Date: 2006-09-20
From: Tent at West Carry Pond

To: Pierce Pond Leanto
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Veto and I are now sole brothers.We talked about going on to the Kennebec Ferry and Carratunk, but one look at this place at 1pm after 5-1/4 hours of hiking, and we knew we'd stay here. Add to that the hiker breakfast tomorrow at Harrison Camps. Besides, we were both tired and hungry, having dined on cold food yesterday.The day dawned slightly overcast, much colder, and with a breeze that had pretty much dried the outside of the tent fly. The inside, however, was very wet from condensate. I hung a line to dry the tent, fly, and footprint, then sat down with Veto, who also tented in the rain last night, to eat breakfast. Big Foot and Grey Goose came by, and we sent them out on the trail ahead of us at 7:15am. We finally got started at 8:45. By 9:30am, Veto and I had made 4 miles to East Carry Pond, and the sun had come out. We stopped on some rocks on the shore for a break.Veto had been complaining about his feet being sore, but he had been comfortable hiking in trail runners with an insole that had a support pad behind the metatarsals. In the rush to leave Stratton, he had thrown away his insoles with the worn out shoes and switched to well broken-in hiking boots Mrs. Veto had sent. I'd often found the metatarsal support pad in my insoles uncomfortable, but reasoned (I almost said reckoned) that they might help Veto with the pain in his feet. At the break I persuaded him to swap insoles and give mine a trial. Within a mile, Veto noticed improvement and I was fine using his old insoles and don't feel the pressure of those pads any more. Since we swapped soles, we are now officially "sole brothers".We continued our hike and were surprised at what good time we made. At noon we caught up with BigFoot, who had stopped for lunch. We decided to press on to the shelter, since we thought it was within a half hour's hike. It turned out a little longer, and we passed GreyGoose finishing his lunch in another sunny spot. We finally reached the shelter at 1pm. The setting here is really beautiful. The FDOM are all in the shelter. We strung a line and dried our tents in the stiff breeze. I claimed my space along one wall by rolling out my pad, and set about fixing lunch. I decided to cook a hot lunch, and made mac n' cheese after fiddling with the stove pump, which wasn't holding pressure. After lunch Veto and I filled up on water from a nearby stream, then took the AT to Harrison Camps to sign up for the hiker breakfast and ask about a pepsi. Unfortunately, Tim Harrison had gone to town, so we couldn't ask about Pepsi-- Veto has converted from Coke to Pepsi. On the return via a shortcut, I resolved to have a bath and a swim. I was warm from the hike and returned shirtless, as I didn't want the long-sleeved wool shirt I wear in camp and in the sleeping bag to get sweaty. Out of the wind it was comfortably warm. In the wind in the shelter we had to layer up.I had a refreshing sponge bath in the lee of some large boulders behind the shelter, and then had a brief swim in the pond. It was reasonably warm, and the afternoon sun kept me from chilling.About 5:30pm, as I was cooking my second dinner, BeerNuts hiked in, followed shortly by Hitch and Mary, now Barnacle. Hitch had the knee braces I'd left behind in Gorham. It's interesting how you see the same people on the trail from time to time, even though you hike at different speeds. I'd first met these three on the day I returned to the trail from my hip rehab, May 22, almost 4 months ago.This afternoon and tonight, the haunting cry of a loon echoed across the pond.On! On!