Date: 2013-09-15
From: Plazza Rock Lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: broken clouds

Day One Hundred Ninety One - (8.3) Plazza Rock Lean-to to Poplar Ridge Lean-toIt was still raining when I woke up this morning so I stayed under my warm blanket as long as I could and then got up slowly not wanting to have to go out in the rain. It's good thing we didn't go to Rangley yesterday because if I woke up in a hotel room this morning and saw more rain there is no way I would have left town. It is that bad! It is so miserable putting cold wet clothes on yet again! I packed up and left before Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon to get a head start. I hadn't gone very far when I came to a pond and there was the biggest moose I have ever seen in my life on the other side drinking. He looked towards me and then slowly turned around before heading into to woods. Melkie had no clue but when the trail reached the other side of the pond he got all excited about a new scent he picked up. The trail (and I use that term loosely) was a muddy stream cascading over rocks for most of the day. It was a steep climb up Saddleback Mountain and it kind of reminded me of Mahoosic Arm. Near the top it was a rocky bald that I'm sure would have been beautiful on a sunny day but at the time I was just wanting to get out of the rain. All of a sudden it got really windy (proving that things always can get worse) but it did stop raining. We were left trying to walk up slick wet slabs of rock without being blown away. It was unbelievable! There were moments when we would just wait for the wind to die down before picking up our feet! It was that bad! I had decided that if there was a road crossing today that we would just go to town and when I saw Canadian Bacon she said the same thing. We were done with this! The problem is there was no road so we had to suck it up and keep going. I started daydreaming of hot showers and cups of coffee as we slowly made our way off of Saddleback and closer to the Horn (the next mountain). The horn was no different and we didn't take any real breaks today because it was too cold. We would just stop right on the "trail" drop our packs and dig out a protein bar to devour as quick as we could before hoisting our pack to get moving to keep warm. It was a long day! We had planned on seventeen miles but decided that we would be stopping at the next shelter and that still took us most of the day to get to. We met Freebird on the trail today and stopped to talk to him until we were too cold and had to move on. He told us some hilarious stories of things that had happened to him on the trail. He has thruhiked the AT three times (this was his fifth time doing the Maine section) and has hiked the PCT and who know how many other trails. He definitely brightened our day with his stories of misadventure. After doing one more mountain we arrived just in time at the shelter to claim the last three spots. I am so glad I'm not setting my hammock up tonight but I know that I will be uncomfortable the floor if the shelter is made of logs and is all bumpy. As we were eating Two Socks and Fozzie Bear arrived but they would have to move on to the campsite up the trail. Three others would arrive later to have the same fate. The shelter is quiet and everyone is in their sleeping bags. Good night world!Trouble