Date: 2015-08-04
From: West Carry Pond Lean-to

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

It eventually stopped raining. We woke up to the sound of the dripping forest. I was so exhausted last night, so I slept soundly. I asked Shrugs if he too had slept well and he said that he listened to the harsh "ping ping ping" of the rain against the shelter's metal roof while a loon cried sorrowfully in the distance and the shelter shook from the great trumpeting of snores and farts. Ahhhh, shelters.The profile elevation shows a flatline. "Yes, finally", we thought. However, the terrain's difficulty did not die down. Deep in my heart, I knew that a flat Trail does not equal an easy one. Maybe I was in denial. It is also because I am so tired that any obstacle, no matter how minor, is exaggerated and exacerbates my discouragement. We hiked over rocks and slippery roots and waded through deep pools and flowing streams. It was probably relatively mild but it seemed so difficult.We were hiking in silence when I felt a jolt of pain, like an electric shock, on my thumb. I screamed and dropped my hiking poles. I caught a glimpse of my assailant, a large, black-winged creature as it leaped from my hand towards my face. The loud buzzing of its wings resonated in my ears and I felt the air vibrate on my skin. I panicked. I ran, arms flailing, disorganized, trying to get away as tears ran down my face because my thumb was on fire and the insect was following me. Shrugs approached me, trying to calm me down when I saw him flinch. He yelled out and said that the bug had now bitten him too.We ran away as fast as we could and stopped after a few minutes to assess the damage. A small bead of blood was pearling on the surface of my thumb which was now red and doubled in size. Spasms of pain coursed from my thumb throughout my hand and arm. How could a such a small bite cause this much pain? Shrugs had a similar puncture wound on his leg. The unknown insect had bitten him THROUGH his thick wool socks. WHAT KIND OF BUG DOES THAT?! I did not even see it, all I know is that it was huge, all black with a large wingspan. Shrugs hypothesized that it was a demonic envoy sent out to collect the blood of two mortals, ingredients necessary for a spell to open the gates of Hell. This seemed like the most likely explanation. I was dismayed and very upset. I know it seems rather pathetic to be this worked up by a bug, but as I said, I was at a point where anything was too much to handle. The bug attack was the last straw: I was just about ready to throw everything away and leave, no regrets. After an extended break, we hiked on and arrived around noon at the shelter. My thumb was still very painful; the pain persisted for many hours after. I took some ibuprofen and cleaned the small wound as best I could. Our original plan was to continue onwards and cross the Kennebec River today. To do so, we need to ride a ferry which only operates during certain hours. We had some leeway, so we decided to chill for a bit and maybe catch the ferry later. We hung a clothes line to dry out some clothes and I waded in the pond that is in front of the shelter. Apparently, a thru-hiker had drowned in this pond in 2012. There are pockets of 40-degree waters in the ponds and the exhausted hiker had not realized that his weary muscles would not be able to sustain the effort. I don't know the hiker's name; the story seems sadder because of this omission.We had been there less than an hour when dark clouds rolled in over us. We set up our tent to hide as another lightning storm began. We are staying here, we said, so we settled in our sleeping bags and read on our Kindles. Lightning flashed and the rain assaulted the tent. Suddenly, the sound of the rain drops hitting the rain fly changed. I looked out the tent and saw hail pellets ricocheting off the tent. Hail. Again. Two hail storms in less than 24 hours. TWO HAIL STORMS. Some of the ice pellets were as big as marbles. We knew that the ferry would not be operating in these conditions, so it was a good decision to stay put.It was raining and hailing so incredibly hard. Water was rushing down the rain fly and pooling under the tent. There was at least an inch of water under us. I felt as if I were on a water bed. Miraculously, the thin tent fabric seperating us from a devastating flood held. I was so worried. Big Agnes (our tent), you did good. Real good.When the rain lightened a bit, Shrugs went out and dug small trenches around the tent and the excess water seeped away in the earth. He also picked up our clothes which had been yanked off the clothes line. They were rigid, covered in icy patches.The clouds dissipated and the rain ligthened up later in the afternoon. We saw a beautiful sunset over the pond. There was another youth group from Qu©bec. A couple of the campers heard us and came over to talk. They were interested in our thru-hike and had some very encouraging words. Super nice kids.P.S. The two pictures are taken only a few minutes apart. It's amazing how the colors change quickly and how a beautiful scene can be so ephemeral.- Axon  Sunset over Pierce Pond