Date: 2013-07-25
From: Catatunk

To: West Carry Pond Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

So today the luxury was getting to sleep in a bit. We had to ferry the Kennebec River first thing this morning but the only way to cross is by a canoe ferry. The river is wide and is controlled by a dam. Apparently 25 years ago a hiker died trying to ford the river at higher water levels. So the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has hired a ferryman to ferry hikers across the river. This is the only place on the trail where you do not hike. The Ferry only operates 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon so my usual early hiking did not happen. We got to the shore of the river at 10 am and watched the ferryman paddling a north bound hiker towards us. A few minutes later after the ferryman checked our signed releases we were in his canoe and paddling to to opposite shore. 200 yards and a couple of minutes later and we were safely on the other shore and ready to begin hiking. BTW, the canoe even has a white blaze painted on the floor making it an officialPart of the trail. Hiking was pretty flat this morning and we hiked to Pierce Pond Lean-to for lunch. There is a memorial at this lean-to for Parkside, a 2011 NOBO who died here while hiking the trail. Apparently he was swimming in the lake when they suspect he developed cramps and drowned. There were many other hikers at the lean-to at the time and no one knew he was in trouble until it was to late and he drowned. The memorial is a small cairn by the lake. It is simple but a poignant reminder people get in trouble and die on this trail. Rest in Peace Parkside. At the lean-to Wildcat and Co-Co were eating lunch. Wildcat was talking about finding Indian Cucumbers they had found on the trail. Since I had never heard of this plant I inquired about them....Wildcat showed me how to identify the plant and later in the evening he found one for me to try. Yes, the root tastes quite like a cucumber. I ate lunch and hiked with Ghost the rest if the afternoon. The trail was basically flat today with only a couple of small climbs, the biggest being a steep 400 ft climb that ended up being easy. The weather was beautiful and cool and the woods were full of blueberries. What a great day to hike. We made great time to the lean-to where there were a few section hikers that had started a large fire and enjoying themselves. The best part of this shelter was Trail Magic!!!!!! Trail magic is when someone helps a hiker out out of the goodness of their heart. Today was my first trail magic on the trail. Someone had left homemade cookies, chocolate, brownies, ramen noodle packs, and apples. What a great surprise when I got to the shelter. I grabbed an apple and I have to say it was one of the best apples I have ever ate. The cookies were a hit with my taste buds as well. After enjoying the treats, I laid my sleeping bag in the shelter, went down to the lake to wash up and get water, cooked my dinner and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. A bit of conversation with Wildcat and Co-Co who were also at the shelter and I was ready for bed. Tonight I am listening to the coyotes howl and call each other. There must be 6 or 7 of them and it appears they must be hunting as they are getting closer. So cool. Tomorrow is a fairly short day as I move south and prepare to start climbing the Bigalowmountain range. Today's word of the day is Trail Magic.