Date: 2015-07-27
From: Hwy 27

To: Spaulding Mtn Lean To
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: heavy intensity rain

7/27/2015Treadway: 8/10Weather: Overcast in the morning, mostly cloudy in the afternoon, thunder and lightning and heavy rain at night 6/10Stats:12.96 mi7:28:331.7 mph2161 cAvg hr 80 bpm5452 ft up 3746 ft down 24739 stepsNarrative:This was a much easier day than I anticipated. I woke up at 6:00 am and was packed up, showered and out the door at 7:00 am. I met the hiker who offered a ride to the trailhead the previous day. He is a native of Rhode Island and is trying to climb the 100 highest peaks in New England. He has 9 more and expects to finish next year. Interestingly, Mt Greylock is not on the list. Three hikers needing rides approached at 8:10 am when Georgia was still having breakfast, so the hiker took them to the trailhead. There was an older, fairly grizzled-looking NoBo who also was looking for a ride, and he had Sue drive him to the trailhead. I did not get his trail name, but he was interesting and obviously an experienced, superior hiker. He told the Rhode Island hiker and me a story about a mountaineer who apparently was a legend and who chose to commit suicide because he no longer was the mountaineer he used to be. He committed suicide by climbing to the top of a mountain, opening up his jacket and expediting the hypothermia on purpose by drinking a fifth of hard liquor on the mountain top. When I become less of a hiker, I¢ll just swim and continue to enjoy life. I also met Wild Thing, a NoBo. He completely stumped me when he asked me what it is I look forward to most ahead of me on the trail. I stumbled out a lame answer, something about the Whites and Shenandoah and a place where the trail is more forgiving than Maine, but I really missed the mark. As I thought more about Wild Thing¢s question, I decided that what I really am looking forward to is a trail that is more forgiving trail and trail legs which are stronger than the ones I now have, with many days of awesome walking ahead of me. Tundra was still feeling sore and he decided to take a second zero day. Georgia and I went to the trailhead together, driven by Sue. At 9:11 am, I was on the trail. The first 1.25 miles were a nice 1,000 ft climb on good treadway. At 11:57 am, I was on top of North Crocker Mtn, elevation 4166 ft. At 12:33 pm I was on top of South Crocker Mtn, elevation 4010 ft, with nice views. At 1:10 pm, I passed another good viewpoint descending South Crocker. At 1:30 pm, I ran into Georgia at the cutoff for Crocker Cirque Campsite and stopped for a break. At 4:08 pm, I was over the South Branch of the Carrabassett River. At 5:06 pm, I was at the cutoff to the trail to the top of Spaulding Mtn. It looked like a hard and crappy way up and down and decided to skip it and conserve my body. Georgia later told me he went up it to call his family and there were no views at the top. I made it to Spaulding Mtn Shelter around 6:30 pm after treating 2 L water and learned to my chagrin that I lost my tent stakes, which I probably left back at Moxie Bald Lean To. Initially I improvised using roots and twigs as stakes. But after we saw a thunderstorm about to hit us, Georgia offered me his stakes. He got there before me and had space in the shelter. I told him I would be a fool not to take him up on that and just minutes after properly staking down my tent the storm came, just in time for my tent not to be blown away. This was a serious storm, with heavy winds, heavy rain and thunder and lightning. The first lightning strike was 1 mile away, then .8 miles, then .5 miles, then .3 miles, then an ear-shattering .1 mile away. After that one, I said to the others in the shelter, ¢Well, that's our entertainment for the evening.¢ I met Uphill, who got his name because he prefers going up and not down. Actually, everyone I have met on the trail so far prefers up to down. We also met Flash, who got his name after doing 22 miles on his third day starting out in Georgia. The thunderstorm was over after an hour or so, but then we got socked by another thunderstorm after dark, and it rained throughout the night.