Date: 2022-08-08
From: Human Nature Hostel (South Arm Rd) Mile 1947.5

To: Established site by Bemis Stream Mile 1959.9
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

I ended up waking up early and couldn¢t get back to sleep, although I lay in bed until 6 AM trying to fall asleep again. We had pancakes in the morning with an AT symbol in the middle. We had some overnight rain although it looks like most of it went north of us and some light drizzle while packing up. We took the 8 AM shuttle back to the trail head, with Captain Crunch stuck in the rear of the SUV. Once we got back to the trail head we said goodbye to our shuttle driver Patriot who is a trail angel with a big setup just across the road most days.We started the day with a 2200 foot climb over about 3 miles up Old Blue Mountain. The trail wasn¢t too bad although it had the occasional rebar and difficult sections. While the temperature wasn¢t too bad, the humidity is really high and the trees, rocks and roots were wet from the overnight rain and light morning drizzle. Certain rocks and most tree roots and bog bridges get really slick when wet. As a result we need to be really careful about where you place your feet. No views at the top as we were fogged in. So far Maine has been more miss than hit for the views-especially compared to the fantastic NH weather. The last couple of days we¢ve been seeing a lot of moose poop all over the trail. Yesterday and today was especially prevalent with some of them appearing relatively recent. It appears that the moose like using the AT trail as well to get around the mountain. We¢ll see poop on both sides of the peak so it looks like they are actually going up and over. Some of the terrain you wouldn¢t think a moose would want to do, but it¢s probably easier than walking through the dense pine trees. So far we have not seen any moose or any more moose tracks. In fact, about the only animals we see are chipmunks and squirrels.We¢d been seeing mushrooms but with the ¢wetter¢ weather recently there was an abundance of mushrooms today. For the most part ones we have seen before, but also the occasional new one. We¢ve also been seeing lots of wild blueberries, mainly at the top of the bald mountains.Over the past couple weeks we¢ve been seeing about 6 to 12 SOBO hikers a day. Today we saw our first family with 4 kids looking like roughly middle school age. We passed our first one coming down Greylock in MA in early July and it built slowly. Most of these hikers this week started in mid to end of July so we figure it will start slowing down soon. We¢ll see some of them after the flip but it¢s hard to determine roughly which group is the most likely candidates. The rest of the day wasn¢t too bad trail wise. We had a bunch of ridge walks along the top of Bemis Mountain which is somewhat bald. There were some tricky spots coming down, but mostly because they were still wet and slippery. I did slip and fall once. I thought I had caught myself on my hands but the pitch of the slope combined with the momentum of the pack sent me into a 360 roll. Fortunately was able to stop at one roll and the only thing hurt was my pride. Orchid and I got to camp at about 4:30 and got setup taking care for site selection with threat of rain. Pilgrim came in after us but was looking and feeling better than recent days so the nero helped. Although it wasn¢t that hot the humidity was high and my clothes are damp but at least not soaked. A storm rolled through just as we were finishing up camp chores for the night, I was in the process of getting the bear bag hung. Fortunately I got in the tent before the heavy rain started although it didn¢t last too long. We saw Paws today who we last saw on the Camp Moosilauke party night. He¢s been hiking with Timex but fell a day behind after an on trail zero day. Steps 25900Weather Forecast: 69/59 with chance of Prain and Tstorms and rain at night