Date: 2005-08-10
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

Miles hiked today : 17.417.1 AT miles + 0.3 mile of side trailI woke up this morning at 5:10 a.m., packed, ate breakfast, and waited a few minutes for Opa to pack before we hiked out at 6:15 a.m. First up was a brief climb up Chairback Mountain, followed by rolling hills, and a gradual descent down to the West branch of the Pleasant River, at which I arrived at 8:25 a.m. I changed into my Keens and walked through the cool, shallow water and stopped for a snack and rest break, having covered 4.4 miles.I continued on at 9:00 a.m. and 15 minutes later, I stumbled on a 2 foot length of a birch tree trunk about 2 inches in diameter. My right toe caught on the end closest to me and instead of the tree length sliding forward, it caught in the ground, pitching my body forward and causing my left leg to trip over my left trekking pole. I went down hard, slamming my left shin into the ground, somehow crushing my left pinky finger, striking my left forearm on the ground, and cracking myself in the head with my left trekking pole. I narrowly missed slamming my head into a large rock. Cha-ching, fall #41.At 9:30 a.m., I bypassed the Gulf Hagas Trail, which is a 5.9 mile loop that follows what is called the "Grand Canyon of the East." I wanted to follow the trail, though I was already planning a long day and the Gulf Hagas Trail would have made my day considerably more difficult. I continued on to Carl A. Newhall Lean-to, arriving at 11:20 a.m., and stopped for a 1 hour, 20 minute lunch break. I was happy to have covered 9.9 miles in less than 5 hours of hiking.After lunch, I faced a long climb up to the last big mountain of the AT before Katahdin, White Cap Mountain. The path up White Cap Mountain was preceded by 3 lesser mountains and I started up the first, Gulf Hagas Mountain, and was soon fairly miserable. Sweat was rolling down my face, the humidity was high, and the temperature was in the low 80s. I summitted Gulf Hagas at 1:20 p.m. and stopped to down a liter of water.I pushed on to Sidney Tappan Campsite, arriving at 1:40 p.m. I'd already consumed 5.5 liters of water since this morning and figured I'd need quite a bit of water to make it over White Cap Mountain, so I stopped for 35 minutes to gather and treat 4.4 liters of water before continuing on.The climb up West Peak was also very steep, though not as bad as Gulf Hagas Mountain. As I reached the summit of West Peak at 2:45 p.m., I could hear thunder faintly rumbling in the distance. I stopped momentarily to drink water and hiked on, passing the 2,100.0 mile mark of the AT shortly before I reached the summit of Hay Mountain at 3:30 p.m.By this time, the thunder had grown very loud and I began to see an occasional flash of lightning. I knew that I had better make it up and over the summit of White Cap Mountain as quickly as possible. As I neared the summit, a light rain began to fall, though I simply quickened my pace. I reached the summit of White Cap Mountain at 4:25 p.m. and quickly scrambled across the loose rocks, as I was on a exposed ridgeline and the lightning flashes had become more frequent. Katahdin is supposed to be visible from the summit of White Cap Mountain and I may have seen it, though I was in a great hurry to descend below treeline. I did, however, stop twice to pick a few delicious blueberries. I wish the weather would have been nicer, as I would have stayed to enjoy the view. That and I would have picked more blueberries.I was on the exposed ridgeline for nearly 10 minutes before I began the steep descent to Logan Brook Lean-to, arriving at 5:20 p.m. About the time I began climbing up West Peak, my backside had begun chafing. By the time I reached the lean-to, it felt as if my backside was on fire. I changed out of my wet capilenes and into my cotton boxers, which helped a bit, though it still hurt to sit directly on the chafed areas. Michael was already in the lean-to and while I hadn't counted on sleeping in the lean-to tonight, there was space for both Opa and I. After laying out my sleeping gear, I made a big dinner and was quite happy to be out of the rain. Sean showed up at 6:00 p.m. and we scrunched together to fit him in. At 7:30 p.m., I crawled into my sleeping bag to journal before reading.Today was day 150 on the trail and I estimate that I only have 5 days left on the trail. Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may do a near 20 mile day, followed by a near 10 mile day on Friday to the South end of Nahmakanta Lake, where we'll be meeting Opa's daughter, Sasha, and her boyfriend, Brian. Opa said that they may be bringing food for us and, since they attempted a thru-hike in 2003, chances are that they'll bring plenty.Bedtime at 9:40 p.m.