Date: 2006-08-27
From: ME-27 (Stratton, ME)

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night ended up being pretty rough for Jangles and Jelly Bean because they both woke up in the middle of the night sick. Not sure if it was my cooking or not but they aren¢t the only ones feeling a little under the weather this morning and we all had different things for dinner last night. There must be a bug floating around and being sick on the trail is never a good thing. We slowly gathered our gear, checked our email one final time at the motel and scheduled a ride back to the trail. Since we had a little time to spare we went across the street to the Stratton Dinner for a filling breakfast. You could definitely tell we were in Maine because the paper placemats on the table had a picture of a big red lobster in the center and on the sides were instructions on how to eat one. Even though some of us were a little queezy from the bug we ordered, ate a filling meal, and checked out. As we were leaving the Jersey Boys came in from the trail to celebrate a birthday and they have decided to stay in town for the day. This will give us a chance to get a little ahead of them during the next push over to Caratunk. Just before our shuttle arrived Jangles, Shasta, H-Bomb, Baro, and I posed next to the three life sized bears carved out of wood in front of the motel. They were dressed like hikers and the smallest one was just about H-bomb¢s size. Around 10:30 am Don pulled up and took us off to the trail. The news this morning mentioned some bad weather could possibly roll in this afternoon so our first focus was to make it up to Horns Pond Lean-To before making any more plans. This hike up to the lean-to was nice but the further we went the thicker the clouds got. We were now entering the Bigelow Mountains so from town to the campsite we gained nearly 2,000 feet in elevation. When we got there one of the caretakers by the name of Jeff greeted us and gave us a little history of the area while we took a break in one of the oldest lean-tos on the trail. About the time we got ready to leave sprinkles started falling from the sky. Jeff mentioned that the next section of trail over to Avery Memorial Campsite was pretty exposed and if bad weather was moving in we needed not waste any time while trying to make it over there. From here we still had about 1,000 feet to climb before going over the West Peak of Bigelow Mountain. About half way to the summit the weather started to get worse and the wind picked up. Not only did it get windy it started raining buckets and when that happened there was no way to stay dry. I stopped and put my rain jacket on mostly to protect me from the wind because if the temperature falls when it is windy and you are wet it doesn¢t take long for hypothermia to start setting in. I know this from previous experiences on the trail and the two that comes to mind was back on Mount Rogers in Virginia and the other was Mount Wolf just before the White Mountains. I had learned a lesson. We ended up hiking all afternoon without a break due to the weather. Earlier in the day we decided to shoot for Little Bigelow Lean-to for the night but as conditions worsened so did the trail. When wet the rocky areas on the trail holds up pretty good, but many times the flats or valleys will turn to mud in return slowing down your pace. It took us nearly the rest of the day to make it over Avery peak before starting our descend down into Safford notch. Worn out and still five miles short from the lean-to we opted to stay in Safford Notch Campsite. The guild book mentioned platforms and that would be very handy because from all the rain the ground was completely saturated with rain runoff. On the way into the Notch we passed several large boulders that overhung the trail that provided a dry spot to drop our packs and take shelter. This gave us a chance to make some decisions about camping. Come to find out the platforms that were mentioned in the guidebook was already inhabited by two college groups that were out for an overnight trip. This meant we were camping directly on the ground with no protection from the water running off the mountain above. The campsite was a little over used and provided very little place to pitch a tent due to the steep terrain. With three tents and places only big enough for two, Jangles and I decided to share her tent. By the time we pitched her tent the floor had water standing on it and there was a small river was flowing directly beneath. The only thing we could do was stash our gear inside and retreat back to the rocks for shelter. This allowed us to regroup and cook a hot dinner because by this time we were all shivering and wet. We wasted no time finishing dinner and returned to the tent to get settled for the night. After a cold wet day on the trail there is nothing like climbing into a wet sleeping bag inside a wet tent. There was no sign of the rain letting up anytime soon. What a long night!Tonight at Safford Notch Campsite: Jangles, Shasta, H-Bomb, Baro, two college groups and I.