Date: 2008-08-23
From: Rt 2, Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

7am At the Town & Country Motor Inn, foggy 52f but the Weather Channel is promising clear and warm. I have the usual pre-hike jitters, but am basically excited about this last big piece of the 6 month adventure. My hiking leave comes to a close on Labor Day, when I am back at work.What a great way to wind up! Supposed to be good weather all five days except for showers on Monday morning - we can deal with that. This summer has been so rainy that this is an unprecedented period of good weather.8pm On a tent platform at Gentian Pond campsite. We got started around 8am, Karen having taken us to the trailhead. It was still foggy but as we climbed we moved out of it, and could see the fog banks down in the valleys below. It became a hot, clear day, with only a little breeze occasionally - much sweating today. Our first landmark was the summit of Mt. Hayes, at 10-ish, where we took a nice sit-down snack break, admiring the views from the partially-wooded, rocky, rounded peak. We began discussing how far to go today, humbled by how slow we were going on the last section. We decided to aim for someplace between Dream Lake and Gentian Pond. I had hiked as far as Dream Lake before, and recalled it as lacking campsites, despite the lovely, encouraging name. The next stop was Trident Col campsite, down a steep pitch from Cascade Mt., where we met Chowdah, a long sectioning NOBO and dog, Buddy. All of us ate lunch in a little clearing at the campsite. This was another of the official sites that was way off the main trail, and then the water (for which we had hiked down there to begin with) was another steep, rocky, long way down from there. But the rest and lunch and companionship was pleasant, and prepared us to carry on some more miles. Yet another rocky, partially wooded viewpoint on Wocket Ledge called for flinging down the packs and enjoying more snacks and fine views around 2:30. Huge dragonflys were lazily circling the area. Reminds me of the lake shore, but no water in sight. Since it was still fairly early and we had enough energy we committed to getting to Gentian Pond. Of course, once we got going, it turned out to be very bouldery and slow going most of the way. Glaciers certainly had their way here, dropping huge piles of rocks of all sizes as they scoured out the ponds. Another situation of looking at the contour map and thinking "Aha, fairly level or downhill, we'll make good time", and not turning out to be true. The contour lines don't take into account the boulders...so, it was 5:45 by the time we were pulling into camp, making some 11 miles for the day. Speedy we are not. We were super glad to have loaded up on water as we headed up to the site, since it was a few tenths of uphill, rocky slogging which would have been most unpleasant to have to repeat once we got there. A group of 10 or 12 folks on orientation trip from Tufts were at the group platform, and I took a platform a little ways up from them, while AM and Certain sought hammock sites in the woods behind me. A single woman hiker also had a platform nearby, and we chatted a little. The trip leader from the Tufts group came by to introduce himself and to say we should let him know if they were too noisy - I thanked him. I was glad they were trying to be responsible about this possibility.The leanto was a little ways downhill from the tenting, but when I took the food bags down to the bear box (oh great convenience!) I stuck my head into the leanto to see who was there. Several NOBOs, including Pod and son, and Chowdah. We talked briefly, and I realized that I feel comfortable talking to "the thru hikers", which was something I felt nervous about up until this year. Erecting the Tarptent on the platform was a little tricky, but it went up well enough to not sag too much. Note to self: I think I could do a better job by including some lengths of elastic cord in the tent bag for such situations. I was glad to have the air mattress, for comfort on a hard wood surface. Dinner was chicken and stuffing, which I fixed while sitting on the edge of the platform. Certain and AM joined me, which was very pleasant, tired as we all were. By dark, I was in bed, heading to sleep.