Date: 2004-06-12
From: ME15 (ShawÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs in Monson)

To: James Brook stealth camp
Miles today: 6.3

Log entry: 1331. Start time: 17:152. End time: 21:153. Weather: A gorgeous day, a little breezy in the morning and by the ocean. Once on the trail, the evening was cool and great for walking. Clear skies.4. Food        Breakfast-Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, home fries from Shaw¢s         Lunch- bacon cheeseburger from a little place in Bar Harbor        Dinner- Hamburger helper, garlic potatoes 5. Trail description: A great first 6 miles for Gina. Some small changes in elevation but nothing extreme and walking was easy, even in the dark.6. People: The Shaw¢s and the gang there, The Schrotenboers, my sister Gina, one SOBO at Leeman Shelter. Otto and Seiko 7. Animals: As Gina and I ate outside of our tent, in the dark, we had an animal skirt our camp. Sounded small, probably a coyote, maybe a deer.8. Money: I bought some snacks, but don¢t remember how much.9. Biggest complaint: It would have been nice to be able to spend more time in Bar Harbor. But a few more hours wouldn¢t have done it, I¢m talking days.10: Narrative: Another awesome breakfast at Shaw¢s. I¢m glad I could share it with friends and family. We then decided to head out to the Ocean and do some touristy things until late afternoon when Gina and I would head out into the Wilderness and do a few miles before dark.It was a lovely morning drive out to Bar Harbor. Maine reminds me so much, in places, of Michigan¢s Upper Peninsula. Gina and I decided that we think the UP is actually more scarcely populated. But anyways one thing that we noticed was that many of the old farms had the barn attached to the house. We figured that this was to save on the winter walk to do chore work. But the vermin and smell I believe might eventually waft into the living quarters. I don¢t know, it does make for an interesting looking residence. The bays around Bar Harbor were fascinating. It would be nice to return here and visit Acadia national park and do some more exploring. We spent most of the afternoon window shopping. The weather was great and I felt even better. It was a great day. But, all good things must come to an end and we headed back to Monson where Gina and I picked up the trail at about 17:15. At the trailhead, Seiko was there waiting for Otto to come through and he approached us offering to show us video he had just shot of 5 bear. (I think it was 3 cubs and 2 bigger bruins) He was off in the woods shooting some video of moose scat and lady slippers when motion caught his eye and he saw the bears. Just before we got there, it was neat. I hope it didn¢t make Gina too nervous. It didn¢t seem like it.So we said goodbyes and headed off into the Wilderness. Gina led and did a great job keeping a steady pace. We stopped a few times to readjust here and there, talk strategy, and technique. The original goal was to do 3 miles to the first shelter, Leeman brook lean-to. But when we got there at 19:00, we collectively decided that we still had energy and daylight to move on. So we did. The first destination for a possible campsite was Mud Pond, which we arrived at just at dark. The pond itself wasn¢t as clean and nice as we had hoped and no real nice spot to camp so we pushed on in the dark to try our luck a mile further on James brook.We found a level spot, which took a little poking around in the dark, but enough room to set up my Kelty Vortex 2 tent. It¢s a little heavy as far as thur-hiking tents go at about 6 pounds plus a ground cover which adds about another pound, maybe less. But it really worked out well for us. Plenty of space inside and the vestibules are huge, even though we used the rain fly only once. We quickly erected shelter then cooked dinner and retired around 23:00, which is a late night. But Gina felt great at this time and I remember falling asleep with nervous pangs as I wanted to make sure my sister is having a good time and also excitement to know that I will have a full week to soak in the Wilderness. And soaking in Wilderness also requires soaking in an unhealthy amount of DEET.