Date: 2018-09-18
From: East Carry Pond Campsite 

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 16.0

I woke up early this morning to make the 10 mile hike to the Kennebec river. Luckily my bear bag hang wasn't attacked my mice or chipmunks. Opie was still in his tent when I packed up. I ate a poptart and had coffee. I was running out of food but luckily I'll be resupplying in Caratunk.  The hike today didn't have any real climbs. There was still plenty of rocks, roots, and mud to contend with. I was still able to make a pretty good pace even with all the obstacles. I stopped at the Pierce Pond Lean-to. It was right on the pond and had great access to it. I hiked a little further and saw an old wooden sign that said Harrison's. It was a hunting lodge that catered to hikers as well. It was the place that had a pancake breakfast if you stayed at Pierce Pond. From a distance it looked like an old cabin where nature had been taking it over. I hiked on and found Bear Claw climbing down a steep hill to take a picture of a waterfall. She had taken a zero and I had caught up to her again even with all my low mile days. We hiked on together and came to the Kennebec River. I could see Opie and the ferry on the other side. The ferryman came across the river and gave us life jackets. I was in the front, Bear Claw was in the middle, and the ferryman was in the back. The ferryman and I rowed across the river to the other side. The river looked shallow enough to ford. The reason for the ferry is that there's a dam upstream that releases water during the day. The river can rise rapidly and you could get swept away. One person had died this year trying to ford the river. On the other side we hiked a quarter mile to Caratunk B&B.The B&B was the only place in town that had a resupply. The people who ran it were really friendly and didn't try to rip you off on resupply food. They had pulled pork sandwiches and milkshakes. I had both and they really hit the spot. I stopped at the post office to pick up my resupply package from Theresa. It had lots of protein bars and dinners. My food bag was heavy again but it will get me to Monson. While I was hanging out, Scooter rolled in. He looked exhausted and apparently went down the wrong road for about 30 minutes. He also had developed a nasty rash between his legs from sweating so much. He took a shower at the B&B and decided to stay and recover. I left Caratunk around 4:15 pm to make it to a shelter about 5 miles away. It was a gradual climb all the way there. It seemed really hot outside but then cool air hit me. A rain storm was coming in. It started raining and then harder. The rain was cold and I put on my rain gear. The roots, rocks, and mud had gotten a challenge multiplier. I tried to avoid all of them. I arrived at the shelter a bit wet but luckily there was space in the shelter. Bear Claw was there as well as a couple who had hiked the trail in 1991. They explained that ultralighters didn't exist back then. All their packs were heavy. The typical average time to finish the trail was still 6 months back then. I wonder if we have just gotten weaker? Our packs probably weighed at least half of what theirs weighed back then. I made some meat pasta for dinner and ate lots of snacks. I was starving. After dinner I curled up into my sleeping bag.Tonight the weather is getting colder again. I hope more leaves start changing colors.