Date: 2004-09-28
From: ME Rte 15, Monson 

To: Long Pond Stream Leanto
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Start ME Rte 15, Monson @ 8:30. Stop: Long Pond Stream Leanto @ 6:30Mileage on Trail: 15.1; cum. 343.0. Off trail: 0.0; cum. 13.1Weather: Cloudy, coolMajor Landmarks: Big Wilson Stream, Long Pond StreamMajor Milestones: <100 miles to K!Several hikers I hadn¢t seen for awhile made it into town last night. Team Smoke Break came in after dark. They had done 18 miles starting at 9:30. White Patch and Ketone got to Shaw¢s, but Mousebait was still behind and they were a little worried about her. She made it in later with not difficulty and wondered what all the fuss was about.I also saw Gather when I went to make a phone call. I hadn¢t seen him since Andover when he was a couple of days behind. He said he¢d been trying to do more consistent miles and has certainly made up ground. Slimer is still a couple of days ahead of us.This morning we were up at 7:00 for breakfast, which for me was a 3X3 ¢ 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 3 links of sausage, 3 thick slices of ham, 3 servings of homefries and 3 blueberry pancakes, plus all the OJ and coffee you wanted. You could also have a 2X2, 4X4, 6X6, etc. This year¢s record is a 7X7, but the all time record was an 18X18. That hiker was apparently taken to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. Anyway, the breakfast promised to sustain me for many miles today.After a trip to the P.O., young Keith drove Bramble, Archiopterix, Blue and me back to the trail and we entered the 100 mile wilderness, where there are no towns to resupply. In fact, there are plenty of logging roads that would bring you out, but with little chance of a ride. There is also the White House Landing Wilderness Camp about 70 miles into the wilderness and about a mile off the trail, where you can get food and lodging. We sent a bounce box there so we wouldn¢t have to carry all our food for the 100+ miles.The trail really wasn¢t any different from what we have been hiking. We passed a number of ponds, a 60¢ waterfall into a slate canyon, and there was plenty of up and down. There have been a number of slate canyons in this area and I saw a slate company in Monson. Blue also mentioned that part of the JFK memorial is made of Monson Black Slate. The first real challenge of the day came at Big Wilson Stream which we had to ford. Archiopterix was already across when we got there and waited while we changed into sandals and made our way across. He said this was the most difficult ford of the trail, but it was much easier than the fords I had to make coming into Gorham on that rainy day.As we headed up the climb from the stream the clouds came in and it got much darker. We had thought about camping at one of the smaller stream crossings and there were some nice sites there, but it really felt like rain and rain had been predicted, so we decided to make it to the shelter. Our final barrier was Long Pond Stream, another ford requiring quick changes into and out of sandals. The final 0.7 mile climb up to the shelter went quickly as we raced to beat the fading light. We made it without having to use headlamps and without any rain falling.Archiopterix was there when we arrived. He had decided not to do the extra 3 miles to the next shelter. So it would be a dry night in a shelter and another dinner by headlamp