Date: 2015-06-24
From: Pierce Pond Shelter

To: Near Moxie Pond
Miles today: 16.0

After waking up to loons calling, we hiked the .3 miles over to the Harrison Fish Camp. Tim, the owner and proprietor, was hiker friendly and encouraged hikers to visit. Tim was an ex insurance adjuster from Manhattan. He gave up his profession and bought this fish camp 30 years ago. He seemed very happy.Tim also offered hikers a breakfast that he called "the patriotic breakfast". It was assorted pancakes with strawberries (for the red), blueberries (for the blue), and blanched apples (for the white). It was served with eggs and sausages. It was unbelievably delicious.As soon as we finished eating, we hurried out on the trail. We needed to get to the ferry on time. Since the death of one hiker, the ATC hires a canoe guide to shuttle hikers across the Kennebec River. It only runs for two hours a day.The undulating terrain filled with muddy/boggy areas slowed down my pace. Constant rock hopping and agile foot work was required to avoid mud-filled shoes. It was nice to get to some nice stands of pines. Their needles on the trail were so soft. Well, at least until they get in your shoe. Prickly bastards!The canoe ferry guy was really nice. He was able to shuttle one or two hikers at a time. On the northern bank, I could see southbounders queued up. We all got across and promptly went into Carrarunk. Unfortunately, the Post office didn't open until 2pm. This meant we would have to wait. We decided to hitch down to Mountain Outfitters, a local lodge. Quickly, a car stopped with a kayak on the roof. It was a really nice river guiding couple who were out kayaking the whitewater nearby.They were so nice. In fact, they took a ton of time to repack their car so that we could fit. When we arrived, the nice couple surprised us with wild strawberries that they just picked. At the lodge, we hung out for hours. It was cool that they had a microbrew in lodge. Magazines scattered throughout the lodge were of Backpacker and Beer Aficionado. When the post office was opening up, we hitched back. As we were thumbing it, a large school bus used for rafting trip pulled over. He was really nice and funny, although most of the time I couldn't understand him with his accent.When I got back to the post office, we told me that my box was sent down to the mountain outfitters. That was the place that we had, in fact, been waiting at. It was because there was a fire at the post office recently. It was mistakenly classified as closed, which obviously it wasn't. Northern Outfitters sent a shuttle and picked me up. Then, back at the lodge, I got my box. Inside the precious box were my wonderful, new shoes.Back on the trail, we hiked on. It continued to be very sloppy trails. Sad for my new shoes!!! The trail took me through a blowdown area. It took some patience and a lot of abusing of my gear to get through. In the evening, getting water was a bit tedious. The mosquitoes were in their full glory and out for blood. It is amazing how fast one can get water when there are blood suckers around. We walked on a bit further and found a good campspot by a set of power lines. I found a ton of wild strawberries right next to it. It was nice to be stealth camping. We ate and relaxed and eventually hit the hay.Ready to try and get to Monsons. Last stop for re supplies for a long while.