Date: 2014-07-22
From: West Carry Pond Lean-To mile 165.2

To: Strafford Notch Campsite mile 177.2
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Part of the trial I hiked yesterday was along the route Colonel Benedict Arnold took in 1775 on orders from General Washington to march 1150 men from Cambridge, MA to Quebec, Canada and attack the British garrison there. We are so used to branding Arnold as a traitor to the revolution that we forget that he was also a daring military leader. They carried wooden bateaux over horribly difficult portages through the fall and winter. Only 700 men made it to Quebec where the attack was unsuccessful, but the audacity of the effort intimidated the British and discouraged them from pressing their advantage against the Americans. I should read Kenneth Robert's novel Arundel which is based on Arnold's march. Today I crossed the 1000 mile benchmark. Calum & Victoria took a picture of me on top of Little Bigelow Mountain with a spruce bought 1000. My hope of going more than 12.6 miles today were unrealistic. The climb up Little Bigelow was more demanding than I had anticipated from the profile. Dusk was approaching and I was more than ready to stop when I reached the 0.3 mile side trail to the Stafford Notch Campsite at the base of Bigelow Mountain. As I approached the turn off I got a glimpse of Bigelow through the trees. The real thing looks as intimidating as the profile on the map. On the way up Little Bigelow I met a father with two daughters who appeared to be slack packing. He explained that they are locals who regularly climb the mountain as a spiritual experience. They use a side trail for access. He asked an interesting question: "How do you occupy your mind during long stretches of solitary hiking?" My quick answer was that in stretches like today's my full concentration is on where to put my foot for the next step so I won't fall and break my neck, but the question deserved a more serious answer. When hiking stretches that do not require full concentration on every step I recite to myself the few poems that I have memorized and wish that my repertoire were longer. When the trail is not steep and I am not out of breath I sometimes sing to myself. I spend a good deal of time thinking about my loved ones and reminding myself to remember this time of separation so that I will more fully cherish my time with them when this separation is over. Often I repeat some piece of trivia like the time I passed the last benchmark and the distance to the next one over and over to myself as a mind numbing mantra. The 0.3 mile walk to the Stafford Notch Campsite goes through a tunnel formed by boulders the size of houses. The campsite is so steep and rocky that there is no flat places for a tent site. Instead they have flat wooden platforms for tents. The platform is nice, but it takes some ingenuity to tie down your tent lines. Calum & Victoria and Sagacious and Young Gun were at the campsite. I like the trail name Sagacious. I told him that when my son Marcus was a toddler learning to talk and sweet ladies would come up to him, pinch his cheek, and tell him "You're so cute".   I tried to teach him to respond "I'm not cute, I'm sagacious". To May Louise's relief I was unsuccessful. The word was too hard for him...and he may have liked being told he was cute. I have not found any ripe ones yet, but there are blueberries on the mountain tops. As I was failing to successfully throw a bear bag line Calum assured me: "Don't worry. The bears will be too busy eating blueberries to bother with your food."