Date: 2003-06-09
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 14.7

Today's been a tough, but good day. We left Bald Mountain lean-to this morning around 6:30. We had relatively flat walking for awhile which was very enjoyable for a change!!! We saw our first powerline today! We had to ford another river this morning, but it wasn't a deep one. Fording rivers are not too bad except that it takes up a lot of time because you have to stop and take your shoes off, then put on your sandals, then walk across the river, and then stop on the other side and dry your feet off and put your shoes back on. It is really time-consuming. We saw some people fishing in Moxie Pond this morning and Matthew wished he was fishing! Everytime we pass a river or pond he says, "There's some trout right there!" If he had a fishing pole, we would still be 100 miles back!:) About 4 miles into the day, we started up Pleasant Pond Mountain, believe me, it was anything but pleasant!!! It was an uphill climb for 4.5 miles. It was like the Energizer bunny, it kept going and going! We went up atleast 5 summits, but none of them was the real summit! It also started pouring down rain halfway up. After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the "real" summit and we let out a Rebel yell!!! We were very excited! But the "fun" was just beginning. We descended 1260 feet in 9 tenths of a mile in the pouring down rain. We went straight down rocks and roots and they were extremely slippery! We had to go really slow to make it safely. The trail looked like it went straight down a rock ledge, you would look in front of you, but you couldn't see anything but air because the trail went straight down! But we made it down safely, Matthew fell on his back once, but his pack took the brunt of the fall and he was ok. At the bottom, we stopped at Pleasant Pond Lean-to, which was a pleasant sight by the way, and we ate a Lipton Beef meal and Matthew cooked up some kinda of Mexican tortilla thing. It was very good! While we were eating the sun came out and it brightened our spirits! We only had 6 miles from there to Caratunk, ME and it was all flat!!! It was a very quick 6 miles for us, we did it in about an hour and a half! When we got within about 1.5 miles of the road, we could start hearing cars! I never thought I'd get so excited just about hearing a car!! When we finally got to the road, Caratunk was right on our left! We didn't even have to hitchhike this time. Caratunk is no more than 8 houses in total. Luckily, there is a B&B which takes in hostels in a loft over the barn. That's where we're staying tonight. It felt great to take a shower again! The shower is so little that when Matthew dropped the soap, he had to get out of the shower to reach the soap. This thing is tiny! But it does the job! We are going to order a pizza tonight and rest our weary bones!!! We hiked with Todd again today, he's a good hiking buddy because he is about the same pace as we are and he's easy-going. I got me another Dr. Pepper again!!! And Matthew got a Coke so we are both happy! I better get going to a phone and call mama or she'll be mad at me!:)P.S.-Thanks to all ya'll who signed the guestbook!!! Matthew and I really appreciate all of the support we've received and it is the only way we make it through everyday with all of your prayers!!! Thanks again!