Date: 2013-08-20
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: West Carry Pond Lean - to
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

Start Little Bigelow Lean-to, mile 2013.0Stop West Carry Pond Lean-to, mile 2020.7Sleep tentCell noneHiked 7.7 miles Northbound165.2 miles remaining Hiked 68.4 miles 2013 ATOld Goat's notes:The funniest thing happened this morning at 6am, I was about to get up when I heard what sounded like rain. We both looked at each other with a look that said let's wait until the rain stops. The rain only lasted a few minutes and then it was over. 15 minutes later, when we got out of our tent, everything was dry. There was no evidence that it had rained at all. Throughout the day other hikers said they had the same experience and were just as confused as we were. We started packing up our stuff in the tent to start our day. Check 6 brushes and braids her hair, we deflate our sleeping pads, and stuff our sleeping bags in compression sacks. We then get everything out of the tent including ourselves. We break down the tent, count the tent pegs, breakdown the poles, and pick up the ground cloth (Tyvek). Check 6 carries the ground cloth, poles, and pegs, I carry the tent body and fly. We then retrieve our food from either a tree where it is hung or in the Lean-to where it is hung. We hang our food to keep it out of reach from critters both big and small. Yes mice, squirrels, and chipmunks can get into a food bag and ruin your hike. We are told the bears are afraid of people and shy away from them. I have encountered numerous bears in the woods and they do seem to run away. We started hiking at 7:20 this morning going downhill off of Little Bigelow Mountain for the first 2 miles. That is when we reached East Flagstaff Road; soon after, the climbing started. We went over two small mountains that were nothing compared to the last few days. When we reached Long Falls Dam Road we were greeted with a big "2000 congrats" spray painted on the road. This once was the 2000 mile point when the trail was 2175 miles long. Now that the official length is 2186 miles long and more miles were added in the south, the 2000th mile is further south. So why is it painted on the road you ask? Tradition. The halfway sign isn't in the proper spot either. Also, someone who hikes the entire Appalachian Trail is called a 2000 miler no matter what year they achieved it or how long the trail was when they did it. In fact our mileage on this journal is probably inaccurate because of the changes made over the past 5 years we've been hiking. Someday when the hike is over I'll pull out all the guides we've used and correct the mileage. We arrived at The West Carry Pond Lean-to at 12:10pm. The next shelter or official campsite is 10 miles from here. It would take us too long to reach it and we would be dead tired. We decided to rest out bodies from all the mountain climbing we've been doing. Tomorrow is another day with a new adventure awaiting. Check 6's notes:Just woke up from a wonderful hour nap. Our tent is so comfortable and the weather is perfect. It would have been good to put a few more miles behind us with the gorgeous weather, but this afternoon this is just what we needed. It was lovely. The hike today was so much nicer than the past 8 days have been...one big hill, one small mountain, and a good amount of lovely fairly flat trail. The thru-hikers who were at the lean-to for lunch when we got here were raving about how nice the hiking is now. They're in their glory now and really excited about reaching the end, talking about the dates they plan to summit Mt Katahdin. We enjoy talking with other hikers. I love that when we talk about what we've done we are completely accepted into the thru-hiker community as if we're one if them. The fact that Old Goat thru-hiked helps, but my having hiked to where we are, and having done so much of the AT in thru-hike mode makes me included as well. It's fun to talk of our experiences. For example, "did you stay at the Doyle Hotel?" (In PA...see our 2009 thru-hike notes to read about it.). "Whistler's" response today was, "yes, but why do hikers do that?" I said it's part of the ambiance of thru-hiking!A note about the gallant man from my meltdown yesterday that I forgot to mention. I remembered it today after we had stopped on the side of the mountain and sent our entry...the guy had longish blonde hair, a fedora, and he looked like a male model for a romance novel cover!!! (I told Old Goat this...he just just laughed at me.)Sent from my iPhone