Date: 2013-08-16
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 6.2

Sleep tentCell Excellent!195.5 miles remainingHiked 38.1 miles 2013 ATOld Goat notes:We started our day with a 6am wake up call from the front desk. We just seem to wake up at that hour no matter where we are. We were packed up and hiking out of camp by 7:07am. Our first order of business was to go over Spaulding Mountain. This was a 1000ft climb right away, then we went down 500ft we had just worked so hard to achieve. After losing that elevation we were on a ridge for the next 2 miles as we approached Sugarloaf Mountain. We didn't have to go over it we just went around it at 3727ft instead of the peak at 4300ft. It actually went pretty well at first and we were feeling good with our progress as we were going around Sugarloaf until we got to the other side. We were even considering on going all the way into Stratton. This is when reality set in as we descended off the mountain. The trail was steep and at times it was more like rock climbing. I had a moment when I dropped down too quickly and almost kept on going. I landed on all fours and just about hugging the rock. Our progress became so slow at this point we knew town was out of the question. At the lowest elevation of the day we crossed the South Branch of the Carabassett River. This was another ford we were able to do without getting our feet wet. There are two huge boulders in the middle of the river that are too far apart to jump between. Someone put a plank between them which we were able to walk across. I didn't tell Check 6 about the rock climbing or the plank walk before we reached them. I didn't want her to worry about them beforehand and rather have her just do what was necessary when we got there. Those were the only things I remember that I've been holding back. I think we have seen the most difficult challenges the rest should be routine. We crossed the river about 11:30am with a bright sunny sky. It was close enough to lunchtime to stop at this beautiful place. I filtered water for our drinks and we had a picnic on the rocks. After lunch I took off my boots and soaked my feet in the cool water. Check 6 laid back on a flat rock and took a short nap. We continued our journey a little after noon. The sad part was we had about a mile to this campsite. It seems a shame to stop so early 1pm with so much daylight left. The mountains ahead would be too much for us today so the smart thing to do was to stop. We found a nice spot to set up our tent so we went to work making our home for the night. With tent set up we put our sleeping bags on a clothes line (for all of you younger generation that's a string between two trees where you hang wet clothes to dry in the sun) to get the moisture out of them. It is a good idea to air out your sleeping bag when possible, when we are making big miles on really long days it isn't possible, therefore we took the opportunity to do so. We then went to the creek to filter our evening water for dinner. With all the chores done we sat down to relax. After a few minutes I felt a few unexpected rain drops. I quickly threw the sleeping bags in the tent, secured everything and jumped into the tent too. A few minutes later it started to rain harder, luckily we were safe and dry. Incidentally I lost my glasses a few days before we left home, too late to get a replacement pair. I pulled out my old pair and left home with them planning to use them as I hike. The last night before we hit the trail a screw fell out and so did the lens. I am now using my sunglasses as my primary glasses. Fortunately my distance vision is fine I mostly need glasses for reading. If that is the only glitch for this trip we'll be fine. Check 6 notes: We've been told by multiple people (including a group of day hikers today) that we have a beautiful stretch of about 6 days of gorgeous weather Yay! BUT, if that's true, then why are we being rained on in our tent right now??!! We stopped early today around 1pm because these mountains are wiping me out so we decided to do the Crocker Mountains tomorrow and stop early tomorrow again. We set up our tent, put up a line to air out our sleeping bags, sat down to rest, and it started to rain! We're thankful we're all set up for the day and have everything we need in out of the rain. And then to make it even better, we have full cell service for the first time all week so we can send our entries out, read our email, check Facebook, and do anything else we normally do...life us good! (PS we have a backup charger, too, so we can keep our phones charged since we'll be in a hostel tomorrow night and will be able to fully charge everything. Again, life is good!!)We had a glorious lunch break today at a nice river on a flat rock. We pumped fresh water, ate, and then laid in the sun for a while just enjoying the sounds of the water and the peacefulness. It was wonderful! We don't do that often...we both hike the same....plodding along without breaks until we reach the day's destination. It was so nice to take such a beautiful and peaceful break. The mountains are really hard, but my mindset is good, thank heavens. I have looked at the profiles for the terrain for Maine, so I know we have some wonderful hiking ahead. I'm keeping that in my head to help me get through these hard mountains. At the lean-to last evening we met a couple thru-hikers. "Sleeping Beauty," is a very nice guy who said he sleeps very very well while hiking. He even slept through a rainstorm with his tent flap open and woke up in a puddle of water one night! "BMW" is a German man who is hiking the AT after learning about it from a documentary about it in Germany. He says BMW stands for "Bavarian Man Walking." It's nice to share experiences with other hikers There were also 2 long distance section hikers who are finishing the AT this year. I only remember one of the names..."Insane." I never got around to asking how he got that as his trail name. Always interesting stories. Sent from my iPhone