Date: 2013-08-21
From: West Carry Pond Lean - to

To: Caratunk,ME 
Miles today: 14.0

Start West Carry Pond Lean-to, mile 2020.7Stop Caratunk, ME, mile 2034.7Sleep motelCell noneHiked 14.0 miles Northbound151.2 remainingHiked 82.4 2013 ATOld Goat's notes:Today we hiked our longest day so far. We hiked 10 miles from West Carry Pond Lean-to to Pierce Pond Lean-to in 5 hours. The terrain was reflective flat, in fact everyone calls it the flattest piece of trail in Maine. Part of what we hiked on is known as The Arnold Trail, The ALDHA Companion says "From West Carry to Middle Cary Pond the AT follows the route of the historic Arnold Trail. In 1775, Benedict Arnold and an army of 1,350 Revolutionaries used this trail en route to Quebec, where they hoped to mount a surprise winter attack on the British. Like many hikers the army literally bogged down in the streams and swamps of the area, and as a result the remaining 650 men were so weakened by the passage that the attack was unsuccessful. Prior to Arnold's transit, the Abenaki Indians used the route as a portage around rapids on the Dead River, the waters of which now fill artificial Flagstaff Lake." Flagstaff Lake is huge, we were able to see it from almost all points of the Bigelow Mountains. Benedict Arnold did not have the hard working crews of The Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) crews. Than you for maintaining the trail so that we could enjoy it and not be bogged down in the swamp. When we arrived at Pierce Pond Lean-to we had a decision to make. We were approaching the Kennebec River which was 3.7 miles from the lean-to. This is the river the MATC hires a ferryman to transport hikers across the river because it is too dangerous to ford. I'll let Check 6 tell the rest of the story. Check 6's notes:We did decide to go on, and I'm so excited to have finally taken the Kennebec "ferry." I've heard about it for years, so it feels like crossing the Kennebec was a milestone! That was exciting for me. By the way, there's a white blaze painted on the floor of the canoe. Cute! Since that canoe ferry is the only legal (and safe) way to cross the Kennebec River, the white blaze makes the canoe ride part of the AT. Hiking from where we stayed to the next lean-to was lovely. We made great time and had mostly easy hiking. Hiking from that lean-to to the Kennebec was grueling. There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of rocks and roots, and very little easy hiking. Old Goat remembered it was rocky, but he didn't remember it quite so tough. Part of what made it hard was trying to rush to get to the Kennebec in time. He only operates the canoe ferry from 9-11 am and 2-4 pm. We thought we might just make it by 3:30 pm, so we rushed as much as we could. It was very hot, too, so the heat was getting to us. When we arrived at the shore of the Kennebec we were shocked to find out we did the 3.7 miles in 1hr 50min! I took pictures of "Hillbilly Dave" coming to get us and the first photo is date stamped at 2:05pm! We were so happy to make it in record time for us!We immediately were offered a ride by "Shephard," a nice guy who is hiking parts of the AT when he can and giving hikers rides when he's not hiking. We have a room for the night at the Northern Outdoors. Old Goat spent some time in the hot tub and pool as I'm washing our stinky clothes. Life is good!We're waiting for our clothes to dry, then we'll enjoy dinner, get our stuff ready for tomorrow and call it a night. Nice!Sent from my iPhone