Date: 2005-09-17
From: Caratunk, ME

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

Rain! Big rain! We woke up to a lot of it. Again, that dread of starting in the rain. By 7:30 we were all gathered downstairs, some having breakfast, others coffee, staring outside. There was a shuttle to the trailhead at 9:30 but Tink and I wanted to get a head start so we decided to try to hitch to the trailhead. We told the group we would see them at the shelter. We had procrastinated just long enough because when we stepped outside the rain had pretty much stopped. Good thing because we ended up walking the 1.5 miles to the trailhead. Nobody wanted to pick us up in this weather. No big deal, it was an easy walk and when Tink and I ge going on a conversation you don't eve notice the walking. We can walk for miles in silence and we can walk for miles talking about things. Some of the tangents we get on are pretty wierd, but interesting. Today was another easy day, terrain wise. We only had one mountain to climb, Moxie Bald, and that was at the end of the day. We cruised along and eventually reached Pleasant Pond Lean-to. I hadn't eaten breakfast so I was pretty hungry. I decided to have a hot lunch, something I have not had in a real long time. It was still a little nasty out, not raining, but chilly, and as I was getting done Tink said she was starting to freeze so she was going to take off. About this time the rest of the group pulled in so I told Tink I would catch up with her in a bit. She left and I hung around for another 15 to 20 minutes. I told the group we would see them at our destination for the night. I left and after an hour or so I caught up with Tink, sitting on the side of the trail, having a snack. This surprised me because I figured I wouldn't see her till the shelter. She said she was getting into one of her "pissed off at the trail" moods, which sent up a red flag in my mind! A "Testy Tink" is not a pretty sight Time to tread carefully, so I took the chicken route and decided to hike on ahead for awhile! I cruised on ahead and just before Baker Stream I held up to wait for her. It looked like the crossing could be a little tricky, not a get wet type of fording, but a potential one if a misstep was made. Tink caught up and she was back to her normal "Tinkness". We managed to cross without incident. We also had to cross over Joe's Hole Brook, and this crossing was done over the top of a beavr dam. Pretty cool! We hiked into Bald Mtn Lean-to to take a break. 4 more miles to go. Thrifty pulled in and he said he was planning on the next shelter also. With four to go and it being almost 5:00 Tink and I took off. We wanted to try to get in before dark and we still had the mountain to climb. We had been pretty lucky all day. Constantly overcast, windy, and cool, but no rain. It was pretty windy on top of Moxie Bald and it was misting pretty good but no real rain. I wouldn't want to make that walk in bad weather though! It must get pretty bad because there is a bad weather by-pass for that ascent. We did get to Moxie Bald Lean-to just at dark where we saw Longhaul and Hairball. We threw our sleeping bags into the shelter and cooked up dinner. By 8:00 we realized that the rest of the group must have decided to stay at the last shelter. That meant an extra 4 for them tomorrow, for the walk into Monson. We, on the other hand, would have a real easy 18 into town. The profile looked like something from PA! Flat!