Date: 2008-09-23
From: East Carry Pond

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 9.9

I slept in late until 07:00. I made breakfast, broke camp and S&F walked by at 08:08, they had stopped a mile or so back last night. I finished up and left a few minutes later. The walk today has been easy going. I walked alongside a creek that had one waterfall after another.We reached the Kennbec River about 12:30 so we had to wait until about 2:00 p.m. It felt good to sit out in the sun, I took my boots off, sat on a rock and soaked my feet until they were starting to go numb. I pulled them out for a few moments then did it again.There is a warning about crossing the river without a boat. The waters from the dam upstream can rise suddenly without warning and some people have drowned trying. The river was presently low, I walked out on the gravel sandbars and rockhopped out as far as I could, the river was wide but do-able. I could have waded farther out then swam but really there was no point and it wasn't a "have too" scenario.While we were waiting, the New Hampshire Boys joined us on the bank, then came Willow and Long Way True. Eventually I saw a guy emerge from the tree line on the opposite bank dragging a canoe down to the water. I saw that he was wearing a life jacket and a tall felt hat. He paddled across with relative ease.The canoe ferryman was named Dave, a.k.a. "Hillbilly". That was a fitting name to match his appearance. Sprite & Freckles were the first to cross with Hillbilly after signing the waiver. On his way back to pick me up I noticed he was paddling much harder than before. He even did a wide arc aiming upriver before circling down to my location.The water was quickly rising in just the short time since he beached to let the girls off and return. I looked up river for a large rock that I saw sticking out earlier, it was gone or rather was under water, it had previously been atleast 2 feet above the water.Now before my very eyes I have witnessed this first hand, Attempting to swim this river would be more than foolish. Hillbilly and I paddled hard upriver shooting another arc to reach the other side. I give him a lot of credit, you need strong guns to do this several times, back and forth in this current. Thanks for the ride brother. We walked about a half mile through the woods and came out on U.S. 201 to a place named Caratunk. The girls were expecting to pick up a maildrop at the P.O. We crossed the hiway, walked up a road with a few houses on each side and the P.O sat among them.They picked up their packages, Sprite had called for a shuttle from the Northern Outdoors Resort that was just a few miles away. We waited and waited but no one showed. We had been speaking with the Postal clerk off and on, as she was quite friendly. In the end, she offered to drive us herself once she finished work and closed up. We were extremely grateful not only for the ride but because we all fit into her small car with all our gear. She was a blessing and a trail Angel to be sure.We entered the lodge, it had a rustic atmosphere, TV, couches, dining area, arcade room, Hot tub, rooms and a restaurant with micro brews.We declined on the room but opted for a canvas tent cabin that sleeps four on wood framed cots, has a plywood floor and electricity. These were located across the road, down the hill and a short walk from the lodge. It was similar to the ones in the National Lampoons movie-"Vacation" with Chevy Chase where they spent the night with Aunt Edna, or from Gold Rush camps of long ago.After dropping our gear, we took showers and got our laundry going, then returned to the dining area for dinner. I ran into "Thinker" again, he thanked me for mailing his package for him back in Rangely so he wouldn't have to wait until the P.O opened the following day.We talked and enjoyed a couple of beers, this was a totally unexpected treat, We were provisioned for 6 days and I wasn't expecting anything like this before then. It really is too bad about my camera, I would have taken atleast 100 pictures possibly more since I have arrived in Maine. Now, even my second pair of boots are torn and have rough signs of wear. I was hoping to still wear them after the trip, but now I just hope they hold up well enough for another 150 miles to finish?Walking back in the dark to the canvas tent cabin, the light is on inside and in the darkness the whole structure is illumiated as the light glows through the white canvas. It was kind of a cool thing to see.All in all, it was an exceptionally good day. Reaching Milestones like crossing the Kennebec and many other landmarks before, are really cool to finally get to see them in person. After reading about them and seeing pictures from the journals of previous thru-hikers it is literally like experiencing deja-vu. For so long I dreamed of seeing these places, and now I am experiencing them for real. Very fulfilling to say the least.