Date: 2007-09-21
From: Troutdale Rd

To: Pleasant Pond Hiker Parking Lot
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: clear sky

Friday, September 21, 2007Troutdale Rd to Pleasant Pond Hiker Parking Lot, 6.6 milesGoodbye to the section-hiker I met yesterday, who is also staying at Northern Outdoors.At 8AM I drop Pearls and Starvin Marvin at the 201 trailhead. We set the PT Cruiser at the Pleasant Pond Hiker Parking Lot and take the Element back to 201 to Lake Moxie Rd to Troutdale Rd, a pretty drive first along the Kennebec and then along Moxie Pond. 5.4 miles from 201/Lake Moxie Rd to Troutdale, 7.6 miles along a good dirt road to the AT parking lot, where I¢ll leave the Element parked for 3 days and 2 nights.Start at 10AM.Hello again to NOBO Pippy, about 11AM. I wasn¢t lost the day before yesterday, she says. I just sprinted ahead of Pittsburgh. I¢m the better hiker, she says, smiling.Hello again to NOBO Pittsburgh, then hello again to NOBO Tunabag.We¢re ascending. I pull ahead. 1:10 am I on the summit of Pleasant Pond Mountain? Nice view of Avery Peak but it¢s too hazy for a good photo.Red squirrel, junco, fir, spruce, moss, rock. Except for a bird squawk, perfectly quiet.Hello again to Pearls and Starvin Marvin. That wasn¢t the summit of Pleasant Pond Mountain. More vistas and a marker at the summit are still ahead of you, they say.Great view over to Moxie Bald. Beautiful day. Fantastic colors. 1:45 I wait for Memere and Gray Feathers.Sign says Kennebec River 7.3, Moxie Bald 4.7We meet up and have a snack, just short of the summit. Start our descent at 2:15.Out at 3:30! We drive down to Pleasant Pond through an open gate. Memere says the gate¢s there to keep out the riffraff. That's us.   We park at the blue-blazed rail to the water¢s edge. We walk out on the dock and soak our hot feet in pond water. (I'd promised Tom I'd try to "ice" the ankle as much as possible on this hike. Cold pond water works just as good as, or even better than, ice. Ankle feels great!)Neat sights at the pond -- a little white foam collects at the shoreline, wavy light reflects from the water onto the undersides of cedar needles.We pile in the Cruiser for Monson. As they are unloading the Cruiser, a strange man approaches Memere and Gray Feathers and asks them if this car was parked at a trailhead last night. Watch out for 14 ATV¢ers with shotguns, he says. We check in at the Lake House. We have garden salads at the Pub. We take the $60 double room, I¢m content sleeping in my bag on the thermarest, while Memere and Gray Feathers share the bed.   Kilgore, Spaceman from CT and his college roommate Forest are here. So are Water and Bucket, and Mello (who started out as Mellow Yellow and is now just Mello). So is Nice Enuf, who looks like how I imagine Leif Erikson, from MN. So are 2 couples who spend time in the summer up here in Maine, one of whose grandfather¢s grew up in Monson. It¢s jammin¢ night (I missed this in ¢04, ¢05 and ¢06) at the General Store. Authentic stuff. Like you find in the south. Banjo, fiddle and guitar. Local musicians take turns playing tunes and singing. Nice rendition of prison blues song ¢Midnight Special¢. Everybody remembers the chorus but nobody remembers all the words in the verses. Banjo player is phenomenal. He plays fiddle too. We discover Buddy is now doing the breakfasts at the Lake Shore. Buddy was a big help to me in ¢04, ¢05 and ¢06. Can't wait to have a Buddy breakfast tomorrow. And to see him again.