Date: 2004-06-01
From: Baldplate Lean-To

To: East B Hill Rd (Andover,ME)
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

Log entry 122Start Time-0800End Time- 1120Morning Weather- cold, 38 deg, rainy/snow mix. Changing to all snow until the climb down Little BaldplateAfternoon Weather- on and off rain, coolEvening Weather- To be determined but don't really care. No plans to move off the couch except to pickup the pizza.Breakfast- poptartsLunch-granola bars and blueberry cobblerDinner- pizzaTrail Description- A steep climb up Baldplate mtn but then an easy rest of the morning. The 4.5 miles from Frye Notch lean-to to East B Hill Rd seemed to take forever. In actuallity only an hour and fifty minutes but it seemed like all morning. The trail was well maintained for the most part but wet and rooty. People- Lady Innkeeper, Dirty Bird and Mr CleanAnimals- a wierd bird flew into the shelter. I snapped some pictures. Otherwise not too many animals frolicking in the early June snowstorm.Money- $13 for overnight, $4 for laundry, $21 for groceries, $4 for snacks, around $12 for dinnerBiggest complaint- The weather on Baldplate mtn was scary, but the trail easy to follow and dieing wasn't a big concern. I walked about 2 miles before getting picked up on East B Hill rd.Narrative- Something felt sort of funny about the weather last night. A chill in the air and a brisk wind. It honestly felt like a little snow in the air but I wrote it off as a morning shower.Sure enough, rain at 0700 and it changed to snow by 0730. Big flakes but the ground was still too warm to stick. I packed up and headed out. The snow then quit until I climbed out of the tree line on west peak of Baldplate mtn. Then it fell and fell. The wind really stung my face, but I remained warm through it all. Just a little uncomfortable.Baldplate mtn is super cool. Almost all open, flat rock. The walk up is simple and the views must be splendid. Too bad I had to go through in a semi blizzard. Almost as soon as I stepped back down into the scrub pines the wind settled down but the snow still gently fell. It clung a little but no doubt would be gone by 10 oclock or so.The deeper I dropped into Frye notch the snow changed to a drizzle where it stayed the rest of the walk down to the road. Dunn Notch seemed like a cool spot to hang out and poke around but I was anxious to get dry.I reached East B Hill Rd at 11:20 and was expecting a little more. The road was paved but by no means a main thru-route. As I dropped my pack to remove my rainpants a lone, S-10 pickup drove past. I held out my thumb praying for a quick ride but the driver moved on towards Andover. "Maybe this road isn't so desolate I thought". Nope, its desolate. I removed my rainpants and started heading 8 miles towards Andover. For the next half hour I didn't see another vehicle nor pass a single residence where I could use the phone to call one of the Andover places to stay which would pick me up. The next truck that came up behind me was a black Ford F-150. He pulled over and I dumped my pack in the back and hopped in. The driver was pleased to drop me off at the Guesthouse and I was welcomed warmly by Lady Innkeeper who directed me around back.She showed me to the bunk room and before long I was enjoying one of the best showers on the trail. She took care of my laundry and I have spent the afternoon enjoying ESPN Classic. First I watched the 1994 Eastern conference finals (or maybe the semi-finals) between the Knicks and the Pacers. It was the one where Reggie Miller scored 24 points in the 4th to bring the Pacers back into the game. I thought it was the one where hit the 3 pointer and then stole the inbounds pass and hit another but that was a different game. Regardless it brought me back. I remember the game when it aired live. I spent the entire Sunday afternoon shooting hoops and listening to the game via AM radio. I moved inside once the Pacers made their run. The reason I remember the day so vividly is because after the game I moved back out into the driveway and Mom joined me and we shot hoops for a little while. It was the first and only time I remember my mom shooting around with me. Ahhh, 3 more weeks............After that came a special on the Yankee-Red Sox series last Fall. I forgot how good that was. I remember game 7 because I was at work and spent most of my shift in the break-room. Then I boogied home during the 10th inning and caught Boone's homer in the 11th. 3 weeks.....During the course of all this Dirty Bird stopped in to say hi. She figured I would be close. I haven't been faithful on getting back with my Guestbook signatures and she is running The Cabin. The plan is to do a slack 10 miles tomorrow and then she is going to pick me up at 1700 and we are going to do dinner and stuff. Should be a good time. In the meantime I am going to order a pizza from across the street then settle in for some Piston's basketball. Woo hoo!! I am going to try to get my hair into corn rows for the game and also paint my face. You laugh but you do what it takes to win.