Date: 2018-08-15
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 11.7

My pack was a serving of oatmeal and 30 Skittles lighter this morning. The food bag always feels heavy until one morning you pick it up and it feels light. That usually happens on re-supply day. But this time around it came a day early. The Skittles may well have been the tipping point. I hit the trail at around 0730 in no particular hurry. I only planned to hike about 11 miles to the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to. That would leave me around 14 miles the next day to Whitehouse Landing. The air was still and trending towards the warm side when I took off. The trail continued its descent off of White Cap for two more miles, where it crossed a nice gravel road. A car was parked along the road close to the trail. It undoubtedly belonged to a couple of day hikers who passed by the lean-to when I was eating my breakfast. I would cross another gravel road before the end of the day. 100-mile Wilderness? The trail was very non-Maine-like (flat and smooth) for very long stretches today. The next two miles to the East Branch Lean-to were generally flat and passed through some old growth White Pines. With no wind and the moss covered terrain, I think peaceful best describes the setting. Every now and then I would stop and just listen. Eventually a bird or squirrel would break the silence and I would move on. I stopped at the lean-to for a snack and morning stretch. From the lean-to the trail started an easy 800¢ climb up Little Boardman Mountain. This would be the only mountain for the day. I walked to the summit which was just over 2K. The last mountain over 2K until Katahdin. I could hear thunder rumbling ahead of me as I came off the summit.At the base of Little Boardman the trail passed by Crawford Pond. It is a huge pond with sandy beaches in places. I contemplated going for a dip, but thought better of it when I saw a dark thundercloud forming above the opposite shore. I did eat my lunch on the beach though. I figured I could see the storm coming for over a mile as it crossed the water. I fixed up a couple of PBJ wraps and watched a Loon swimming just off shore and diving under the water in search of its own lunch. As I was starting my second wrap, I heard a thunderclap over my left shoulder. The storm was moving in from two directions now. I choked down the rest of my lunch and headed for the safety of the forest. The thunder was overhead and rain began to fall shortly after I crossed over the rocky pond outlet. It did not take long for the big drops of water to penetrate through the deciduous forest. The cool drops felt good on my warm skin and I delighted in the scent of the earth stirred by the rain. The trail was wonderfully soft and my pace picked up as the rain fell harder. A flash of lightning. Only one. It was mostly just thunder like a barking dog without a bite. Soon the sun added to the mix of rain and thunder. I peered through the canopy in search of the rainbow but there was none that I could see. It was 2:20PM when I arrived at the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to. As the name suggests, the shelter sits right in front of a cascading stream emptying into a pool of water. It was very serene indeed. I went to the brook to catch some water in my dirty bag. As the water was filtering into the bladder I grabbed another snack and contemplated my next step. It is 11.4 miles to the next shelter and a couple of SOBOs told me that it was more smooth sailing for the next 10-12 miles. I could easily knock out 3 miles an hour on this terrain. As I was considering my options, a somewhat questionable character approached the shelter. He was a SOBO, but I wasn¢t sure if he was staying put or moving on. It was the tipping point for me, I was moving on. I quickly disconnected the filter from the dirty bag that was hanging from a nail high on one of the shelter poles. I put my pack cover back on and I was off to the races. After covering a quick mile or so I tried to recall if I had removed the dirty bag and packed it up. I stopped, took off my pack, and opened the side pocket where my filtering system resides. No dirty bag! U-turn! I arrived at the lean-to about 15 minutes later. The bag was right where I left it. The shady dude was gone. Tipping point. Looks like I¢m staying out right here. The good news is that it is that this journal entry is complete well before hiker midnight and I will be hitting the trail at dawn tomorrow. Thunder...good call!Peace and Blessings! Next StepElevation Data:Ascent - 1,150Descent - 2,640Grade - 6.1Weather:Day - 78 / Scattered Thunder StormsNight - 62 / Mostly CloudyOver The Horizon: Baxter State Park, ME