Date: 2021-09-17
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: light rain

This morning I woke up at 6:15 to clearing skies and a calm slow breeze with temperatures in the mid 50s. It took me about an hour to get packed up and ready for the trail. I had a great night's sleep and look forward to completing the last major peak of the hundred mile wilderness. After that it's mostly downhill. Today I'm planning for a long 18 mile day with lots of elevation.After 5.4 miles I made it to Logan Brooke lean to. Looking back at my hiking app on my phone it appears that I hiked just under 2,000 ft elevation up and 2,000 ft down over the over this distance. It felt good to have summited the last tall peak in 100 mile wilderness with just one much shorter peak to go later today. The weather at the top was a bit chilly and breezy so I didn't stay long I took a few pictures and video looking out to the south, the east and the west. I saw Mount Katahdin from one peak. It was about 50 miles to the east, which made me rather excited to see the ending point of this journey. I passed a few of the hikers that I camped with on the way here. I learned over the last several years it's not good to compare yourself with any other hiker. If you don't keep up with them you might feel disappointed. It's like playing golf with people that are better than you. If you don't perform as well as they do you often feel disappointed. You should be keeping track of your own handicap and trying to beat that at every outing. This reminds me of a saying in the hiking community. Hike your own hike, HYOH. It's a common saying among most through hikers and section hikers but very few day hikers have heard of it.After 4 mi of hiking I made my way down a steep part of the mountain and onto a relatively flat 3 mi stretch that was very mossy and decorated with small hemlock and pine trees. It reminded of People's Forests in Barkhamsted Connecticut. I made my way to a shelter. Time to have a snack and cross the river with my flip flops on to keep my shoes from getting wet. The river crossing was just a stream crossing and I didn't have to take my shoes off to keep my feet dry. I took a short lunch break on the opposite bank, relaxed in the warm sun. I took several pictures and a beautiful photo of the stream emptying into this lovely mountain lake. Time to start climbing! It's my last mountain of 100 mile wilderness, Boardman Mountain. It's about a thousand feet of elevation over 3 mi. I'll be taking a break halfway up. And really enjoying the views and descent on the way down to the campsite. At 245 p.m. I reached the peak of little Boardman Mountain. I was at exactly 50 mi through the hundred mile wilderness. half way! The last three miles were similar to my training route in Ragged Mountain in Southington Connecticut. It was about 3 miles with a thousand feet of elevation. Camp is just a few miles away downhill. I'm looking forward to finishing this 18 mile day. And completing the rest of the trail and three more days. Just 5.4 mi left to hike to the site. It's mostly downhill so it shouldn't take much more than 2 hours. I hope to be there by 5:00 p.m. and find a good campsite next to the shelter.Less than an hour later I made it to Sand Beach at Crawford lake. The water here is super clean. It felt like it was in the mid to low 60s. If I had time to wash and dry off I would jump in. I see a family of ducks swimming across the lake. It is so beautiful and peaceful here. I could just camp out and stay all night. This reminds me of the Crawford family, a family of seven with five kids that hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail 3 to 4 years ago. The kids ranged in age from 2 to 15. The amazing thing about their hike was not only that they completed it in the average time of I believe six months but it was arguably the wettest year on the east coast in the last hundred years. After passing the shelter I had just 2.5 mi left to the end of this extremely long and exhausting day.I arrived at the lean-to just before 5:00 p.m. I drank three bottles of water during the day. I usually go through two. I found a nice flat campsite about 30 yards behind the lean-to out of snoring range. The rushing water of the brook would not allow me to sleep well. The stream ends in a nice pool right in front of the lean-to. I setup my tent by 5:00, cooked dinner by 5:30 and cleaned up by 6:00. I can relax and unwind. There's only one other person here. His name is Chuck. He's hoping some of his friends show up soon. I walked down to the riverbank and went for a swim in my underwear. The water was very cold but it felt refreshing. I felt every inch of my body getting cleansed. I'm really looking forward to a real shower after this wilderness has been hiked. Time to go sit by the shelter by the fire and say hello to a few hikers that are staying there for the evening. Good night!Ascent: 3064', Descent: 4577'