Date: 2016-08-11
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: few clouds

It was a warm night but okay for sleeping. I was up and on the trail by 7:00. I had less than 4 miles to go to get to the ferry that crosses the Kennebec river. It is a wide river and the only one that has a ferry. There is a dam and when they open it can cause under currents and the water can raise 4 ft rapidly so they want hikers to use the ferry service. I and other hikers can feel this journey coming to an end and I feel like I spend time remembering things on my travels. I made it to the ferry crossing 30 minutes before they started and found Lucky Dog there. I had met him a few days earlier and we had a nice conversation. Shortly after Slug showed up and soon after that the ferry(canoe) was heading our way with hikers from the other side. They arrived and we had to sign a waiver before putting on lifejackets and heading to the other side. The drought has been tough up here and the guy in charge of the ferry said its the lowest he has ever seen the river. Lucky Dog and I are the first to cross. On the other side I started down the trail and decide to go get a photo of the ferry crossing. By that time Slug was in the boat and I get a picture of him coming over. After that it is a few 100 yards to the road where the Caratunk Bed and Breakfast is and they have burgers, shakes and a good resupply. I order a burger and a chocolate shake and pick up a days resupply. The shakes are made in the old aluminium cups and they give you a Dixie cup to pour it as you go. Slug and I enjoy our food out at a shaded table on the lawn when Old Fox showed up. This is how things work on the trail...Old Fox almost had me convinced to spend the night in the town of Caratunk. Today he was with me and ready to press on a few more miles. He ordered his shake and burger and we all charged our electronics. They had WiFi so we got a little internet time in also. About noon, Old Fox and I ordered another burger, I had another shake too. Not long after Old Fox ordered his second shake. While we were there a older gentleman who worked there says that's it...you sound like Bill Clinton...speaking to me. I have never heard that before. I'm from Ohio but lived in Arkansas for 14 years and most people notice my southern draw. Then he told me to say "I have not had sex with that woman". We all had a good laugh about it. Another guy showed up and was sitting on the porch and giving everyone a hard time in a fun way. I asked if they recycled and he told me to throw my can as far as I could into the woods because these people needed more work to do. As he was leaving the older gentleman that worked there told me he was a retired state senator who got the river cleaned up. You just never know who you are going to meet. Another hiker showed up and his name was Brother Raccoon. It turned out he had a Raccoon one piece costume that he wore as his long johns. You have to be prepared for cold weather in the Whites. They talked him into putting it on and we all took pics of him. After 3.5 hours of hanging out it was back to the trail for us. It was a pretty easy six miles but it was too far to go to the shelter after that. So I got there about 3:30 and waited for Old Fox. I was going to press on and stealth camp if he was up for it. He arrived hot and tired and said he was done for the day. Once again there was a lake nearby so down we went .2 miles for a swim. The beach was rocky so I wore my crocks in. The water was cool and refreshing. Afterwards it was time to set up camp and eat before retiring for the day. The plan for the now is to do a big 20 miles tomorrow, do a nearo 10 miles into Monson on Saturday and stay at a hostel. Sunday start the 100 mile wilderness and come out of it on Friday. Saturday I will hike 10 miles to a campsite just below Katahdin. Depending on the weather... Summit Katahdin on Sunday or Monday. I am going to miss this trail but I'm not going to miss the camp food(Knorr pasta/rice sides, Ramon noodles, peanut butter, tuna, instant mashed potato's, summer sausage). That and snack foods are pretty much what we survive on. Lots of breakfast bars, cliff bars, Snickers, Paydays, trail mix, tortillas, potato chips. I only got 10 miles in but I felt recharged and ready to hike, after some town food. Its going to be sad when I no longer get to hike tomorrow, but tomorrow I hike on