Date: 2010-09-29
From: Moxie Pond Lean-to

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Monson,    I did not get to much sleep last night with Hoppers snoring. I got up and went and sat on the rocks by the pond for a couple hours because she was so bad. I also had a hard time trying to get comfortable on the shelter floor. Hopper got up at six this morning as usual but she did not have her coffee stuff ready like she usually does the night before. She was scurrying around in the shelter making some noice. It was not real loud but enough to wake me up. I can see this is going to be a long grumpy day for me.   I have a long day today because I am going into Monson.   Ben was out chasing things this morning, no comment.   The first water crossing at Bald Mountain Pond outlet was easy beacuse I was able to log and rock hop it. Last year when I hiked this section it was crotch deep. After this section came the ankle twisting rocks and the muddy areas. I knew what to expect.M   About 0.2 from the West Branch of the Piscataquis River, I was hiking with Gorp and we encountered a beaver pond that had a very large water build up. The trail went right thru the middle of the area. We tried to find a way around it but it was very vast/wide. I was warned about this by a southbounder. The southbounder said if I took my boots of just to leave them off because the next river crossing was not far away. I switched to my crocs. Gorp said his boots were already wet and just trudge through the water. The water was about three feet deep. At one point one of my crocs got stuck in the mud and I lifted my foot without the croc on. I had to reach back with my foot and feel around until I found the croc. At the West Branch of the Piscataquis River crossing it was not deep at all but the rocks were all slimmy and slippery so I had to go real slow and careful with my footing. Once on the other side I dried my feet out and put my boots back on. I ate lunch and moved on. This area has been a bad problem for years now. I remembered when I did this hike five years ago it was bad. Granted it was not this bad but each year it has gotten worse. I don't know why the Maine Appalachian Trail Club does not do anything about it. If this continues to get any worse it could end up being a safety issue.   I made it to Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to at 12:48. That is a good time. I ate some cheese and peanut butter crackers and drank some gatorade and signed the register then moved on.   At the East Branch of the Piscataquis River the crossing was only ankle deep. I was going to go bare foot but the more I thought about it, I figured with my luck I would step on something and slice my foot bad enough to end my hike. I did not want to take the chance so I put my crocs on again. When I got to the other side I was very surprised to find trail magic left by Strider 03. I drank a root beer and dried my feet once again and moved on.   During the hiking today it starting hitting me how close I really was to the end. I got real emotional a few times, it was a good thing I was alone at the time.   I was glad when the day ended today. It was a very easy day but for some reason I was really exhausted.