Date: 2005-06-26
From: Long Pond Stream Lean To

To: Chairback Gap Lean To
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The entire morning can be summarized in one word: uphill! Long Pond Stream Lean-to is at the base of the Chairback Range, a stretch of five peaks. Most of the elevation is gained as you climb the first peak: Barren Mountain, a distance of four miles. It takes us the entire morning. Yesterday's thunderstorms brought in a "cold" front, so today the temperatures have dropped down to the 80's. Any vistas we get are blurred with the haze that comes with high humidity. It seems like we should be able to see Katahdin from here, but not today. Barren Mountain has a firetower that is a great break in the breeze. But we must keep moving. The four mile stretch we just climbed has been dry, so we've been sharing our water with Sniffy and we need water.Cloud Pond and CP Lean-to is down a side trail, .3 mile. We tank up on water and go for a swim. The water is actually warm! I wait until after the swim to tell Smoothie about the leaches in the lakes! It is refreshing, and I would have loved to spend the rest of the day here, but being the slave driver that I am, I crack the whip and make Smoothie and Sniffy march on!Looks like Just Mark made it to Cloud Pond last night! Nineteen miles in the heat! It was Smoothie's goal to camp with Just Mark last night, but she is beginning to realize that the leg power of a thru-hiker is unusual! I will perpetually be one day behind Just Mark!Three more peaks today: Fourth Mountain, Third Mountain, and Columbus Mountain. Smoothie's pretty wiped out, as is the dog. Every break we take Sniffy collapses for a mini nap. Then she waits until the last possible minute to get up. Keep on moving Sniffy, I'm not carrying a 60lb dog! The highlight of Sniffy's day is finding many snacks in the trail. Someone ahead of us has been leaving a trail of poptarts, gorp, tortilla shells, all to a dog's delight.Chairback Gap Shelter is our destination for the night, and by the time we get there it is full of SOBOs. Only the second time in six months that I have come across a full shelter. The tent sites have been taken over by the boy scouts. We scrounge around for a flat place to throw up our "last resort" tent. There isn't many spaces left that are flat. Someone has even set up a four-person tent right IN the trail (a durable surface, but not exactly 'Leave No Trace,' eh?) We find the "best" place for my tent, not exactly flat, not exactly root-free.We talk with the SOBOs in the evening. Not having trail legs yet, most SOBOs plan for 10 days in the wilderness, about 10 miles a day. One SOBO, a repeat AT thru-hiker, is scolding me for planning such a rigorous schedule for Smoothie. I planned for seven days, including the summit Katahdin. My mistake, I've sorta forgotten what a normal human wants to walk in a day. Before I mentioned that my tent is a "last resort." Here's why: it is technically a two-person tent, but you REALLY have to like the other person to share such close quarters. The tent is so small it is impossible not to be touching Smoothie as we try to sleep. We both stink too...and it's hot. To keep the bugs out we've got the screen zipped up so there isn't much air flow. "I never want to sleep in this tent with you again Smoothie!" I exclaim and then we both are laughing hysterically. What else can you do under these conditions?Tonight we fall asleep to Sniffy and her uncontrollable panting, and the boy scouts who are running around talking pornographic pictures of each other.Smoothie, it doesn't get any better than this!