Date: 2005-10-09
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: moderate rain

It was a pretty miserable day on the trail today. Cold & wet. Last night just as Piker and Blaze got a fire going the rain started again and it hasn't stopped since then. When we woke up it was coming down pretty hard and it was really tough to motivate. We leisurely made breakfast and then put on our wet clothes. As the ice cold damp fabric hit my skin I was immediately frozen. Once we got going we had to quickly pick up and pack up so that we would get warm. We walked out of camp about 10:20. The terrain was really nice and its suppose to be great until Katahdin. The trail has basically become a big stream which makes it hard to maneuver. We were at the shelter in no time and next we knew we had a ford. This made us a little nervous because of all of the rain the past 2 days. When we approached the ford we instantly knew that it was going to be tough. It was seriously swelled and rushing very fast. We decided to go upstream a bit where it looked wider and weaker. We all decided to just go through with our shoes on because they were already soaked. Piker started across first while Dready and I stood on shore holding back tears. Hey-it was a stressful moment. The water rose to Pikers waste and he was having a tough time keeping his balance even with his poles. As he crossed Blaze and Dready followed shortly behind and they were watching Piker. As they began to ford Sampson jumped in right after them and I saw him get swept away about in the middle. I yelled out, "Oh no Sampson". Everyone turned to see him trying to swim to shore and get some traction under his paws. He's a strong dog & was on the other side jumping around and celebrating in no time. As Sampson broke the shore so did Piker. He turned around to help all of us. Blaze helped Dready and me across a tough part and handed us off to Piker who pulled us to shore. The water was high on my waste and I slipped a few times. We were all across!! What an adrenaline rush. We trekked downstream and were squishing down the trail in our wet boots. We had two more climbs ahead of us. The trail was graded perfectly with not a lot of rocks and roots. It was a nice change. The challenge today was the water, the trail is just soaked and we are so cold. We did the 11 miles without a break, we just wanted to get to the shelter. We arrived at the empty shelter about 3:00 and decided that 11 more miles was not in our near future. We slowly peeled off our wet gear and got into dry clothes and set up for the night. When the weather is like this I want to live in my sleeping bag. I definitely wish that I had had my rain pants and warmer fleece sent back for this last stretch. Don't think that you will be okay without them. Get them sent out!! We made a hot lunch once we got settled and then just napped, read, and lounged around. Sampson greeted Lucky as he approached the shelter. Lucky is a thru hiker from Ireland-really nice guy. We all chatted as the night grew dark and the rain continued to fall. The seed for more adventures was planted tonight with talks about hiking in Europe. Gotta get to K-Dog first. Oh I hope its not raining tomorrow!!                              Ms. Mileage