Date: 2022-08-10
From: Pleasant Pond Lean To

To: Bald Mountain Pond Lean To
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We needed an hour and forty minutes to leave camp this morning. Joni and I were both silently frustrated. In August, when the days are still long and we¢re planning only 13 miles, it¢s not really a big deal. But we¢re both thinking about November when the days will get painfully short. It will take us about 12 hours to hike 20 miles on the trail home (hopefully!). Add breaking camp and pitching it in the other end and running out of daylight gets real. We¢re behind schedule and know faster, bigger-mile days are ahead, but we¢re skeptical we¢ll be able to get the machine oiled enough to maximize daylight. We still have much to learn. Rain was in the forecast today and seemed to be imminent for most of the morning. The canopy dropped on our tents for the whole night last night. It had abated by the time we were rolling out at 6:00 but the threat of rain remained. We climbed Moxie Bald Mountain just before 3:00 and got to survey the weather situation for ourselves. The sun was out and breaking through a thick cloud ceiling high above. We had views nearly to the horizon in all directions. There was no rain within 40 miles of us and the clouds didn¢t look ready for it anytime soon. We could retrace the day¢s walk over Pleasant Pond Mountian, through 2 powerline right-of-ways, across the rock hop at the inlet of Moxie Pond, and could almost see where we had eaten lunch near Bald Mountain Brook Lean To. The Bigelows were 4 tall peaks 25 miles to our east southeast. The light and shadows wouldn¢t allow them to be resolved into their separate contours but we knew which were which - Avery, Bigelow, and the South and North peaks of the Horns. Sixty miles to the north, not visible when we were on Avery Peak, but now unmistakable on the horizon, was Mount Katahdin. I was thrilled. No one else seemed struck by it. I know that it¢s not our ultimate goal but that didn¢t take much away from the feeling of awe I had. We¢ve walked over 670 miles now and Katahdin, still 130 trail miles north, is in sight! A note on Moxie Bald Mountain: it seems that our apps and trail guides, along with perhaps some trail signage, has misnamed this mountain. We¢re confused. There is a Moxie Pond nearby. The mountain is bald. But mapping apps call this mountain ¢Bald Mountain¢ with ¢Moxie Mountain¢ south and west of us. It seems there is a cartographical conundrum here. A short 2 miles downhill brought us to the shelter for the night. We arrived about 4:30. Great Dane is here along with some riff-raff (SOBOS?) and a couple from the shelter last night that we haven¢t met. We¢ve done all our chores for the morning in an effort to beat our abysmal performance this morning. Water is filtered, breakfast will be cold. Shoes News (why not?) Joni is in her second pair of Altra Olympus. Her first piar of 3.5s had afew 100 miles in them already. She spent several days in a pair of Topo Hydroventures but ditched those in favor of a gently used pair of Olympus 4s. She¢s got a pair of Olympus 4s coming to the next mail drop. Darrell started in Altra Olympus 4s that had 200 miles on them already. While Grandie and Grandpa were nearby, he swapped between a pair of Topo Ultraventures and a new pair of (too big) Olympus 4s. The Presidentials shredded the bottoms of the Ultraventures. He¢s now in Brooks Cascadia 16s that he bought at the North Conway REI. Jasper and Baxter started in a used pair of Altra Lone Peak 4s. They both needed the new pair Grandie and Grandpa brought along. Grayson started in a new pair of Hoka Speedgoat 4s. We bought him a new pair of 5s in North Conway because we could. The 4s still have some miles on them and will probably get back on the trail closer to home. The Dirt on Shirts Seven of our 10 shirts are wool, either Icebreaker or WoolX. They don¢t stink at all. The trade off is that wool is expensive and doesn¢t last as long as other tee shirt fabrics. Joni has 1 SS and 1 LS, both wool. Baxter has 2 SS. One got chewed up by a mouse at the ME 27 campsite the day before our Bigelow slackpack. He¢s still got it and it¢s wearable but it¢s now his camp shirt. Darrell has a SS and a sun hoodie (thanks Karen!). The SS is threadbare in the shoulders after 73 days of daily wear. The shirt is 4 years old. A replacement has been ordered and awaits at the next mail drop! Grayson is same as Darrell. Both of his shirts are in great condition. Jasper has a SS camp shirt and a LS Columbia button up that he hikes in. He looks suave in it. It¢s his second LS. His first was white until the end of the first week. It was also a size too small. G & G brought a new one with them. Socks Joni: Injinji over-calf compression socks. Darrell: Darn Tough Jasper: Darn Tough Tall Baxter: Ankle-High Injinji. We found these drying in a tree at TL logging road campsite the night before Crocker Cirque. We laundered them at H.O.ME and put them in rotation. Grayson: Injinji liners, compression sleeves (to ward off bug bites that get scratched and then infected), and Darn Toughs. All socks are color coded to the owner. Everyone has 2 pairs to hike in (rotated occasionally) and some have 1 pair to sleep in. The Tent Situation. We started the hike with a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 3 for Joni and Darrell and the same tent in 4-person version for the boys. Total weight: 10 pounds. The setup had served us well on 150+ miles of pre-trip hiking but quickly proved too heavy for daily carry. We sent the 3 man nor the in the mail from Williamston MA to Rutland VT. We spent about 2 weeks with just the 4 man tent. Total weight: 6 pounds. Way better in weight but also pretty crowded. We only had to spend 2 nights with a full house. The others were able to afford cowboy camping for some (usually Darrell) or there was shelter space for some (usually Darrell and Baxter). We ordered a ZPacks Triplex to be sent to Rutland VT. We swapped the 4 man Copper Spur for the 3 man and added in the Triplex. Total weight (with new CS ground cloth): 5.5 pounds. We¢re pretty satisfied with this setup. The standard arrangement is: Joni & Darrell in the Triplex, boys in the CS. We mix it up pretty frequently to keep it fresh. Packs Joni: Osprey Eja 58 Darrell: Osprey Exos 58 Jasper and Grayson: Exos 48 Baxter: Gossamer Gear GVP 420