Date: 2005-08-02
From: Stealth camp north of Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Stealth camp south of Big Wilson Rd.
Miles today: 11.2

start: Stealth camp north of Little Bigelow Lean-tofinish: Stealth camp south of Big Wilson Rd.miles: 11.2day: 148The only constant is change, right? You'd think I could stick to a simple 5 day plan, but no... I guess I'm feeling feisty, and I want to leave a smaller section to fill in later on. Plus, I like the idea of hiking the 100 mile wilderness up to Katahdin better than hitching into Abol Bridge. And I don't really want to stay in Millinocket for a day waiting to hike 10 miles in...All this was running through my mind at a subconscious level I guess. I woke up, packed up and hiked the mile or so to the first dirt road crossing. As I crossed I noticed a car parked there, and you know that roads always get me thinking of possibilities. As I hiked the 2.3 miles to the next road, a paved one, I hatched a new plan (actually revived an old one). If possible I'd hitch to Monson, buy more food, mail some to White House Landing, and hike the 100 mile wilderness, either with, or near, Goldilocks. I figure he's hiking out of Monson this afternoon. I need to call WHL to make sure they pick up their mail frequently enough so I don't beat the mail. They're in a pretty remote location.I got to the road - it's the one with the "2000 miles" painted on it - and settled in to wait for a car. Perhaps one vehicle every 10 minutes, only half in my direction, and all logging trucks so far. I heard a couple of hikers heading southbound approaching the road. Two lady section hikers out for a week. I asked if they knew if it was feasible to get to Monson from this road. They replied yes, and if I waited a couple of hours they'd get their car and come back and pick me up. They're finishing their hike today, and theirs was the car I'd seen at the first road. Their other car is in . . . you guessed it - Monson. The impossible plan comes together!So now I'm waiting for them to return in a car, watching two moose playing in the road about 150 yards away, and am hoping that we pass a good grocery store on the way to Monson where I can resupply. I've hiked the 110 miles between Monson and Katahdin Stream twice before and each time it only took 5, maybe 6, days, so as long as I get hiking early enough today to put in another 10 miles I should be in good shape to reach The Birches the evening of the 7th.[later...]I'm camped on a little ridge wooded with spruce and fir. It's a bit lumpy, but drier than surrounding areas. There was a drenching storm earlier this evening. I was tempted to make camp before it hit, but I wanted to put in more miles, so I labored on in the windy, cold downpour. It's stopped now but the forest is still dripping. After things cleared up I crested one of the many slate ridges the trail follows in this section and saw a really nice rainbow.I was able to buy the food I needed on the way to Monson, and I mailed a package to WHL. Even so, I'm carrying 3 full days of food, more than I've carried since way down south. The pack feels pretty heavy!I talked to some southbounders not far north of Monson and they said they saw Goldilocks at Leeman Brook shelter around 2:30 today. I started hiking at 4:00, so I'm only about 3 hours behind. I'll read the registers tomorrow to find out how far he went today. I plan to start early to narrow the gap. I hope tomorrow goes well. It's a fairly tough day over the Chairbacks.Yellow blaze summary:Approx. 46 miles from near Bear Mountain to the Dover Oak in NY. Ideally done this fall when the leaves are pretty.43.4 miles from Hanover to Glencliff in NH. Will either do right away, or wait for pretty leaves.54.2 miles from Long Falls Dam Rd. to Monson (rt. 15) in ME. Ideally will do right away.Total: approx. 143.6 miles