Date: 2013-09-13
From: Baldpate Lean-to

To: "The Cabin", East B Hill Rd
Miles today: 8.0

It rained all night long. The rain pounded on the tin roof of the shelter. It would lighten up occassionally, but it became more and more apparent that we'd be spending most of our day wet. We packed up our stuff and put on our least-wet clothes. I'd hung up all my clothes last night, and with all the pounding rain and wind, my clothes were more damp this morning than the evening before. A little chipmunk sneaked in the shelter and danced around Walking Stick's feet in hopes of scoring an easy breakfast. But no one offered up any food We'd planned to leave by 7:30, so when we got boots on trail by 7:42 we felt pretty successful. Even before starting the morning climb, I stopped to pull off my rain jacket. There was a light mist, but the trees did a great job of blocking most of it. The initial climb was easy. When we got to the top, it was socked in with a thick fog. We decided to call "the Cabin" to see about room reservations. I'd heard good things about it, especially the meals and slack-packing. With room reservations made and Hobo able to connect with Anita, we set off again. We followed some boardwalks and tried not to crush the fragile alpine vegetation. There were plenty of bogs, but somehow we managed not to sink down too low. The west peak of Baldpate was a cinch. And then we came to the climb up to the east peak I'm sure in the sunshine (or just dry conditions) the climb would be challenging and beautiful and fulfilling. Today it was a (excuse my french) fucking suicide mission. Water was streaming down the giant dome shaped mountain. The sheer bare rock was slick. There were several species of lichen clinging to the rock, making it all the more slick. I spent most of the climb up on all fours. It didn't help that the handle grip of my hiking pole had come loose and would slip down the pole at will, taking the stability and leverage with it. We inched our way to the top. There was only a light wind (thank goodness!) that carried the mist and rain. We had to search out rock cairns through the fog to try to stay on trail. Finally, there was a little bit of easy trail, and then we started down the other side.I had some confidence initially until my right foot shot out from underneath me Before I knew it, I was on the ground, right leg extended straight in front of me, left knee bent behind me in a hurdler post, left toe acting as a quasi-break as I slid down the rock face. I must have slid 5 or 6 feet before I came to a stop. My left knee brace turned out to be a great knee pad It was shredded, but I only had a small cut on my knee. That was close! Now I was scared and timid. But there was still much "sheer bald descent" to go. I teetered more slowly, grasping onto anything I thought might support my weight and finding any patch of dirt that might offer more traction. But the bald was expansive and it seemed to go on forever.Finally, we were within 10-15 of the treeline. The trail surface would stay the say (steep, wet, bare rock) but the trail itself narrowed back into a corridor of trees 4 feet wide. I took a wrong step, my foot shot out from under me again, and I went down. I rolled, slid, bounced at least 10 ft down the mountain. The whole thing probably only lasted a couple of seconds, but it seemed to go on for an eternity. I was waiting for a bone to break, flesh to tear, and pain in general. When I came to a stop, I shouted out my favorite 4-letter word (Hint: it rhymes with "duck") several times in quick succession slapping at the rock and mountain each time. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!! I hate the lack of control over the elements of the trail. The weather is bad, the trail conditions are poor, the descent is steep, and we still have a helluva long way to go. I was really spooked, and I wanted to stop, but that really wasn't an option. We crept slowly down the mountain There were a few hairy ladders that were attached to nothing. I took to booty scooting whenever possible. Finally after what seemed like forever, the trail broke back down into rocks, then dirt, then some roots and some rock slabs with less severe slopes. Sigh.We got close to Frye Notch Lean-to, and I could smell smoke, but it didn't smell like wood. It smelled like burning trash. The rain was coming down, and we could make out the outline of the lean-to and a very smoky fire. We met a Sobo named Frostbite who had started burning trash and gear that he'd found around the campsite in hopes of drying out his boots. It all seemed a little strange, and the three of us felt a bit of unease. We quickly at our lunch and then headed back out. I took my third and final fall of the day. Luckily, it was less dramatic and involved dirt/mud. After that, I was so wet and muddy that I didn't mind tromping through every puddle and mud-hole. It was quite liberating really. We got down to Dunn Notch and Falls. We weren't prepared for the river ford and huge 100ft raging waterfall. There wasn't a snowbird's chance in hell I was going to try to ford anywhere near the falls. Instead we walked up stream and found a place where two smaller streams came together. The water level was lower and the volume less extreme. We high-fived each other on the other side. Phew! We called the hostel to let them know that were getting close to our pick-up spot. We climbed the trail up past the raging river. We had one more stream to ford. It was knee deep, but our meeting place was on the other side, so we had little choice. My legs were sprinkled with leaf debris, mud, dirt and blood. I hadn't realize it but my inner thighs had chafed to the point of bleeding. Crazy.Our ride showed up. We were soaked, but Don was un-phased. He took us to the post office en route to the hostel. FINALLY my boots had arrived. Woohoo! We swung by the small general store and picked up some sandwiches for tomorrow Then we headed for the cabin. The Flying J's, Indigo, Fifteen (I hadn't seen him since Glasgow, VA) along with Bismark & Hopper (I hadn't seen them since Aquone Hostel back in NC) were there. We claimed our bunks, and I took a shower. I found a lovely grey long-john fabric floor-length dress to wear I talked with my parents. Baltimore Jack made us a delicious spaghetti dinner with corn on the cob, salad, garlic bread and ice cream for dessert. We plan to slack-pack tomorrow and hopefully the next day. In the meantime, I'm utterly whipped. The cold and rain and rocks have taken it out of me. At least tomorrow I'll have new boots and fresh clothes to wear.