Date: 2012-06-27
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Rangeley, ME
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

Today we hiked out of the zero-day Poplar Ridge Lean-to. Oh¢¦ wait. Last night another guy came in named Passin¢ Thru. He was a nice guy. He told us that taking a zero day was probably the smartest thing we could have done because the hiking was so bad. Go us! The Amherst girls had lost their tent poles and one of their sleeping pads on the mountain the day before and Passin¢ Thru found them started to carry them, but put them down on a rock because he didn¢t know which direction the person was hiking when they were lost. Around 7:30 or 8:00 last night Sherpa and Little Wing showed up saying that Starfish and Booterman were on their way! Apparently they left the shelter they were at around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. They were NOT happy to see the full lean-to. We all moved over so Booterman could have a spot when she arrived. After the girls showed up they all cooked their dinners and had light hearted conversation. We were in our sleeping bags half sleeping. This morning Little Wing came into the shelter with a soaking wet sleeping bag. Poor guy. It had rained all night and it was still raining in the morning. The Count and I set out around 8:00. We hiked fairly fast for the first couple of miles. It was the Saddleback range today. Early on in the day I had been sweating which basically renders the raincoat useless, so I took it off. Julia caught up with us and coming down the mountain was a man from either Scotland or Ireland. I couldn¢t tell. We chatted with him for quite a while. The Count was waiting for us ahead. When we got above treeline, the wind was a little crazy and the mist made me very very cold. I put my raincoat back on at Steven¢s suggestion and felt warmer ¢ at least not as blown by the wind. We walked over two miles above the tree line in the whipping wind and rain. Julia booked on ahead of us because it was just miserable. I don¢t blame her; it was not pleasant. I fell a few times on slippery rocks and Steven fell once. My left knee gave out on me twice. Blah!We saw the tent poles and sleeping mat of the Amherst girls and Steven was carrying it in his hand. He was having difficulty, so we strapped it to my pack. It is a wonder that the girl didn¢t notice that the tent poles and sleeping pad had dropped off of her pack. They easily weight 3.5 pounds! We will mail it to them tomorrow. We got to Piazza Rock Lean-to ¢ the one with the 2-seater privy with a cribbage board between the seats! Hahahaha Awesome. I reminded Steven that his friend Carol would be joining us tomorrow and we should tell her where we were. It was then that Steven decided to continue hiking to Rangely to spend the night. We had to hitch a ride into town first, though. Happy for us that on the trail were two day hikers, Megan and Derrick, who gave us a ride! Megan even offered to let us stay at her mom¢s place, but we declined since they were chain smoking in the car. Too bad ¢ they were extremely nice. They brought us directly to the Town & Lake Motel which is where I am right now.We had pizza for dinner at The Red Onion where we saw Julia, Little Wing, and Corey Corey. We offered to let Julia spend the night in our hotel room, but she decided to stay with the guys who were going to the Stratton Motel. I guess it was cheaper. After dinner, we got candy at the gas station. We sang ¢Happy Birthday¢ to Andrea Awwww. Steven spoke with Carol and his parents, so I think everyone is happy. I got to shampoo my hair and that is excellent! It is SO LATE (10:30). I must go to bed.