Date: 2004-07-13
From: Lake Shore House, Monson Maine

To: Stealth tenting 1/3 mile south of Bald Mountain Br
Miles today: 19.0

19 miles todayStealth tenting 1/3 mile south of Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to, MaineThe Pie Lady set me loose in the woods!!! It's been about 3 weeks, I think since I got off the trail in Va. It sure feels good to be back on the trail again here in Maine.I was up until after midnight last night and I woke up a little after 5 this morning. I new I didn't get enough sleep, but I knew I would probably be stealth tenting tonight and I always sleep good out in the middle of nowhere. I went downstairs and made coffee and then tried catching up on what the weather was going to be doing for the next few days. I sat on the back porch to drink my coffee and watched a Loon feeding. I remembered a restaurant towards Dover-Foxcroft and drove over that way looking for it. It turned out to be a bakery. I went ahead and got a few things and went back to my room. I finished packing and made arrangements to leave my truck at The Lake Shore House. I walked down to see when the Pie Lady could give me a ride to the trail and she said she could do it right now. I wasn't really expecting that. I thought I would have time to play around town a little, but she drove me back to where I was staying and I got my backpack and she took me out to the woods and dropped me off. I started walking at 9am. Caratunk is only about 35 miles away, so I have plenty of time to play around and still get there tomorrow pretty early. The weather was nice today and the bugs weren't too bad. I stopped and put my long pants on though because my legs were getting bit. I only walked a few miles and I sat down and took a break. There was a few things that I noticed right away about Maine. It smells really good in the woods because of all the spruce trees. It's way cooler than where I was hiking. There is moose poop and moose tracks everywhere. There is alot of rocks and roots in the trail. There is birch trees.I forded the East Branch of the Piscataquis River and shortly after that I ran into a nobo who didn't even slow down. He just said; "I wish these bugs would go away." I didn't think they were that bad...it could be alot worse.I ran into Mello who left Springer on Feb. 29th. We talked about 10 minutes and then I hiked on. This is a nice stretch of trail because it goes along side this river for miles. I stopped at Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to and ate lunch. I didn't bother trying to dry my shoes out because there is 2 more rivers to ford later. I ran into a Brit named Nick who left Springer on March 17. He has to get done and leave the country before his visa expires. I did the 2 more river fords and a little later I ran into E-Dog and Wyatt. I forgot to write in yesterdays journal that I saw a dead moose on the side of the road. I sure wouldn't want to hit one of those guys.I ate dinner at Moxie Bald Lean-to. I went down to the lake and sat on a rock that was sticking out of the water and while I was eating, I got to watch another Loon diving for his food. I hiked on after about 45 minutes. I climbed Moxie Bald Mountain and ran into Willie Goat and Good To Go who left Springer on March 23rd. They had a message from Frogcaller who is working on the trail a few days south of here. They told me that she says "hey"...well, hey right back at you Frogcaller..thanks. These nobos that I'm running into right now are the fast ones on the 4 month plan. I got up to the top of Moxie Bald at 6:20pm and realized that this is the mountain that I climbed a couple years ago right after there was a fire on it. Some of the trees were still smoldering then.I got to Bald Mtn Brook Lean-to and there were about 6 sobos. I only remember 2 names right now...Caveman and LunchBox. I sat and talked for about 30 minutes and then hiked on and found this nice tent site close to a stream. The mosquitos were coming out heavy, so I hurried and got my tent up, my food bag hung and crawled in the tent. It feels very good to be back in my tent. Another great day on the A.T.