Date: 2006-09-08
From: Stratton - ME Hwy 27

To: East Flagstaff Road
Miles today: 16.7

Bama¢s had a long, hard day. Up early and a shuttle back to ME Hwy 27 by Don for Professor, Jesse James and her. It was wonderful this morning ¢ very much fall up here on the ¢far north¢ and the autumn colors were already very evident in the trees. They climbed soon into the Bigelow range about 1,500 vertical ft. and were rewarded with beautiful views.After passing the Horns Pond Lean-to, they reached the 3,800 ft. level at South Horn Mt. and it was quickly followed by the West Peak of Bigelow Mt. at 4,145 ft. Sugarloaf Mt. was visible to the southwest and she could see the summit and the ski trails descending from it. Very pretty.Then there was a gradual descent to Avery Peak at 4,088 ft. ¢ again, terrific vistas. It is so different up here than the southern AT where one is often embedded in the ¢green tunnel¢ ¢ except for the balds ¢ and it is work to hike off the trail to see anything. Up here it¢s all so open. Below Avery was a great view of Flagstaff Lake, originally a village from the late 1770s, Flagstaff township was abandoned when Central Maine Power Company flooded the Dead River in 1948 when a dam was built for power generation. The 435,000 acre lake was breathtaking from the summit of Avery. Some reports of the ghost of an elderly man who refused to leave his home have been noted. Everyone else moved away ¢ he was never seen again.After Avery Peak, Bama passed one of the largest boulder fields, with some of the biggest individual boulders, since one she had had to climb over in New York and of course, the Notch, where she had to crawl thru it. This time, though, the trail was routed around the boulders and Bama was able to admire it from a distance. Very impressive ¢ boulders the size of buildings. Kinda pretty in a rocky sort of way.The trail today has been a combination of woodsy hike, roots and boulders, but nothing like the soul-wrenching, mind-numbing, root-tripping, thigh-burning, knee-scraping, shin-splinting hikes of the Whites, the Notch and recent days. Again, if Bama hasn¢t had to negotiate the trail on her hands & knees and belly & butt, it¢s been a good day. The view helps, too. Finally a little hop up Little Bigelow Mt. and soon she was at East Flagstaff Road at mile marker 2003.5 where Don was waiting to take her and Professor & Jesse James back to the Stratton Motel - and had Cokes awaiting! Thanks, Don!She¢s finally made her 2,000th mile officially! Good Lord! Who would have thought it? Bama¢s a tired girl and she¢s more than ready to get the next 171 miles over with and end this adventure. She said her job each day is to put one foot lightly down after the other, trying not to trip, fall and get hurt. One thing I have noticed in her accounts and in others¢ trail journals is how this is not hiking in the southern AT woods sense. There you can almost close your eyes in parts and fly over pine needle-covered, flat trails that resemble sidewalks. Up here in New Hampshire and Maine, one places each foot and hiking pole with intense, deliberate concentration. This is on top of the physical exertion and it quickly exhausts one¢s mind as well as the body. There have been so many accounts already of experienced, careful thru-hikers who have taken terrible falls, ending their attempt to Katahdin. Still, it was a good 10-hour day to go 16.7 miles.Bill