Date: 2014-08-06
From: west branch pleasant river

To: beach on crawford pond
Miles today: 21.5

I slept well next to the river but still could hear my alarm clock over the noise of the water rushing by. the birds were out early as always welcoming in the day. this was my last day with any kind of mountains so i wanted to get going in hopes i would be over them before the afternoon rain set in. the initial bit of train was easy going, im pretty sure it was an old logging road along the river. it was nice because i didnt have to watch my feet every step so i could look over to the many waterfalls along the way. the way up to the mountains was a long three and a half mile grade up a thousand feet, very gradual. at the base of gulf hagas mt started the first climb of the day, 700' but it was a steep little section. i gotta say, i motored up it. i really like climbing the hills. there were no views, just fog with threatening rain. then came west peak, another 700' ascent also steep like the first, no problem for a thru hiker in his prime. still nothing to look at, just misty fog and wind. i had hoped to get over to hay mt for lunch but got there at 11, whoa big fella, youre going way to fast! i stopped down in the valley between hay mt and the big white cap mt. i sat on a stump thinking about the trail. thoughts of the end being so near seem to be in the forefront these days. white cap mt in front of me was the last 3000' mt. i was 73 miles from the finish. it was calm and quiet down in this mountain notch, a good place to eat and think, and i had it all to myself, no surprise. the schedule i had laid out left me with only five more miles for the rest of the day. i felt really good and energetic so i pretty much dismissed that and figured on replanning my plan. i have heard of people that have planned out their entire trail, where they will stop each night, where they get each food drop in each town and so on. i cant even follow a plan for 5 days, i have learned a long time ago that you dont know whats coming on the trail or how you will feel and that makes it nearly impossible to plan. when on top of white cap i saw only more fog and i met Slow mosey. i spoke with him for a minute. i liked Slows style, he was finishing a section hike of the AT that he started in the 1970's! He said his buddy was ahead a little way. he told me his friend was a geologist and was also finishing a hike that he started in the 1950's! i thought it would be interesting to chat with a geologist about the trail. i said congratulations to Slow mosey on finishing and moved on the meet his friend. i caught him up not long after. i intentionally started up a conversation with this guy i would eventually realize to be a big mistake. i wanted to hear about the rocks and how these mountains got made but i only heard of the places he taught and about his two masters degrees. he rambled on and on and on letting me say nothing. we hiked along together with the monolog going full strength and i felt like it would be rude to run away from him so i "yupped" and "uh huhhed" for a bit and then finally it went too far. the monolog had turned to hiking and how Slow mosey did it all wrong. then he noticed i didnt use the straps on my hiking poles. no sir, they drove me crazy so i cut them off. he gave a full page report on how that was a poor choice and the things he could do with his poles using the straps. really friend? i have hiked myself over 2000 miles with no straps, i think im doing ok. this was more than i could bear so i excused myself and left him and his poles with straps in the dust. i bounced down the long descent determined this fella would never see Lunch again. i never even slowed to check out the logan brook lean2. i did take a quick minute to grab a drop of water from the spring just before the next dirt road. it was a slow spring but delicious brain freezing cold water. it was clear sailing on good footing for quite a long time and feeling good i made some good time. i ended up dashing up little boardman mt without slowing. there wasnt much to see up here but i sat anyway. i was needing to figure out what my destination was for tonight. i pulled out my guide as i had done thousands of times and the first thing that caught my eye was that i had 64 miles left, this is getting surreal. i put my guide back in my pocket without finding a place to stay. i ate some snacks and smelled the maine air. the weather now was perfect as it had cleared up and perfect blue skies prevailed. about 5 o clock i got back to the trail thinking i would walk another couple hours. well you guessed it, a mile and a half later i got to a side trail leading to a sandy beach on crawford pond so i gave it a look. i again took out my guide to make a new plan of attack. i planned each days destination while sitting on the beach listening to the waves lap the shore. i figured on going three more miles to the next shelter to camp for the night. after a bit i threw my pack back on and got back to the trail. i wasnt two minutes when i thought, 'what the hell are you doing?' i was just at a wonderful place to put up my house next to a gorgeous pond (in my eyes a lake). i was heading to camp near a shelter? i turned around and went back to the beach and would make up the three miles tomorrow. why would i pass up such a place? i set up and ate dinner next to the lake sitting on the sand. the water was warm so i washed off making me feel fresh as a daisy. i was so glad i stayed there, i had the place all to myself. i had my own site, my own beach and my own lake. if you think you have it better than me youre kidding yourself.