Date: 2019-08-19
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-To (ME)

To: Piazza Rock Lean-To (ME)
Miles today: 8.9

It did in fact rain basically all night. It might have even hailed. I had a dream that I was around a bunch of people. One person would make these weird, loud noises while breathing. I would get one person to stop, and someone else would start doing it. I woke up and realized the guy next to me was snoring. I woke him up, and he stopped for the rest of the night. It was another slow morning with everything being wet. We started about 7:30 and climbed up and over Saddleback Junior. It was pretty cloudy. While there were some views, we couldn¢t see Saddleback senior to see where we were going. Between Saddleback Junior and the Horn, we went down to where the campsite we could have stayed last night. I fell on the way down, having slipped on a wet rock. I was concerned about going over the rest of the Saddlebacks because the trail was above tree line for 3 miles and an earlier weather report forecasted thunderstorms. We didn¢t have any service, so we went ahead and went up to the tree line. SC had service here. Her weather app was saying that the storms were unlikely before 4pm. We decided we would be able to get over the Saddlebacks before the thunderstorms started. It was not long before we hit the Horn. We could look one way and see the top of Saddleback Junior and the trail we had come down, and look the other way and see the entire trail where in went down from the Horn and up to the summit of Saddleback Mountain. You could see hikers coming from perhaps a mile away. I had gone down the Horn and had started up Saddleback proper, clouds started to roll in from the east. I thought they would completely obscure the trail, but the trail appeared to be a boundary line of sorts. It was completely cloudy to the east, while the west remained clear. After a long climb, I got to what I thought was the top of Saddleback, but it was a false summit. Fortunately, it was clear and I could see the actual summit ahead. When I reached the summit, I sat down to talk to SC, drink some water, and have a snack. However, a large gray cloud appeared to be forming to the southwest, so we got moving again. The next mile was all above tree line. I¢m glad threatening weather wasn¢t immediate because that could be scary being so exposed. However, because it wasn¢t, we had a nice walk across the mostly flat alpine area.When I got to tree line, I checked my phone and I had service so I checked the weather. My app was saying thunderstorms from 4:30 to 8:30. It¢s 3 miles to the shelter and depending on terrain, we should be able to make it there before it storms. Not long after I check the weather, I have my second fall of the day. I stepped on a loose rock and then slid, landing on my hind end. No damage done, though. It was a long, tedious climb down. At one point there was a ladder and at another point, rebar steps in the rocks. Where were these on our way up Sugarloaf? However, even with these aids, I managed to fall for the third time today, 12th of the trail. This time I tripped over a root. I was going slowly down the mountain, about 1mph. I got to a nice little spot overlooking a pond, so stopped to rest, have a snack, and get some water. I¢m about to leave and walk the .8 miles to the lean-to, when I look up at the sky and notice it is getting dark. I take a few more minutes to put on my pack cover. Shortly after I started hiking, a thunderstorm rolled through. Fortunately, it only lasted a few minutes and I was no longer on the top of a mountain where I could be in danger of a lightning strike. The trail was also easier. It even had switchbacks(!), which we haven¢t seen since we flipped. By the time I got to the lean-to, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. SC and a sobo we¢ve stayed with last couple of nights was there. A little later a couple of nobos stopped by. The woman decided to push on to a campsite in 2 miles, while the guy stayed with us. I wonder if this is the first time he¢s been this outnumbered by sobos. This is a nice area to stay in. The water source isn¢t very far away and has a place where it is easy to fill up a filter. The lean-to has skylights, so it is bright inside when the sun is out. There are tons of tent sites and some newer-looking tent platforms. There¢s supposed to be a caretaker for the area, but we¢ve not seen any sign of them. We did less than 9 miles today and I got in before 5pm, but this is a great place to stay after a 3-fall day.