Date: 2013-07-20
From: Frye Notch Lean-To, mi 1,924.5

To: Hall Mountain Lean-To
Miles today: 10.5

I did my best to squeegee my tent in the early morning from the residual water left over from the previous evening thunderstorm. The AT north of the Frye Nothch Lean-to had just been worked on by the MATC trail volunteers, whom I had camped next to at the lean-to. The trail was still in a rough state however, with soil smeared over rock, now slippery mud from the night before. I left Punkin Pie and Motts and headed at fast clip towards Dunn Notch and Falls, followed by East B Hill Rd. When I made it to the road crossing by early morning, I had struck good fortune. A complementary shuttle from the Pine Ellis Lodge was dropping off a young group of hikers heading northbound, who had stayed at the hostel. After the shuttle driver made a U-turn, I stopped her and asked if I could get a ride back into town. She explained that it was free only to those who stayed at the hostel and that it would be 10 dollars. I told her I declined that offer and would walk. She drove a few yards, before stopping to offer me a free ride, perhaps to play it out in front of the other hikers, so that it appeared that I wasn't getting special privilege over them. They told me that the owner would have a fit if she found out, so they would drive me a block shy of the hostel. I asked them If I could re-supply there and they said the lodge had a small supply that was a better deal than the market in town. I hiked up the driveway, pretending that I had never met the two kind women who had just dropped me off around the corner. They asked if they could help me, and I said, while doing my best to keep a straight face, "yes!, I need to resupply". they replied, "let us get the owner, who has the key to the food locker". Another not-so-friendly woman walked out on the front porch and opened the two-door metal locker packed with the thru-hiker camping staples, pasta, tortillas, peanut butter, instant mashed potatoes, candy, assorted snacks, and other miscellaneous junk food. I also was able to re-fill my stove alcohol bottle. I asked them if Andover had a good breakfast place and they highly recommended the "Little Red Hen". I hiked into the tiny town of Andover, and into the Little Red Hen, where I ordered up two breakfast. I looked for a table where I could charge my phone. A woman with short hair and glasses named Hazel (a name common with my grandmother), offered to share her table, which had an outlet beneath it. I learned that Hazel was from Massachusetts and was spending the summer in Maine as a therapy for some health issue she had. She planned to return home at the end of the summer. I shared a bit of my adventure on the AT and gave her my blog address: http://mikejurasiusatwalkabout2013.com, which she immediately found on her iPad. After enjoying a long breakfast and catching up on my blog, I ordered a dish of vanilla ice-cream (since the parlor across the street was still closed). I was offered a ride back to the trailhead by Hazel, which I gladly accepted. She stopped at her house along the way to generously offer me some fresh zip-lock bags, then a spring she knew of on the road side that required no filtering. I filled up, thanked her immensely for her generosity and said good bye. I made the 3.5 mile ascent up the muddy trails to Wyman Mountain at a fast pace. As I approached the Hall Mountain Lean-to, the familiar loud clap of thunder startled me. Heavy rain followed. I was literally only yards from the shelter when this occurred. Once again, my timing was impeccable. The shelter was occupied by a young college couple, a woman named BB, and her boyfriend named "Lugie", as in "saliva". They were accompanied by another college friend who was joining for a few days. While it was still light enough to see, they had discovered a site upslope of the lean-to where they could get cell reception with a bonus view of distant ridges and valleys. Out of curiosity, I climbed the steep muddy slopes after the rain stopped briefly to see for myself. At the top of the hill, the path traversed contour to an opening underlain by rock. Darkness had obscured the view, but it was a pleasant reprieve from being under dense canopy. I enjoyed their company for the evening, cooked dinner after changing into dry clothes, and rolled the bag out for a long needed good nights rest.