Date: 2015-07-27
From: South Branch Carrabasset River

To: Avery Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: broken clouds

It didn't rain but I did not sleep well again due to itchy bug bites. I started hiking around 7:10 and headed up South Crocker Mountain. It was sunny out and very warm on the steep climb but there were some awesome views as a I climbed over exposed rocks. I could see Sugar Loaf Mountain which I had not seen due to the low clouds yesterday.From South Crocker I moved on to North Crocker summit which is apparently very popular with the moose given how much droppings were all over the summit and initial descent. I really didn't want to fall because it would be very difficult not to land on any moose poop! It was 5.2 mile descent to ME 27. I was also excited because I would be passing the 2,000 mile mark so I couldn't wait to see the sign. Only I never did. I guess I must have been looking down navigating through mud or rocks because I was at the road, which was mile 2100. Very bummed I couldn't believe I had missed it. I trudged on stopping to get some water and getting bitten in the process. I hiked on glimpsing a view of South Horn which I would be climbing later. It was an interesting 3.5 mile climb through a variety of terrain and forest. The middle section included a lot of boulders covered in moss giving an ethereal effect and it felt like I was going through a maze as I followed the twists and turns of the blazes up the mountain. I passed a couple (Jackie & Luke?) section hiking with their dog Banger from Wyoming. They told me it was going to downpour in an hour and a half. That started my internal debate of staying at the Horn Pond Lean-To though it would only be 3:30 vs hiking the next 3 miles as I had planned but knowing I could be caught on a mountain in the rain. I arrived at the shelter and it was empty so I took it as another sign and decided to keep hiking after I filtered water. The couple decided to keep going too. The view on South Horn was amazing though clouds quickly rolled in so the next couple of miles seemed iffy ... Possible rain and probably no view on West Peak. The final climb to the summit of West Peak was very cool and exposed as you climbed open rock. The sun came out and the sky turned blue again and you could see a lake to the west and clouds to the east. But they moved fast so I sat at the summit admiring the view till the couple Jackie and Luke(?) arrived and we took each other's pictures. We descended 0.3 miles down West Peak to Avery Memorial Campsite which has several tent platforms. I circled around the campsite and looked at the tent platforms but my stakes are too small to wedge between the planks so I went back to a ground tent site near the group tent area. I set up my tent. Frisbee, the first SOBO I had seen all day came by planning to camp. She had actually flown to Bangor, ME from the Sanford Orlando Airport near my home. I pointed out the map on the tree so she could decide where to go. I could hear thunder rumbling in the distance as I ate dinner. So I put everything in my tent and settled in as the thunder got louder and louder. Just before 8 pm, it started raining. The loudest and closest thunder and lightning I have ever heard but then again I am at 3841 ft elevation. I was glad to be in my tent but still felt a little exposed.