Date: 2005-08-04
From: East Flagstaff Road

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Miles hiked today : 15.9I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. after a fairly good night of rest. My lower back was stinging early in the night, but had mostly settled into an uncomfortable soreness by the morning. I packed my pack with the heaviest gear on top to keep pressure off my lower pack and tied my fleece around my waist with a huge knot on my lower back to prevent my pack from resting directly on my back. I ate breakfast and hiked out at 6:55 a.m.At 7:15 a.m., I reached Flagstaff Lake, which was covered in a fog. I had seen the lake from the various peaks of Bigelow Mountain and it was gargantuan. Continuing on, at 8:00 a.m., I arrived at Long Falls Dam Road, which had "2000 mi" spray painted beneath a recently painted yellow divider, though the numbers must have been fairly old, as it was actually at milepoint 2,006.2. There was a sign on a tree providing information about the upcoming section of trail and I couldn't help but smile at the part stating that there are no mountains in the upcoming 17.1 mile section up to the Kennebec River.Shortly after passing West Carry Pond, which was enormous, I reached West Carry Pond Lean-to at 9:30 a.m. and took a 1 hour break. During my break, Bones showed up. I hadn't seen him since Wintturi Shelter in Vermont, some 312.9 miles ago, and we spent a few minutes catching up before I hiked on. 2.2 miles past the lean-to, I crossed Arnold Swamp and nearly fell in when one of the bog bridges shifted under my weight. Apparently, some of them were floating on the water, which I found out as soon as I stepped on them and my boot was submerged in murky liquid.At 11:30 a.m., I crossed Sandy Stream, which meant I was hiking 2.6 m.p.h. At 11:50 a.m., I reached East Carry Pond, also enormous, and spotted a seaplane coming in for a landing. Pushing on, I maintained a fairly rapid pace over easy terrain, stopping once for 10 minutes at 1:00 p.m. to gather and treat a liter of water at a spring 3.0 miles before Pierce Pond Lean-to. Just before the lean-to, I stopped again to gather 2 more liters of water from a stream so that I could avoid gathering water from Pierce Pond.I arrived at Pierce Pond Lean-to at 2:15 p.m., having covered 10.0 miles in 3 hours, 35 minutes. I dropped my pack and took off my fleece padding, happy that I'd experienced no pain today while hiking. I ate a snack and treated water before taking a dip in the pond, which was so large that I was unable to see the far end. Before entering the water, as I sat on the edge of the pond, I saw a leech swim by, so my dip was brief. After cooling off in the pond, I walked to a nearby waterfall, which is a gushing torrent fed by Pierce Pond. Back at the lean-to, I cooked dinner and lounged around for an hour or so before journaling. At 8:00 p.m., I walked back to the waterfall to snap some photographs, then returned to the lean-to to read.Tomorrow, I cross the Kennebec River, which is 0.1 mile wide, according to the data book. The official AT path across the Kennebec is via a canoe ferry, which is free to thru-hikers. I've joked about attempting to ford the Kennebec, though with a drowning that occured in 1985 and several other close calls efore anf after that drowning, I have no plans to make any such attempt. I probably would have crossed it this afternoon and hiked further than 15.9 miles, except the canoe ferry only operates between 9~11 a.m. and 2~4 p.m. I might have made the afternoon time slot, as the Kennebec is only 3.6 miles away, but it would have been annoying to arrive a few minutes late only to be stranded on the South shore until the morning time slot. As it is, I am quite happy to have spent the afternoon at this location. The pond is beautiful, the weather was great, and I had excellent company.Bedtime at 9:00 p.m.