Date: 2014-08-22
From: Stealth camp below Pleasant Pond Mountain

To: Shaw's Hostel in Monson, ME
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: moderate rain

Unfortunately, it rained last night, so I had to pack up a wet tent in the morning. I don't like the idea of carrying extra weight in water that's not available to drink. I hit the trail at 6:10, wanting to cover the 25 miles early enough to resupply for the 100-Mile Wilderness in Monson. Less than a mile down the trail I saw a female moose with her calf grazing in a swampy area. As soon as they saw me they bolted into the woods, but not quickly enough for me to snap a couple of pictures.There was one significant climb today, which came early in the morning, up Moxie Bald. On a clear day, it's possible to see Katahdin from its summit, but today the top was socked in. Down the other side, I stopped in at Moxie Bald Lean-to, where I met a woman who introduced herself as Pocket (singular). I'd hiked with Pockets (plural) off an on since North Carolina and had heard about Pocket for almost as long, but this was the first time I actually met her. There's been considerable confusion up and down the trail about these two woman with similar sounding names. Pocket and Chance, the guy she's been hiking with since New York, and I leapfrogged each other most of the day.Today was a day of many exciting stream fords, which meant my feat were soaked most of the day. I'm afraid this is the way it's going to be all the way to Katahdin, as the Maine trail maintainers don't believe in bridges. Shortly after the Moxie Bald Lean-to, I arrived at a river just behind two section hikers. The first had already made if across, and the second, wearing a monstrous pack and full camo, was taking his first, disastrous as it turned out, step into the river. His foot went out from under him on a slick submerged rock, and he fell backwards, sliding halfway into the river and losing a hiking pole in the process. The pole was swept downstream in the strong current, so I took off my pack pack to go after it. When the pole got caught in an eddy, I reached out, grabbed it, and simultaneous slipped and found myself waist deep in the river downstream from the camo guy. It took me several attempts to hoist myself over the slick rocks and back up on the bank, at which point I returned the hiking pole to its grateful owner, and we both then forded the river without incident. There were several more minor river crossings and two major ones, which had ropes at shoulder level tied to trees on opposite banks, providing hikers additional security while fording.With five miles to go, I started to run out of steam, no doubt due to yesterday's dawn-to-dusk, 14-hour marathon. On paper today's hiked looked easy after the early climb over Moxie Bald, but in reality the trail, which followed the Piscataquis River downstream for 12 miles, repeatedly climbed the bank and then dropped down to the river's edge, sapping my remaining strength. Eventually I decided the situation called for drastic action, so I broke the emergency glass and pulled out my secret weapon: gummy bears.When I reached the road at around 5:00 pm, I was immediately offered a ride by two section hikers in the parking lot. They drove me to the Shaw's Hostel in Monson, which is reported to have an awesome breakfast. After showering, doing laundry, and resupplying at the local gas station, Snapper, a 32-year-old German from Hamburg who lives in Montreal and is on target to finish the AT in under three months, and I had dinner together at a barbecue restaurant down the street.This will be my last post before entering the 100-Mile Wilderness tomorrow morning and summiting Katahdin, probably on Thursday. I'll continue to write daily dispatches and will post them all when I return to civilization and have a signal again.Thanks for reading and for all the kind words of encouragement.