Date: 2006-08-05
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Bald Mtn Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 36.0
Weather: few clouds

Okay, here's what I jotted on a scrap of paper in my guidebook for today: "awesome day. weather: perfect. felt: perfect. 36 [miles], but felt like 20. (17 by lunch) -Kennebec ford"That really does sum up the day pretty well. I was up and out of the shelter before 6, and the miles just seemed to fly by. I crossed a road with "2,000 mi" painted on it, which made for a fun photo op. The terrain was flatter than anything I had experienced in weeks, and the weather was perfect. There were a ton of lakes around, one of which had the most beautiful little sand beach you could ever imagine (excluding the Caribbean =). The Kennebec River is the largest river the trail crosses without a bridge. I think "Kennebec" is an old Indian word, meaning "one hiker died trying to ford, and others have had close calls, so for liability purposes you must sign a waiver and don a life jacket as we ferry you across." Seriously though, there are a couple of dams upriver that release water sporadically and without warning, so the water level can jump two to four feet unexpectedly, and it's 70 yards wide where the trail crosses, so it takes some time to cross. For the past 18 years or so Ferryman Steve Longley has ferried hikers across by canoe. During peak season he's there for two hours in the morning, and two in the afternoon, and I made it to the south bank of the river for the afternoon time slot with plenty of time to spare. There's a little flag you can use to signal Steve, but he saw me right away and paddled over, standing up in the canoe the whole way! I had heard lots of things about the river and the ferry service, including that the river was deadly powerful, and that the canoe you're ferried across in has a white blaze painted in its bottom (ferry by canoe is the official ATC-sanctioned route across the river). Neither were true in my case, since he had just gotten a new canoe, and since the dams hadn't released water recently. We both agreed that the river could probably be safely forded by 99 out of 100 people, but obviously that's still not a safe enough percentage when at least 500 north and southbound hikers are crossing it every year. When I crossed it was a beautiful day and part of me wanted to go ahead and get wet, but then it wouldn't be following the official route. Besides, I had a nice canoe ride and chat with Steve, and he gave me an autographed photo which makes it super official! (he actually wrote "Jumpstart- official ferry service crossing" on the back.)After the ferry I realized that because of a miscalculation I actually had another 14 or so miles to go to reach my intended destination for the night, when I thought it was more like 11. Nothing to do but keep hiking, and go faster if possible. I ran into another flip-flopper who recognized me from when we ran into each other way back in North Carolina. Other than that it was uneventful smooth sailing 'till I reached the shelter a little after dark. I was hoping to maybe see a moose since I was hiking right through dusk, and the trail crossed a couple of power lines and swampy areas, but still no luck in that regard. It felt great to crank out 36 miles after struggling to do 20's in New Hampshire and southern Maine, and it ended up being my second biggest day on the trail, mileage-wise. Tomorrow I'll only have to do 22 miles to meet Josh in the town of Monson.