Huh? Air pollution seemed to be our problem today, all haze. Another bummer. Maybe next time. Riiiight! We continued our major roller coaster ride by going down and then UP to The Horn (4041'), back down and then back UP to Saddleback Junior (3655'), and finally down to here. The journey across Saddleback and The Horn was above the tree line and could certainly hold its own against the Whites. Breathtaking views in all directions. Ponds and lakes scattered about below, blueberries until you can't eat any more, mountain views of what you've accomplished and what's to come, and the feeling you're on top of the world to top it all off. All the hard work, sweat and effort really do pay off here. Gorgeous!   As for why sheltering it tonight was a poor choice, this lean-to uses the increasingly rare "baseball bat" design for its sleeping platform. Basically that entails sleeping on cut and peeled fir poles. In the past, all Maine ATC (MATC) shelters used this system and the first hikers through each year were expected to build a "mattress" of fir boughs on the poles. These were renewed by other hikers through the year, ensuring a marvelous, soft, fragrant bed to look forward to at the end of a day's journey. The practice was abandoned as increases in hiker numbers and a scarcity of fir boughs made the system impractical. Despite some sentiments in favor of maintaining the tradition, all MATC lean-tos built since the mid-1970s have included board decks. It's an interesting concept that I've come quickly to realize that without the fir boughs... it sucks! Thermarest or not!   It sounds like the group has settled in to cooking dinner and I want to peruse the Poplar Ridge Trivia pages provided by Dave Field, veteran "Maine"-tainer and ATC Chair. He seems to provide informative and amusing answers to the most frequently asked questions from the previous year's register. Coffee was over there laughing at them earlier. Seems a good source for a little light bedtime reading. Works for me.   On to reading, you go read something lighthearted too. It's good to go to bed with a smile on your face. Goodnight.BSandTs: same-sameAandPs: knees, Knees, KNEES!MandGs: I know I have many, just can't think of them right this minute...waah?Critter count: nothing, absolutely nothing. {sniff}Count down: 209.3 miles