Date: 2009-08-18
From: stealth near Mt. Hayes

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

I didn¢t know exactly where I was because they weren¢t enough landmarks in my guidebook pages for this area, but I knew I was several miles away from water. I couldn¢t waste any on cooking oatmeal or making coffee, so I just ate a power bar, packed up my things, and got going by 7am. I was relieved when I came across a sign at the top of a mountain, letting me know exactly where I was. It was a pretty area with bare rock and lichen. I still had a few miles to go before I got to the side path for Trident Col Tent site, where I could get water and have a proper breakfast. It took some time to get to the tent site, and more time to get down the rocky hill to the water source. As I was eating, I heard someone else come in. It was Chance. He had stayed somewhere near where I had camped last night, but again, neither of us knew the other was there. He had the same idea about eating breakfast. We also both planned on going swimming at one of the lakes or ponds coming up. We were going to pass three bodies of water later on in the day, and the heat wave had still not broken.    I got going first, and decided to continue on when I came to Page Pond, which was filled with lily pads. I thought Dream Lake would be the best bet for swimming. However, there didn¢t seem to be any access point to get in it! I followed the path toward the waterfalls, along the edge of the lake, but didn¢t see any way to get in, as the border areas were marshy. I came across two high school kids who were out working and they had me follow them to where they were collecting water. I decided this was not the place to swim, either, and resumed my hike.      By the time I got to the Gentian Pond Shelter side trail, I was so tired that I didn¢t think I could carry my pack that extra distance, up the hill. I debated whether I should even go to the shelter, and decided upon leaving my pack on the side of the trail and carrying my (heavy) food bag up to the shelter. Chance came along and went down to the pond while I read the shelter log. Then, I went back to the brook before the shelter path to collect more water before moving on. I made my way across the typical Maine landscape (although I was still in NH) of rocks, small evergreens, and bog boards. Some hikers had written about falling off them into thigh-deep mud! I made my way up to Mt. Success, and took a break on the rocks. I felt so tired! I could see Chance making his way over in the distance. He caught up to me as I was descending a steep, rocky section and asked me how I was doing. I told him I was tired! He said he felt the same way. We knew we were close to the Maine border, but it wasn¢t coming fast enough! For some reason, I was thinking it was the one marked on the road (even though there were no road crossings around) and I was ready to have my picture taken, lying on the ground, exhausted, as that was exactly how I felt! However, the border was marked by a blue sign on a tree. Two campers were setting up their tent several feet away from it. I was glad someone was there to take my picture at this pivotal moment, but I can not say that I felt particularly happy then. I mostly felt dirty and exhausted, and I knew that we still had nearly 300 miles of hiking left! Oh, my...   None of us like hiking a third of a mile off the AT to stay at a shelter (especially when we have hammocks), but Chance and I did not have a choice, as we needed water. We had a half-mile to get to this side trail, and I was not expecting it to be as difficult as it was! We had to scale down sheer rock faces. It was more like rock climbing with huge packs than hiking! I was so tired that I just could not believe it. There was one section, which would have been very difficult to do alone, and I was thankful that Chance was there to help me out. He took my pack and tried to coach me on how to scale down the rocks backwards, but I insisted on facing forwards. He told me he had a lot of rock climbing experience and that it was much safer to turn around, in case I fell, so I didn¢t fall onto my face. But, I felt more secure with my back against the rocks, and told him I wouldn¢t fall. My water bottle did fall out of my pack and stopped just short of a giant hole under a rock, though! That was lucky!      We finally made it to the side trail and picked our way down the rocks, only to find that the water source was a mere trickle! That was my biggest surprise in Maine! Despite all of the rain that fell during the past few months, and all of the huge bodies of water peppering the state, the brooks and streams were practically dry!   There was a man already asleep in the shelter, so we made our way to the tent sites behind it, and I found two trees to set up my hammock and change into dry clothes. The heat and humidity had caused a lot of chaffing from my pack onto the skin around my hipbones, which was painful!    I went down to the tent platform Chance was sitting on to join him for dinner as night fell. He offered me a Starburst, which tasted so good, and even offered to collect another liter of water for me! It felt like he was returning the favors of asking me to get him water on Smarts Mountain, and for the food that I had given him at Fontana Dam. Top of Gothics came in and reported that, according to his altimeter, this was his sixth hardest day of hiking in his life. That made Chance and I feel a bit better.