Date: 2018-09-17
From: Sluice Logging Road 

To: Ascent of Saddleback 
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up on Sluice Logging Road listening to the water fall. The day started going down. It was a fairly steep down to a river. I had another early morning river crossing. Then the trail started UP. It was also a steep up. The lower we get in Maine it seems the steeper and more difficult the UPs and DOWNs become.  I was mainly looking down as I climbed up, and saw another one of those big fat toads. He was too fast for a photo, so I moved on. Another steep up was right before me. As I started the climb there before me was a familiar face. It was Jingle! The last time I saw him was at Sufi Lodge. He looks great!  His only complaint was a sore knee and lost glasses. I had to giggle a little! Hugs arrived just in time to share our glasses saga. We said a quick good luck and happy trails before we carried on hiking.  I continued up 3120ft to Poplar Ridge. The last couple days of UP¢s have been brutal! This is what I can expect from now until I¢m out of the White¢s. Hugs and I are down to a mile an hour or less. We met a couple of young NOBO¢s who said the same thing. This is just how it is right now.  The descent from Poplar Ridge was tedious at times, but I made it down just fine.  My next up was Saddleback JR. Very quickly it went from hiking to mountain climbing. I came to a boulder about the size of a small car, threw my poles up and began finding footing. About my second step up, the foothold just didn¢t hold, and down went McGinney! My whole right side took a beating again! It¢s not pretty! I managed to tear a hole in the pocket of my shorts too. Ugh!  I made it up on the second try and continued up to a shelter. They call them ¢lean-to¢s¢ here in Maine. I re-supplied my water and ate some peanut butter crackers. Until Hugs arrived.  The mountain climbing continued 3640ft to the top of saddleback JR Mountain. Many times I had to throw my poles to find handholds. I had to pull myself up plus that extra 35lbs on my back. It was brutal!  The descent was no better. Very steep downs. Often times I had to move like an old lady. Hunched over a drop off with my weight on my poles debating if my knees could take the jolt if I jumped, or should I just sit on my butt? Sitting on my butt is another time consuming process with a 35lb pack on my back. There¢s no ¢easy¢ way! On my way down I heard some hammering ahead. The closer I got I could see orange hard hats. Soon enough I learned it was the MCC(Maine Conservancy Corps). This is a group of volunteers who had chosen this very difficult section of the trail to put some stone steps in. Wow! The perfect place! I was able to use about 20 of those stone steps on my way down, and my knees enjoyed those 20 steps! Not far past the steps I met up with a NOBO who recognized me and Hugs. His name is Smokey. He¢s a young 20 something with great manners. He sort of sheltered with us in that shelter that was a half mile down off trail. After he ate, he went back up and pitched his tent beside the trail. Looking back, that was a smart move. Anyway, while we were talking I reached down in my pocket for my phone. It was gone! I forgot that pocket had ripped out when I fell. Oh no!!! Smokey said ¢I¢ll run ahead and look for it¢. With his full pack on he took off like a bolt of lightning. I dropped pack and followed, but he was long gone. I had went about 1/8th of a mile when I saw him running back. He was winded when he handed me my phone with a smile. I was sooo grateful! He asked for nothing, but I had $40 on me, and I gave it to him. He was hesitant but I assured him that I wanted him to have it. He was embarrassed but he took it. I¢m so glad he did!  Hugs and I both went off trail a good ways to get water. This would be our last water source until we were done with two more mountains. I filled my bottles and put a 2 liter bag in the top of my pack. It was REALLY heavy as I began the climb up The Horn at 4041ft elevation. Talk about mountain climbing! It was by far the hardest climb of the day. It took hours to climb up with only a 1.1 mile gain. I gave Hugs some of my water once I summited, but I already carried all of that water the whole way up. We were both exhausted already with a goal to get to a shelter still 6 miles away. We both knew that wasn¢t happening.  So we started down The Horn. It was tedious but much less difficult than the climb up. Just as we reached the summit there was a sign saying no camping for the next 3 miles. We could see Saddleback Mountain during our descent, and the climb up looked like it would be a nice climb. Saddleback would be our last big climb of the day.  Our eyes were deceiving us from afar, Saddleback took some muscle too. Not as much as The Horn, but enough from these already weary bodies that it wiped us out.  About 2/3rds of the way up we knew we were done. 9 hours of hiking and only 7 miles behind us. There are no campsites on Saddleback Mountain. It¢s a bald with mostly rock and some fragile vegetation the ATC requests hikers stay off of. So we put our sleep pads on the rock and laid our sleeping bags out.... it¢s cowboy camping tonight!  It was windy up there, but we were able to cook dinner, get everything packed away in our packs,and catch a beautiful sunset.  Until Next TimeBlue Raccoon (2018)  Where¢s your faith?