Date: 2016-07-02
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Oquossoc vie ME Rt. 4
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

Ahh. Another sort of break day. I beat Heart Attack out of the shelter but was behind the Mixed Berries, but still made it out in decent time to meet Dave at our appointed hour of 10:40. The hiking was a little tougher than I was expecting, but I feel that's always how it goes with sections in which you're going to meet someone and just want to get to the end. The trail was pretty wide and nice through the whole section, though, and I moved quickly. I figure people from Rangeley must use it pretty often. The sun was shining nicely when I came out to Route 4. I didn't see Dave in the lot, so I went and crossed the road and sat on a fence on the other side, drying out my damp socks and basking. I noticed a van with a connecticut plate pull in a few minutes later and picked up my stuff to go meet Dave!We were both very excited to see each other, and amazed that our paths were able to cross without so much as a blink; everything has worked out pretty great. Also he seemed just as excited to host me as I was to be hosted! We piled into the car and drove west toward Rangeley, talking about the trip, about his daughter Lauren who was a good friend from high school, about the history of Oquossoc, where their cabin is. Our first stop was the IGA supermarket, where I picked up the few supplies I would need to get to Stratton, only two days away. Unfortunately, I wasn't used to the store's layout and felt bad for taking a while with Dave in tow. Also, given the remoteness of the town, the supplies were a little pricier than, say, walmart. We then drove into the very cute town of Rangeley (which sits between two lakes acting as a PORTAGE ROUTE hahaha) and stopped in at Ecopelagicon, an outfitter right next to the lake. I needed three items, which given their minimal description in AWOL I was not expecting them to have, but indeed they had aqua mira, black diamond pole tips and a gas canister that would work with my stove. I was very happy, because I had run out of the chlorine drops, which I like for water in camp, and my pole tips had broken off AGAIN. This is becoming unsustainable. We drove out of town to the Monzes' cabin in Oquossoc, which is part of a compound belonging to a fishing club, which was apparently set up by folks from New Haven and New York almost a century ago. The cabin itself is lovely and cozy, with a really airy sitting/dining room, and lots of homey decoration. I did some laundry, ate a lot of leftover chicken, and hopped in the shower. I also met Lauren's older sister Morgan and her boyfriend Jeff, who now both lead river trips out west, as well as Bryce, the Monzes' lab. I was planning on vegging out all afternoon, but Dave suggested we all go on a little paddling trip. So we loaded up a canoe and a couple kayaks into cars and drove to a river put-in that apparently would lead us right back to the cabin. The weather was being fickle and moved from sunny to spitting rain and windy a few times. It was really fun to be on the water though, doing a sort of physical activity that I haven't done in a while. It was also fun for me to sit back and do nothing and let the river carry me. That's a nice thing about paddling that is just not the same as hiking. You can take a break and still be moving. Bryce was with us and sat in the middle of Jeff and Morgan's canoe, but he was unhappy whenever Dave - who was in a kayak, like me - was more than a few feet from him and kept yelping and whining until he came closer. This came to a head when we went down the one rapid along the river, and Bryce decided to jump out at a critical moment and pushed one of the gunwales underwater, forcing Jeff and Morgan both to hop out mid-river. Morgan spent much of the rest of the time holding Bryce from jumping in again (which he tried to do multiple times). The twists and turns of the river looked a lot like the paddling I've done in Quebec, and it ended up being a lovely outing. the river led right back into the inlet where the cabin is, and we pulled up all the boats on shore. It was funny how easily I switched from hiking mode into chilling mode. I took a nap and spent much of the afternoon reading Deadeye Dick, which I found on a shelf. I haven't read a book in a while now, and Vonnegut engrossed me, so I was almost halfway done with the novel in a few hours. The dinner plan was to have a barbeque with Dana - Lauren's younger sister - and her high school friends, who were all two years below me in school. We headed over to the main cabin where Dave fired up the grill and I caught up with some of the folks who were there, including Jimmy, whom I'd played football with, and Chas, who now goes to St. Andrews in Scotland. (we talked for a while about Brexit, which I had heard about mainly from Roller who is sad because she says "she can't call herself European anymore"). We drank a fair bit and I ate lots of cheese and crackers while we waited for steaks and burgers and the like, which came out late, but were very delicious. This is one of the few true nearos i have taken on the trail, and it was incredibly nice. Dave, Morgan and Dana, thank you so much for sharing your house and your food and your kindness with me. This was one of my most memorable days on the trail.