Date: 2016-08-28
To: Road past Pierce Pond
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Destination: Road past Pierce PondStart: Bog Brook Rd./Flagstaff LakeMiles: 16.6        We appear to be past the most difficult part of the hike. The AWOL profile showed just a few small hills, the rest of the hike being gently rolling terrain between 1000 and 2000 feet in elevation. Because the hike was easier, I was able to keep up with some of the others in the group. I spent much of the day hiking with Ron Hall and Gene Anderson. Other than the first day when I hiked with Steve, I¢ve spent most of the hike entirely alone and haven¢t gotten to know the rest of the group. They hike so much faster than I do, and I¢m too exhausted at the end of the day to do anything other than eat and pitch my tent. So it was a real treat to spend time with them. Ron, who lives in Alabama, does some kind of specialized surveying for a living. He¢s been hiking the AT for 10 years now, using vacation time to hike twice a year. This is the end of his 10-year hike when he reaches Katahdin next week. He grew up in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, where his family has lived for generations. Gene is a retired business executive turned hippie. He moved from California back to Georgia, where he grew up, when he retired. He thru hiked the AT with Warren¢s 2015 Expedition and is hiking from the White Mountains to Mt. Katahdin this year. The three of us had wide-ranging conversation ¢ dealing with elderly parents, genealogy, family dynamics, hiking, history, and George Washington. (Ron was reading a biography of Washington and has become a great admirer.) Gene told us he sometimes looks at items in stores and tries to figure out a hiking or camping use for them. He keeps a diaper pin attached to his backpack as a temporary fix for broken pack straps and the like.   The places we passed through were interesting and pretty. The trail crossed several wetland areas, one of which has a brand new long boardwalk. We passed West and East Carry Ponds. A historical marker near there commemorates Benedict Arnold¢s passage through there on his way to attacking Quebec City during the Revolutionary War. West Carry Pond was named this because it was part of Arnold¢s route portaging between the Kennebec and Dead Rivers. The AT between Middle and West Carry Ponds follows the 1775 portage trail precisely. When we reached some suitable rocks we stopped to eat. Gene was able to text his hiking buddies from where we stopped. Ron showed me Guthook¢s app, which shows the key landmarks on the trail and locates where you are in relation to them. It apparently can be used even when the phone is in airplane mode. I had no cell service there, as at most places on the hike. This made the Guthook app appealing. (I¢ve been trying to estimate where I am partly by estimating my hourly pace and partly by checking the mileage on my Fitbit. I¢ve learned that the Fitbit mileage is quite unreliable. By the end of a 15-mile day it will be 2 or more miles over the actual mileage.)At one point the trail went right across a sandy beach. If I¢d been by myself I would have stopped to enjoy the view, but I was so enjoying hiking with Ron and Gene that I kept going. Near the end of the hike the trail crossed a wooden dam across Pierce Pond. The wooden barrier felt rickety, so we crossed on the rocks behind it. We reached our camping spot in late afternoon, and I had my tarp set up by 6:30. This is the first time that the tarp has felt reasonably secure. All depends on whether I find two trees the right distance apart. I know there¢s a way to use one tree and one hiking stick, but I haven¢t been able to figure out how to do that.