Date: 2003-10-05
From: Horns Pond Lean-to

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up early and realized that the storm had pretty much blown itself out but the temps had dropped even lower than yesterday. It was a very cold and foggy morning. It was pretty interesting trying to locate all my stuff in the shelter and get it packed. In the haste to get warm and dry, eat dinner and get to sleep I had left most everything scattered around. Not to mention that any clothing or gear item that was wet from yesterday was a bit stiff from the freezing temperatures. Not much else to do but take a deep breath and pull on the cold shirt and shorts - - YIKES !!I really didn't want to take the time for a hot breakfast, despite the cold temps, so I just downed a couple cereal bars, got my pack on and headed out. Inspite of the bad weather and rough hiking the day before I was pretty excited about today. This was the day I would cross the 2000 mile point, which is a major landmark for a thru-hiker. Because of changes (re-routes) in the trail each year the actual 2000 mile point changes from year to year. This year the 2000 mile point came near the Little Bigelow Lean-to, which was my destination for today. My preference would have been to hike on to the shelter beyond Little Bigelow but I knew that getting up and over the West Peak of Bigelow Mtn and Avery Peak would prove to be a very full day of hiking. As I started to hike I realized that this was a good choice because the temperatures dipped even lower and it began to snow. So   ...in addition to the ice and snow on the ground from yesterday I had to contend with a near "white-out" at times. the climb up Bigelow was mainly over large rocks and the footing at times was a tad dicey. The winds were quite high once I broke out on the exposed ridge, which added a little wind-chill to the already low temps. I paused for a moment at the peak and took a picture of the sign (see inset picture). It seemed so weird to have hiked all day yesterday in rain and to now be slogging through ankle/knee deep snow at times.After making down from Bigelow Mtn we dropped onto a saddle to a place called the Avery Memporial Campsite. At one time there was a shelter located here but now there are only tent platforms and a caretaker's cabin (which wasn't open to hikers). We got a fantastic view of Avery Peak, which were about to climb, from the campsite. That shot is uploaded in my "photos" section.The climb up to Avery Peak was as challenging or even moreso than Bigelow at times, mainly because of the high winds. The amazing thing though was that by the time we reached the peak the sun had risen high in the sky and the snow had stopped falling. The winds were coming from behind us and as we crossed over Avery Peak we dropped significantly. The temperatures rose and we found ourselves having to shed clothing to avoid getting too warm for hiking. This lasted throughout most of the afternoon and made the climb over Little Bigelow more pleasant. But then, as fate would have it, the clouds returned and it began to drizzle. We couldn't believe it. Is there no end to the rain ??Fortunately, I made it to the shelter before it really started to come down hard. I got my damp clothing off and hung them out to dry. I had gathered water and was making dinner when I heard what sounded like a hiker coming donw the trail. Turns out it was Chick Flick and Fickle. They had gotten up super early and hiked the entire way to this shelter in a single day -- HOOAH !! It was great seeing them again. We did a little catching up and then turned in for the night. I needed my sleep. I knew that tomorrow was going to be a very long day for the old FootsloggerLiving the Dream   ...