Date: 2005-10-01
From: North of the Kennebec River

To: Bald Mtn. Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

This morning we woke up to a crisp and chilly October day. I still can't really believe that it is October. We are enjoying every last minute of our adventure. It was tough to get going and leave the warmth of our sleeping bags this morning. Piker had planned breakfast in the tent, which motivated us. We tried to break down quickly. My hands were icicles after packing the tent up. We were out of camp by 8:00. We moved quickly and as we climbed the sun began to burn off the wet mist that covered the mountains. My beat down trail runners began digging into my heel, so at the first sunny spot we stopped to repair it with duct tape. As Piker was working on the shoe Dready Bear, Blaze, and Sampson walked up. We all sat together for a while. Break #1 of the day. Piker heard on weather band that it was going to be a beautiful day. We were psyched and hiked on. Today was the start of hunting season. It is a bit nerve racking hiking through the woods and hearing gunshots. Especially after Steve, the owner of River and Trails, told us that people have been very trigger happy in recent years. I will definitley be wearing my brightest color clothes while walking through Maine. Bright Bandanas!!!   We heard 3 gunshots today, but luckily they sounded really far away. You just have to be very aware of your surroundings.It was turning into an almost perfect fall day. The temperature made for comfortable hiking. It was so nice to hike in my t-shirt again. As we walked a cool breeze was blowing and it sounded like the forest was alive with all of the rustling leaves. We came across the shelter and then had a pretty miserable 1.1 mile climb up Pleasant Pond Mtn. It was straight uphill over wet sheer rock and roots. Atleast it was over quickly. From the top we had beautiful views and we think we may have seen Katahdin. We decided to stop and have lunch. It was sunny and warm up on the summit. It is a nice change from the past few days.After lunch we were movin' again. Piker was ahead of me and suddenly I saw his feet in the air. He slipped on a root and landed right in the mud. The worn out shells that he calls shoes have no traction at all and he has been bailing a lot lately. Hopefully his shoe change in Monson will help. I hope that my shoes make it to K-Dog! We knew that we had a possible ford ahead and Piker was so excited when we got to Moxie Pond. We assessed the situation and decided to put our crocs on to ford. It was relatively easy, the water hit our shins in some areas. We slowly made our way across, taking turns snapping pictures. We waited for Dready, Blaze, and Sampson so that we could watch them ford. It was actually really refreshing to get our feet wet, and they almost felt clean! After the ford we hiked on to the shelter. We decided to stay and save Moxie Bald for the morning. We had hot dogs and potatoes for dinner. Uncle Piker slipped Sampson a few dogs. I actually used the stove tonight for the first time on the trip. I made hot chocolate for Piker. I just learned how to use the stove. I had a pretty good run-2038 miles and not one meal cooked. Not a bad deal, Pikers a keeper!! Tonight is relatively warm. We're hoping for a good nights sleep so that we will be ready for Moxie in the morning. What a wonderful first day of October.                                    Ms. Mileage