Date: 2018-09-05
From: Stealth Campsite .3 past trail to West Chairback Pond

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 13.1

DAY 183Up early, and had a quick breakfast and a cup of hot tea. The day began with a climb up Columbus Mountain. Just past Chairback Gap Lean-to as we were going down the stone steps another thru-hiker passed us. He was in a hurry and was practically running down the steps.We made our way up Chairback mountain, the climb up wasn't bad. The descent, however, was a different story as it was steep with a rock slide near the bottom. This short section of trail reminded us of Mahoosuc Notch. When we reached the bottom we were supposed to head to the left and climb up on a large boulder. We could see where other hikers had continued down as the trail was not clearly marked. At this point several paths meandered around, but none was the actual trail. I finally climbed back up retracing my steps and looking more carefully, and found the actual trail. About an hour later as we were coming down Chairback Ridge we met the hiker who passed us previously. He stopped and said "Didn't I pass you earlier? Am I going the wrong way?". We told him yes, he passed us earlier, and he was indeed now headed south instead of north. He quickly turned around and was off in the right direction again, sputtering expletives as he left. Apparently he had stopped to take care of some foot issues and got going the wrong way.We had played our food close as we knew we would have two resupplies in the 100-mile wilderness. Mary was starting to lose energy and was getting a little "Betty White-ish". She was extremely happy to see her mom and her friend Pammy waiting at Katahdin Ironworks Road. Not only did they have our resupply, but they also brought leftover pizza, hardboiled eggs, snacks, ice tea and a coke for me. They also had a cooler of cold drinks they planned on leaving for trail magic. We ate, filled our water bottles and organized our resupply as we chatted. Another hike heading south came by and we offered him a hard boiled egg, some lemon cookies, and directed him to the cooler for a cold Pepsi. Before we said our good byes and thank yous, we grabbed a couple cold Pepsi's to pack out for later.We soon forded the west branch of Pleasant River. Once you forded the river the trail became smooth and flat as it made its way through the hermitage. Upon reaching Gulf Hagas Stream we couldn't resist taking a quick dip in the pool formed by the small waterfall. On such a hot day we would have liked to stay here longer enjoying the cold, clear water.For the next four miles the trail followed the stream. As it neared lunch time we found a flat rock beside the stream where we decided to have lunch. Since it was another hot day in Maine, we soaked our feet as we ate. When we reached Carl A Newhall Lean-to it was too early to stop, but we knew we wouldn't make Logan Brook Lean-to because we still had four significant mountains to climb. We knew there were a few possible campsites in the valley so we decided to push on and see how far we could make it.After climbing Gulf Hagas Mountain Mary was getting tired, so when we reached Sidney Tappan Campsite we decided to stay rather than attempting the climb up West Peak. There was already a large school group at the campsite when we arrived, however we were able to find a site in the grassy area away from their campsite. It was fairly early, so we gathered water and enjoyed dinner at the log benches around the fire ring.As we were finishing up our dinner another sandal clad thru-hiker came in looking for a site for him and 3 others who he said would be joining him shortly. We told him where the spring was located and also pointed out the campsites behind the school group. We told him (Evan - Ewolf) they were welcome to join us in the grassy area if they would like. Not long after, the remaining three in his group arrived - Yelp, who is from England, Handstand and Luke who are from Massachusetts. Luke is Handstand's boyfriend who joins her hiking on the AT for 2 weeks every month. When they asked us our trail names and we replied Earl Grey and Purple Haze they exclaimed that they had enjoyed the last of the cold drinks in the trail magic cooler that was marked "from the family of Earl Grey and Purple Haze". They were surprised to find trail magic in the 100-mile wilderness.In bed early as tomorrow we will make our way up White Cap Mountain where, if the weather is good, we should get our first glimpse of Katahdin. White Cap will also be our last major climb until we summit.