Date: 2008-09-25
From: Near West Carry Pond Lean-to, ME

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 14.0

I woke up at 5:30am after a frequently interrupted night's sleep because of critters that kept walking past my tent. I'm not sure what it was that kept walking by, but I'm a light sleeper and it kept waking me up. I'm thinking they were coyotes, but not sure. There's only been one other night on the AT when I had more critters walking by and I didn't sleep well that night either.I brewed my coffee and ate a couple fried apple pies for breakfast. I knew I only had about 13 miles to walk to the Kennebec River and Caratunk, so I wasn't in any particular hurry to get started. I laid there in my sleeping bag and read a few chapters of Tom Sawyer, the book I've been carrying.I got packed up and started walking north on the Appalachian Trail at 7:10am. I heard a loon making its call and then walked over some brand new puncheons near the pond...that was nice.I walked by Arnold Swamp, then got to East Carry Pond. There was a King Fisher making some chattering noises. I looked up just in time to see him flying low over the pond, then dive in for some fresh fish for breakfast.It was a fairly flat walk today. I did climb a few hundred feet going over Bates Ridge, then walked down to Pierce Pond Lean-to. I stopped there and ate a snack while I signed the register and used up a smiley face sticker. :-)The next few miles was mostly downhill, but it was rougher trail that stayed fairly close to Pierce Pond Stream, which flows into the Kennebec.I got to the Kennebec about 12:30pm. There's a ferry there that operates a few hours a day, but wouldn't be back for another 1 1/2 hours. I've always wanted to ford the Kennebec because that's the way hikers used to have to get across that 70 yard wide river. I could see it was running high, but decided now was my time.I packed stuff away in my pack, walked about 2/10ths of a mile up river and got my feet wet.The river was flowing fast. There are water releases sometimes and it looked like this was one of those times. The shoals that are normally out of the water were knee deep. The depth between the shoals were up to my waist and was pretty difficult to stay upright with the extremely fast moving water.I got to the second shoal and looked for the best spot to continue, but didn't see any. It all looked deep after that. I kept walking slowly, planting my right foot down and leaning into the flow of the river. It kept getting deeper and by the time it got chest high, I could hardly stay standing anymore. The tops of my poles were over a foot below the surface of the river and the water was coming by them so fast that the poles felt like a flag waving because they were vibrating so much. I couldn't go on like that anymore, so I decided to float and work my way to the northern bank.Things got much easier...and lots more fun after that. I have a dry bag inside my pack which keeps everything dry in rain...and it ended up keeping everything dry when I was floating in the river too...and also does a great job of acting like a floatation device. The swift current kept my legs down river of my upper body and every chance I got I would drop my foot to the bottom of the river and push off a little closer to the shore. I always felt like I was a strong swimmer, but I didn't have to swim at all. I kept pushing off every 10 or 15 yards and was at the northern bank before I knew it.I know the ATC doesn't recommend anyone fording the Kennebec, but I figured it was just like the Bear Mtn Zoo...if there's no one there to let you in...or in this case, to ferry me across, you walk around it....or in this case, ford it. :-)My only mishaps were that I forgot my voice recorder was in my hip pocket and it got wet, but I dried it out over night and it's working again...and I lost my data sheet for this section of the Trail. It wasn't in my pocket when I got to the other side, so it's floating down river to where ever that river ends up. :-)I climbed the bank on the north side of the Kennebec and walked out to the road on the Trail. I started walking on the highway to Northern Outdoors. I didn't want to hitch because I was soaked. I walked by Steve Longley's old place and it really is closed up and is up for sale. That's too bad because I always liked stopping and talking to Steve.Smiley came driving by and gave me a ride the last mile to Northern Outdoors. There was a chalk board above the check in counter with a welcome sign and my name on it. I had made reservations the day before. :-)I got a room and took a shower even though I was already pretty clean from the Kennebec. :-)I laid my stuff out in the room and the only thing that was wet was my pack, so I hung that to dry and went downstairs and had a hamburger and fries.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)