Date: 2013-08-05
From: Rangely, ME

To: Safford Notch
Miles today: 42.5
Weather: scattered clouds

After leaving Rangeley on Wednesday afternoon, we hiked a whole 4 miles before getting sidetracked by a friend, G2, who had packed out a 6-pack but had no one to share it with. He invited us to join him at a lake shore, and after a few hours of chatting and swimming, it was decided it that it was too late to go any further. As the clouds rolled in, we set up camp and called it a day. Sadly, this turned out to be a mistake. The next day it was pouring rain and we had a whole mountain range to cover: the saddlebacks. They would have been lovely under normal circumstances, I'm sure, but as it were, turned out to be one of the more frightening days I've had on the trail. By the time I summitted the first peak, the wind was howling, the ice cold rain was pummeling sideways, and the temperature had dropped significantly. The trail was above treeline for the remainder of the ridge, and by the time I got on top of the second peak, thunder and lightening had begun. An exposed ridgeline is about the last place one should be in a thunderstorm, but alas, there I was. I had to seriously weigh my options and determine which threat I was more concerned about- lightening strike or hypothermia. Soaked to the skin and freezing, I decided on the latter and pushed on. It was too cold to wait out the storm and I needed to keep moving. By the third peak, the steep, rocky ascents and descents had become gushing waterfalls in flash flood like conditions, further complicating the climbs with numb hand and feet. To top it off, since visibility was so low, I managed to lose the trail on a rocky bald. I backtracked until I saw blazes again and realized my error, but it had been the final straw and the panic took over for a brief moment. After regaining control, I continued on and reached the end of the ridge without further incident. Amazingly, by the time I reached a shelter, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out. I quickly got out of the wet clothes and into my sleeping bag (yes, at noon) and made some hot coffee to get warm. Hiking out of that shelter in the afternoon it was like a completely different day- clear, warm, and sunny. My friends who hiked the range about 4 hours after I had said it was gorgeous. It's unreal how quickly the weather can change in the mountains, really.The next morning, we made a beeline for Stratton, since I was out of food and had a resupply box waiting in town. It stormed twice on the 13 mile stretch into town, punctuated by periods of balmy sunshine. Terribly confusing. We stayed at the reasonably priced Stratton motel and enjoyed a dry place to sleep, showers, and clean clothes. Somehow, the next day turned into a zero, since foxi's knee was bothering her and 6 of our friends would be arriving in town that afternoon. Rather than hike out alone, I opted stay for the reunion. We watched approximately 4 movies with 2 really fun southbounders who were also staying (more accurately, 4 movies were on while we talked and played games), and cooked an enchilada dinner in the hostel kitchen for dinner. Overall it was a delightful success. Today, all 8 of us headed back to the trail to attack the Bigelow range. Fortunately, it wasn't raining and I had the privilege of climbing my first mountain in Maine that was not in a cloud or the rain! Turns out there are some nice views here after all however, it is quite cold here, especially at the higher elevations. Its expected to get down to 30 degrees tonight, But with a million layers it is manageable. We passed the 2000 mile marker today, meaning a mere 180 miles to the finish! A few days to Monson followed by the 100 mile wilderness, and that mountain is so close we can almost taste it. I may be tempted to actually try and taste it upon arrival, we'll see.