Date: 2023-08-16
From: Logan Brook Lean-to 2127

To: Campsite at 2146.7
Miles today: 19.7

Hiking Day 145, ending elevation 500 FeetI awoke to a mouse rustling my small trash bag.. I shone my telephone on him and found him unexpectedly cute. He looked at me, and the at the trash bag and was gone in a flash. After that I went back to sleep and it was after 5 before I knew it. The colorless twilight brightened fairly quickly and we could see blue sky overhead, a potential good sign for the day.Unlike yesterday, the path started gently downhill following the Brook. We still had mud, rocks and roots but not all or even most of the time. For the most part the trail actually looked like a trail that was meant to be walked on for a change. This made hiking much easier and faster. Kerry and I both felt very sleepy the first part of the day and we think it may bel because of all the caffeine we¢ve been drinking whilst at hostels and in towns. Our energy improved considerably after lunch and we made better progress.We only climbed one mountain today, I think, Little Boardman at 2009 feet, which was pretty easy by comparison to most of the mountains we¢ve encountered. We had lots of toads run across the path and the mushrooms were a mycologist¢s dream. There were so many varieties that I couldn¢t begin to count them all, never mind identify them. So many different colors and shapes, it was amazing. We have been noticing some bright red leaves on the ground over the last few days. At first we thought it must be from a different kind of tree, but then realized that a few of the leaves must be turning. We saw some bright orange ones and yellow ones too; very pretty and out of place in the deep green forest.We walked by several ¢ponds¢, I wonder if that¢s a local reference because where I come from they would definitely be called lakes, and big ones at that. We had wet feet again all day as we had to ford the infamous East Branch of the Pleasant River which turned out to be neither deep nor dangerous at least today. Not withstanding, I managed to fall in but Mr. Friendly and his friend, Full Send came along and gave us a hand by taking Felix¢s pack across and guiding me to the shallower path. We had a nice chat with them. Mr. Friendly is a golf coach who was living in Chicago but has come home to Maine to start his own golf business. He told us he caught trout last night in the river for his dinner. I wish I had been here!At some point, Jukebox passed us. He had been walking with his dog Luna, but he told us he had to take her off trail at Mt. Washington; she had been having trouble with her paws that had become raw in places and bloody. We were sorry to hear this but I¢m sure he made the right decision for the dog.Tonight, we¢re in a lovely spot on Jo Mary Pond, looking out at the water and listening to what we thought were loons calling. Car Jack told Kerry they can sound a bit like wolves, and these birds certainly do. We¢re sitting in our tent listening to the rain gently fall on us, trying to organize our gear so it doesn¢t get wet if the rain gets heavier. We¢ve come to the conclusion that a larger tent may be needed, A lot of people we know use this tent for a single person and we¢ve crammed in two people and a dog¢¦it¢s very cosy!It¢s getting dark and I have yet to convince Felix to move over enough so I can stretch my legs out, but the rain has stopped for now!