Date: 2008-10-01
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite, ME

To: Antlers Campsite, ME
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: light rain

It rained again overnight. I've had some rain each day that I've been in the Wilderness so far. I brewed up some coffee and ate my breakfast before packing up my stuff in a misty rain/fog.It was cool enough out that I wore a jacket while packing up the tent, but then started walking with just my regular hiking clothes on.I had a fairly steep 700 foot climb to the summit of West Peak then descended a few hundred feet before climbing Hay Mtn. I kept moving along because it was chilly (about 40 degrees) and I wanted to get up and over White Cap before any more rain set in. It's an open summit on White Cap and I've been caught up there before in bad weather and would just as soon be back down in the trees for all the cold rain and wind.I was climbing White Cap and got above tree line way before I thought I would. It was foggy and raining lightly and very windy. I stayed on the summit just long enough to take a few pictures before heading back down into the trees on the north side of the mountain.I ran into Mountain Lion on the way down the mountain. He was a nobo who had flipped from Stratton, ME to climb Katahdin before it got too late in the year, and he was now walking south back to Stratton.I descended about 1,250 feet to Logan Brook Lean-to where I stopped for some food. :-) I looked through the register while I was eating to see who all had been around. That's always fun when I have extra time because I usually see a number of names I know....even from other years.I walked on....descending another 1,250 feet and stopped at East Branch Lean-to in about four miles. I didn't stay long there. I walked on and forded the East Branch of the Pleasant River, then made a fairly steep little 500 foot climb. I kept walking and got to the summit of Little Boardman Mtn. It was raining lightly again, so I got out my rain jacket and wore just the hood over my head and flopped the body of the rain jacket over my pack to help keep the pack dry. It seems like I get rained on on Little Boardman Mtn a lot. :-)I had some easy walking from there on for the rest of the day. I passed by Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to without stopping and came up to a work crew a few miles later who were placing some rocks in the muddy trail. One guy who had mud caked all over him asked if I wanted to help. I said; "No thanks, not today". (He knew the answer before he even asked) :-)I did thank them for all the work they were doing and walked on. I had been planning on tenting somewhere near Jo-Mary Rd, but still had another 2 hours before dark, so I kept walking.I got to Jo-Mary Rd and saw a guy standing out on the road. He saw me and came over to talk. Turns out he's a thru hiker too....Papa Sarge. He had a food drop brought to him there and was going to stay the night nearby and eat up some of the weight before he walked on tomorrow. I kept walking and got to Antler's Campsite just before dark. I was the only one there, so I went out on the point and set up my tent right away in hopes of it drying out a little before I crawled in, then I took my shoes off and walked out into Lower Jo-Mary Lake and washed my legs and feet off.   My tent didn't dry out any, so I just crawled in for the night.I was looking at my maps at about 9pm with my headlamp on, figuring out how many miles I had left tomorrow to get to White House Landing...my favorite stop on the whole Appalachian Trail. It's one of the original 17 Maine camps that used to help out hikers in this part of Maine and now there is only three left...two of which still cater to thru hikers. It served hikers in the Wilderness way back in the 1940's, then went back to a logging camp for a while and re-opened to thru hikers again about 10 years ago. There's some REAL Maine history there and I just love stopping in each year. Anyway, while I had my headlamp on, I saw a hiker coming into the camp where I was tenting at with his headlamp on. He walked right up to my tent....he's a nobo thru hiker by the name of Geoff. He said he was moving on and planned to summit Katahdin in a couple days, but wanted to know where the privy was for Antler's Campsite. I told him it was back ut by the AT. He thanked me and left. It was raining and had been raining for quite a while, so I just figured he wanted to be done with the Trail as fast as he could. I was also thinking about it after he walked on...thinking to myself; Wow, that guy REALLY likes privies!! ;-)I finished snacking on a cold dinner and fell off asleep listening to a loon on the lake.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)