Date: 2018-08-29
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 12.6

DAY 176Still not feeling great, but at least we survived the mice last night with no issues. With our colds, we definitely needed a hot cup of tea this morning to get going.A nice sunny day, and there were quite a few nice views to be had as we headed over Little Bigelow Ledges. By the time we made it to Bigelow Lean-to where we hoped to be last night it was almost lunch time. So, we stopped to soak our feet in the tubs and then grabbed a quick lunch beside the trail. Crush came by as we were soaking our feet and mentioned that he got drenched last night before he was able to set up his tent.Once we made it to the edge of Flagstaff Lake the day had heated up sufficiently and we couldn't pass up a swim at one of the beaches. The water was beautiful and we thought how nice it would be to camp here and just enjoy the lake for the day. However, after about 45 minutes we decided we better move on.We crossed Long Falls Dam Road, another former 2,000 mile marker written in the road that someone has now crossed out the 2,000 and updated it to the true current mileage. As we stood by the road, a couple stopped to see if we were hiking the trail. We chatted with them for awhile and they mentioned that they were on their way home from enjoying a stay in one of the Maine Huts (may have been an AMC Hut, can't remember). We took turns getting our picture out in the road, and when Crush arrived we got a picture for him as well.One little short climb and then we made our way down to West Carry Pond Lean-to. When we arrived Crush was already set up in the shelter along with a couple other hikers. As we were looking for a spot to set up another couple came up from the pond and mentioned they could actually see the rain on the other side of the pond. Bagel and Mini Bites arrived as we were getting ready to set up our tent. They decided to tent here as well. We quickly set up, and decided to head down to the pond for a swim. Although it is called a pond, it is more like a lake and the water was amazing. So refreshing to enjoy a swim at the end of the day. Rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning in the distance encouraged us to shorten our swim and get dried off and back up to camp for dinner. As we headed back Mini Bites came up from the dock where she had been swimming. She also commented that the thunder and lightning had ended her swim as well.Just as we headed toward the shelter to cook dinner the rain started. We hustled back to our tent and made dinner in the vestibule. The rain shower didn't last long and as we were outside getting ready for bed the sky was a weird shade of yellow. Mary was feeling pretty lousy and decided to take a Benadryl hoping that maybe she could get a good nights sleep.When I was brushing my teeth I noticed that the pond was aglow in orange. I mentioned to Mary that I was going to go down to the pond with my camera, however, apparently the Benadryl at already knocked her out and she was fast asleep. The sky over the pond was stunning and I took several pictures before heading back up to the tent. I saw Crushes headlamp on in the shelter and mentioned to him that he may want to go down to see the sunset before he settled in for the night.Off to bed, we are hoping to get up early so we can be at the Kennebec Ferry Crossing before 2:00 tomorrow when they make the final crossing for the day.