Date: 2005-09-19
From: East Flagstaff Rd.

To: Campsite
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

start East Flagstaff Rddestination campsitemiles 12.5 We had high hopes of sleeping a little later this morning,but the sectionhikers that came in last night made sure we were awake with their trompings upand down the hallways and stairs.We finally gave up and got out of bed. It ishard leaving this place,but on the other hand I miss being outdoors at night.Suetook us into town where we stopped at the diner for a hot breakfast. Papermakerrewarded Swinging Jane's diligent search for his glasses by buying herbreakfast. We transferred our gear to Don's van ,said our goodbyes to Sue and Knuckleheadand off to the trail we went. We had not hked ery far befoe we came to a paved road.When I got therePapermaker handed mea phone and said I had a call.It took me a minute to realizehe held just the receiver.Evidently someone had gotten tired of their poor phonereception and flung the phone out of a car window. In the middle of the roadwere white numbers painted on the pavement. 2000 .We had reached the 2000 milemark.After allthis time,here I was.Another huge milestone. Of course we tookpictures all around,goofed off with the telephone receiver some more,almost gotran over by a passing log truck before we finally calmed down.It would not do tomake it all this way only to be hit by a truck! We were hoping for some flat terrain to hike and get some miles done,we wererewarded with wet rocks,slippery tree roots and a climb up Roundtop Mountain. Ithink Africa has pulled all of his short cuts out of his pockets.Today waslong,but the warm sunshine made the day much more bearable. We stopped along thebank of the West Carry Pond for lunch and promptly got cold.It was just toowindy to be able to enjoy a leisure lunch. We had been warned about floating bogbridges just north of the West Carry Pond Lean To.In fact I had been dreadingthem all day long given my experience with bog bridges. Sure enough,several of the bridges were floating on the top of the watery,muddybog,and when you stepped on them,you had no way of knowing if or when you weregoing to stop sinking. I stuck my hiking poles down eitherside of onebridge.They kept going andInever did feel a bottom. I slowly slid one of my feetforward,then another trying to keep my balance. With much laughter and squealingI finally reached the last bridge only to find that there was nothing for it torest on andit tipped crazily from side to side.I did however make it acrosswithout falling in,as did Africa and Papermaker. Africa and I held out highhopes that Papermaker would go swimming,but he was way to careful. We allcollapsed at the top of the small rise and enjoyed the sun,the success and thefellowship.It was a grand day for hiking!As we hiked along the banks of EastCary Pond we spotted a loon swimming cloe to the shore.We watched for severalminuted as it dove under water then resurfaced several h! undred feet away.We hiked along and several times the loon cryed out.It's songlilting across the water.It was a most delightful sound and we enjoyed listeningto the sound as he swam along. We hiked for several more hours. It was clear that we were not going to reachthe shelter so wes stopped at a old logging road and pitched our tents. This isprobably my favorite time of the day.When you have hiked all day,and you stopfor the evening,set up your tent,then lean back and enjoy a hot meal and a hotdrink.I love to listen to the sounds in the woods as darkness falls. Life isGood!It was a great day for a hike!! Bumpkin                           5 Million Steps for Polio