Date: 2006-07-25
From: Cooper Brook Falls lean-to

To: Mahar Tote Rd (White House Landing)
Miles today: 13.8

DAY 141 - Having breakfast at 5:15 (power /energy bars, peanut butter & honey, freeze-dried blueberries). The excitement is building - only three more full hiking days, then Katahdin on Friday. No rain last night - slept well. Today I'm walking for my children and sisters, who have encouraged me and inspired me to take this journey.Ten-thirty AM at Potaywadjo shelter (where DO they get these names?). Made pretty good time to get here, 11.4 miles in 4.5 hours. Had my first encounter with swarms of deer flies; those nasty devils make mosquitos seem pleasant.The Trail is flat but typically mostly roots and rocks with a few nice sections as teasers. Saw a loon at Jo-Mary Pond, the first I've actually seen. Also got my first look at Katahdin from 48 miles away; it looked closer - pretty impressive.Arrived at the side trail to White House Landing Wilderness Camp about 1 or 1:30, then took a 30 minute mud bath to get to the dock for a nautical pick-up. Hikers blow an air horn so the WHL folks will know someone wants to visit. This place is on Pemaduncook Lake, which is large and practically undeveloped as far as I can tell. The camp has maybe a dozen buildings, one of which is a pretty nice bunkhouse for hikers, and a second is a shower building. The setting is rustic and idyllic, but there are several drawbacks for hikers. One is the length of the walk and mudholes to get here (previously mentioned). Laundry is do-it-yourself in a washtub, with a hand-cranked wringer provided to get the water out. You carry lake water in a bucket to the tub and scrub away. When finished, wet clothes are hung on a clothesline. Sure am glad I'm not a 19th century housewife - washing clothes by hand is hard on the back. Right now it's humid, cloudy, and not much breeze - less than ideal for drying clothes.The only staff here are the family that owns the place and live here. They have a small store, I'm told, but it hasn't been opened since I arrived. They provide meals (breakfast included in hostel fee; lunch and dinner extra), but I haven't had one yet and can't say how good it is.One big drawback is late breakfast - 8 AM. Since hikers have to be boated back to the other side of the lake then take another 30 minutes to get to the AT, that means starting to walk by 9 AM at the earliest, three hours later than most would like.The only phone is the owner's cell phone, which hikers can't use except for emergencies. One of the other hikers here, a southbounder from Minnesota named Crafty, has offered me the use of his cell phone. The only other person staying here (so far) is Hawk, a SOBO from Delaware who was carrying too much food and gave me about 8 or 10 Advantage and Clif bars. That saves me from having to buy them at the WHL's "store" and pay their high prices. Great Trail magic.Post-dinner: We three hikers had a filling dinner and good conversation with Linda, a co-owner who cooked for us. I devoured the house specialty - a one lb. cheeseburger with all the trimmings. The camp store was out of honey and insect repellent (ironic pair of products, eh?) which I need, but Hawk mentioned that he had extra Deet and offered me some. Trail magic, part 2.Linda brought me up-to-date on some earlier thru-hikers, and I updated her on some people she had heard of but not met. She was holding some pre-paid trail magic for Pebbles and Fat Camp, who are two days ahead of me and obviously not coming to White House Landing. So she decided to transfer some of the Magic to me - a pint of Ben & Jerry's! Trail magic, part 3.Crafty is carrying a mandolin and strumming a few tunes. Kind of nice to wind down with other hikers inside a screened room.