Date: 2014-09-10
From: Stratton, ME

To: Monson
Miles today: 73.7

9/5 After a well earned zero in Rangeley o Long and I headed out. The Saddlebacks and the Horn awaited us. after crossing over the three peaks we stopped at Poplar Ridge Lean-to for lunch and a nice break. We only had 8 miles left and one more climb so no problems. The knee is some better after all the icing but still gets stiff quickly. We stayed at Spaulding Mt Lean-to for the night.9/6 As usual, first thing in the morning I mean, there was a sharp climb up the NW corner of Spaulding Mt followed by a few miles of PUDs on a ridge line. We made good time though. We could not find the "secret shelter" that others had told us about near the top of Sugarloaf Mt so we just pushed on. We had a Ford coming up and although we had heard much about it we still wanted to see it for ourselves. When we got there we just rock hopped accross. No problem. The came South and North Crocker Mts. A bit of a butt kicker for sure, as South Crocker had a short section that was "really" steep. After North Crocker we had a long 5 mile down hill to Stratton. Just before we dropped down to ME 27 we called for a shuttle. We were picked up in a timely manner and taken to The Stratton Motel, where we both had food drops. And to our surprise, Reboot was there. We had a fun reunion, then gave him some crap for leaving us back at The Inn At The Long Trail. But we were happy to be back together again.9/7 As we headed out we were excited because we had heard that after the Bigelows there were no more big climbs. So we heaeded up to the top of South Horn with a little pep in our step. South Horn was a long 3 mile climb and quite steep at the top. We took a break there and took off after our last 4000 footers, Bigelow Mt and Avery Peak. The views from Avery peek were the best, and it was a beautiful day. Flag Staff Lake is huge and was to the west of these peaks and all I could think about was fishing. After a little sit down we pushed on to Little Bigelow Lean-to for the night.9/8 Today was a pretty easy hike as the trail goes, and we were happy to have some nice trail. We only had about 18 miles to go and our pace was steady. We lolly-gagged a bit, took long breaks, but who cares. When we arrived at Pierce Pond we found Fugi already setting up his tent, and To Long and I claimed a spot in the shelter, and Reboot tented close by. Sadly, this is where a young hiker drowned last year while swimming alone. There are many pictures of him in the Hostels north and south of Pierce Pond, and flyers of his story. The next moring there was a full moon just going down over the lake and as I took pictures I thought about this young man and quietly prayed by the lake for all the hikers safety. The Trail is hard, and has a very dangerous side that you hear very little about.9/9 We were up and gone early, and we were looking forward to crossing the Kennebec River today. Just as was expected there was the canoe ferry there when we arrived. When he brought two section hikers accross it was our turn to head north. Ghost Buster and The Sleeper went first, and just as I had read there was a white blaze in the bottom of the canoe. So cool. After the Kennebec I needed to pick up a food drop from The Sterling Inn so I walked to the post office to use their phone becuase no one had phone service. As I was trying to find the phone, which was down the street, on the outside of a building, that had a tractor beside it, blah blah blah, the van from The Sterling pulled up so I ran and jumped in. I was gone about an hour and when they dropped us off To Long and Reboot was sitting there in the shade waiting on me. We had to take our boots and shoes off at Moxie Pond south end and Ford the creek. It was kind a fun. The water was freezing. Then on to Bald Mt Brook Lean-to for the night.9/10 We had a 22 mile day planned into Monson, and according to the guide in was mostly "FLAT"! Well, they forgot to mention all the roots. Flat yes, lots of roots, yes, and The Sleeper took his worst fall of the hike today. We were maybe 5 miles from Monson when I got both feet, and both trekking poles, hung in some roots and I went down like JOe Frazier in the 3rd round. Face planted, "SMACK"! The first pain that I felt was strangely my right pinky finger, so while still laying there on the ground, Reboot and To Long asking me "are you alright", I look at my finger and it's pointing in the wrong direction. Dayum, it's dislocated. So I just pulled on it and relocated, and yelled like a big baby, cause it hurt when i did that by the way, andthe all the other pain started to hit my brain. So long story short, right pinky, left pinky, left shoulder, left face, forehead, anf left knee. We all had a few laughs, they atfer a few minutes they help my old butt up. Embarrassing really. My 34 fall, and don't ask me why I kept count, cause I don't know. So we made in to Monson, and called for a shuttle to town where we stayed at Lakeshore House Lodging & Pub. Great place. We wanted to stay at Shaw's but decided at the last minute to go here. Good choice, they had everything.