Date: 2013-08-28
From: Rangely, Maine

To: Poplar Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Wednesday, August 28 Rangely, Maine to Poplar Ridge Shelter.   10 miles.   Weather: Strong thunderstorms then scattered showers. Hi 75 Lo 50. We started the day with a nice town breakfast at the BMC dinner in Rangely. This was one of those real deal places you only seem to find in rural towns. Real friendly, great food, lots of it and cheap. We rolled out of there by 7:15 and I headed to the laundermat while Newton hit the IGA for resupply. Newton came back to the laundermat where we ran into Pink Lady and Subaru and chatted with them and traded trail stories. We crossed the street to hitch and we were picked up by the first car to go by and brought right to the trail head. We started hiking about 10:00 and soon came to Piazza Rock which is a gigantic erratic that cantilevers out about 30 feet from a supporting rock below it. We then began the ascent of Saddleback Mountain in earnest. After a steep 1 mile climb, we arrived at large exposed granite slabs that literally went on for about a mile until we reached the summit where we had lunch. There were fine views in all directions including all the major upcoming peaks to the north and Rangely Lake to the south. We noticed some storm clouds gathering and decided to push on since we had two more major peaks to get over. The first one was The Horn, a kind of sister peak to Saddleback. As we approached the summit, we prepared for some weather with pack covers and rain gear. Just below the summit all hell broke lose. A huge bold of lightning accompanied by a simultaneous crack of thunder shattered the quiet of the mountaintop. I immediately dove to the ground and tossed away my metal hiking poles. The bolt could not have been more than 100 feet from us. I turned around to check on Newton who was already plastered to the ground. We just looked at each other as if to say "that was close!" We took our packs off and tried to squeeze under the low spruce shrub as much as possible but by now the rain was gushing down in torrents. Soon the rain was mixed with hail that was pelting us. After about 15 minutes the trail we were on began to turn into a stream bed and we had to inch a bit higher up the side of the trail to not be standing right in the growing river of water. Finally the storm stopped as suddenly as it started. We quickly packed up and moved out. After a brief stop on the summit of The Horn we pushed on to the last peak, Saddleback Junior. By now the skies had cleared and we enjoyed the views and set out for the final 1.4 miles to the shelter. The descent was slick from the rain but I flew the last mile to be sure and secure space in the shelter for Newton and I. It turned out that we were the only 2 in the shelter as everyone else chose to tent. We made the right call because a steady rain has been falling for the last hour or so.Just as we thought we were going to be in for quiet, early night, a group of 15 or so college students came crawling into the campsite around 9:00. It turns out that they were freshmen out on some sort of orientation trip. Whatever happened to toga and keg parties? Anyway half of them were limping and shivering as they set up camp and ate before finally turning in around 10:15. They were polite enough but the fact is they were way too late for proper hiker etiquette!Time for sleep and it should be a good one to the sound of a steady rain on the metal shelter roof. Another great day on the AT!