Date: 2014-08-08
From: ME 27

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 23.0

Wow that was a long day! 23 miles over the last peaks above 4000' before Katahdin but the last eight were really easy miles - too bad we didn't beat the rain! Luckily the views from the Bigelows definitely made the day so amazing!Hiking with Birdman today - a hiking buddy for the long trek! Started out the day with a long climb up to Horns Pond Lean-to - it was some tough rocky terrain up the hill. Ran into an amazing spectacle on the trail - we had light rays shining down through the trees on the trail through the early morning fog - amazing! Birdman, being a master photographer, took many photos of the scene before going on to overlook Horns Pond and our first peek at the Bigelow range up close! Looks like it is going to be awesome up there!Passed the old Horns Pond Shelter - only space for three people in it! They built new shelters nearby and it was a good thing - it was a popular spot. Then we tackled the first peak of the Bigelows on the AT - the South Horn! Fog was rolling in and out while we were up there but we still got some outstanding views of the valley below and of the next peaks! So glad we are up here with great weather!Along the way we tackled two more peaks - West Peak and Avery Peak. Each view provided more outstanding views of Maine and the Bigelow region - amazing up here and not many people get to make it over all the peaks on a good day! I cannot believe the great views we had throughout the day - luckily Birdman was able to capture the views with his camera. If you get a chance to do this section with nice weather do it! It is an amazing trip!We lunched atop Avery Peak by the base of an old fire tower and enjoyed the views while being sheltered from the wind. It was a great spot to rest after working hard throughout the morning conquering three peaks of the Bigelow range. From lunch we had a long down climb before working our way back up to Little Bigelow Mountain - the down was pretty steep and slippery at times but it was much nicer than the climb up to Horns Pond this morning. We made good time through this area and rested atop the ridge containing Little Bigelow and reflected back on the mountains we climbed earlier - seemed so far away but really not too far!Take note that the ridge walk along Little Bigelow is not as flat as it looks in the AWOL guide - lots of short little ups and downs that just couldn't be captured in the scale. From Little Bigelow down we had nicer trail walking down to the original target for the day - Bigelow Mountain Lean-to. We took a quick rest at the shelter and checked out "The Tubs" - swimming holes in the creek that would feel great on a hot day! The shelter was also in very nice shape.With plenty of daylight and good weather we pressed on to the next shelter. Lucky for us the trail after Bigelow Shelter was like a highway - very nice trail walking with smooth trail and less roots and mud! We walked along some old roads and right along East Flagstaff Lake (which was very nice - reminded me of home!). Thank goodness we were moving relatively fast - weather was coming in and it seemed like we might make it to the shelter in time at our traveling speed. Unfortunately it was not meant to be - we got caught in the rain going up the last hill and it stuck with us until getting to the shelter. It started out gently and progressively became more aggressive the closer we were to the shelter - some nice lightning flashes in the sky above us! The rain became a drag after hiking for so long - yuk. Eventually we made it to the shelter and thank goodness it wasn't full - I wasn't going to set up in the rain. The shelter was filled with old friends (Pyro, Zachsquatch, and Rosie) and even trail magic! Someone had left brownies, cakes, and pie at the shelter and it was delicious! Even though I was fairly soaked my boots were dry! Chatted with everyone and then turned in early - pretty tired from the long day but I felt much better today than the last two days! The sleep and food and water helped significantly! Over the Kennebec River tomorrow - either the early ferry or the later one! Closer and closer to Monson!