Date: 2013-08-15
From:  Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to 
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked 31.9 miles 2013 AT201.8 miles remainingOld Goat notes:We started with a slight climb to the top of Poplar Ridge. A funny thing about Poplar Ridge is that I didn't see any Poplar trees. The caretaker of the shelter places a history / trivia report in the shelter register and in it he talks about how all the Poplar trees had died off. We are requesting a copy of that report by email, hopefully we'll be able to post some of it in the future. So anyway, the climb to the ridge was relatively easy and then a big decent began. This decent didn't have as many large rocks to climb down as yesterday's mountains. The trail was more normal hiking; we went from 3000ft to 1550ft in 2 miles. At the bottom we reached Orbeton Stream the guidebook mentions that we may have to ford the stream but we didn't have to. Fording a steam usually means having to take off our shoes, put on our Krocs, and walking across the stream in the water. We were lucky today that the water was low enough that we could walk or hop from one large rock to another and not get our feet wet. The trail in Maine crosses many creeks, streams, and rivers that require fording at times. Some of these crossings will mean getting our feet wet, some will depend on the amount of rain that had fallen recently. After Oberton Stream we climbed Lone Mountain 3 miles from 1550ft to 3260ft. The trail on this climb was a lot more like trail hiking and less like the mountain climbing we did yesterday. We stopped early today for two reasons the first being that the next designated campsite is too far and the terrain probably would have a good place for an impromptu spot to camp. The second reason is even though we prepared for this hike the climbs have made us very tired. We want rest up for tomorrow. Check 6 notes:It's nice to hike in terrain more like the Southern states...some real nice pine trail and some mountains that aren't huge boulders. Unfortunately, the uphill climbs have always done me in when they are miles long...and this one was about 2 miles uphill. I was exhausted when we got here and had to rest. It's frustrating to arrive at our destination before 2pm, but I was wiped out so we stopped. Besides, we still have hard mountains ahead. Sometimes my body doesn't do well when I exert myself heavily. I get nauseous and can't eat. I have learned over the years that Propel and "Sports Beans" help my body stay okay. Today was one of the bad days...I haven't been able to eat much because I've felt nauseous most of the day. I did eat a package of sports beans and that helped a little. They replenish electrolytes - a doctor friend during our thru-hike told us about them and gave me some to try (thanks, Papa Doc!). When we stopped today I drank a lot of Propel. I feel much better and I will be able to eat dinner. I think I'm having trouble with the high altitude, too. I am constantly gasping for breath when we're hiking up the mountains. I'll be so happy when we are finished with these Bigelow mountains!!!By the way, my mental state is a million times better this year. Oh, and the Maine moose are just as courteous as the moose in other states are...they do poop on the trail, but on the side of the trail!Sent from my iPhone