Date: 2014-09-21
From: East Flagstaff Road

To: Harrison's Fish Camp
Miles today: 16.7

I woke up at 5:15, couldn't go back to sleep and finally got out of bed at 6:00. I went downstairs to get ready for hiking. We walked down to the White Wolf Inn for breakfast, No Rush, Astroguy, and I. I found out that Stratton, Maine is only about 35 miles from the Canadian border. We all loaded in Sue's truck for the 8:00 shuttle to East Flagstaff Road. No Rush, Astroguy, Triple P, Cheekie Chee, Ravioli, Dan and I were in the truck. There is a 60% chance of rain today but we need to keep heading north. We got out on the trail at 9:00 and kept moving all day. We hiked 16.7 miles in a little over 6 hours. We were back carrying our full packs but the terrain was fairly easy today. Two short uphills early than fairly flat trail with only roots, rocks, and mud. Passed one huge lake and several ponds. The days are warming back up, I have been telling everyone that Indian Summer is coming. There were little frogs back out on the trail and I saw 2 snakes trying to warm up on the path. We stopped at West Carry Pond Lean-to for a quick snack. There were three containers that used to have trail magic in them but were empty today. Some times the timings just not there on trail magic. Marathon, Navigator, J-Rex, and Toots were taking a break here also . We were hikng along East Cary Pond and came upon a sandy beach. There was a large group of people sitting right on the trail that probably had no idea that they were sitting on the Appalachian Trail, they just looked at us as we hiked by. It was starting to cloud up and it looked like we were going to get wet today. I actually did, I fell down in a stream while getting water. I seem to be getting clumsier every day, I don't know if it has anything to do with me being tired though. We got to Pierce Pond Lean-to and spent some time trying to decide if we wanted to stay here or hike another .4 miles on the trail to a dry, warm cabin. It was now starting to rain slightly and we figured that there would be hikers coming in to the shelter all evening. We hiked to Harrison's Pierce Pond Camp and met the owner Tim. He has ran the place for 29 years and runs the place by himself. He has a big kitchen, nice dining area, and another big room that you can hang out in. Everything runs off of generators and he has a nice bath house with hot showers. He was telling me that the whole pond area is in a land trust and can never be developed. The pond is famous for record size Brook Trout and land-locked salmon. He put us up in a cabin right by the stream. It had a porch and a wood stove that made it a warm, cozy evening in spite of the rain. The stove was all ready to go, we just had to light a match. We also had a kerosene lamp that gave you just enough light to find your way around the cabin. We fixed dinner on the porch and then retreated to the cozy interior for the night. I put my wet shoes by the stove to dry out and sat by the stove and studied my AT guide. Only 154.8 miles to go! The three ladies from the shelter earlier today, Miss Janet, and Hog Driver were also in cabins. In the morning Tim will fix breakfast for us at 7:00. I love this place and it is the highlight of my day.