Date: 2006-08-04
From: East Flagstaff Rd.

To: Pierce Pond Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

We got moving a lot later today than we had planned, which always seems to be the case when we know we have a short hike. It started out with a near death by pancake disaster. I had bought a box of Aunt Jemima at the store yesterday and excitedly made my way downstairs this morning to stir some up. Doogie, who, as always, had been up and ready for hours (and made a pot of coffee ¢ even though he doesn¢t drink it) suggested I use the enormous griddle that was built into the ginormous stove. This way I could make all the pancakes at once, he said. I agreed that sounded like an excellent idea, and he rushed over to clean it and turn it on. He had been back at his chair for a few moments before I commented, ¢I smell gas.¢ I reached to turn the knobs back off when all of a sudden BOOM! a burst of flames came shooting out hard enough to pop open the oven door. The arm that was on the control came in direct contact with the flames and all of my arm hairs became casualties. The entire kitchen smelled like burnt hair and I asked, shakily, ¢What the heck happened?¢ Doogie, wide-eyed, said he didn¢t know, but that he was very surprised no one had run in to see what had happened. We found out later that Granite¢s uncle didn¢t want anyone using the griddle, so he turned off the pilot light. Our guess was that the gas finally leaked down to the oven and reached its pilot light where it exploded. In the end everyone was okay and after the pilot lights were relit the stove was in top working order again. The rest of the day seemed uneventful compared to this. Granite was really sad because she wasn¢t feeling well again, and she wasn¢t sure if she should hike out. She sure has run across a lot of obstacles lately. Pierce Pond is her mother¢s favorite place on the trail, and she has been looking forward to sleeping there for such a long time. In the end she decided it would be safer to stay another night and get some medicine than to hike out, so she gave us all a ride back to the trail with the promise that she would meet up with us in Monson. We had one of those freak Maine rainstorms today that seem to sneak up on us, thunder, lightning, rain, and then go away. I¢m not complaining. I¢d rather have a sneak-attack rainstorm than an all day rainstorm. Luckily we were eating lunch in a shelter when this one came up. A couple of miles past the shelter we hiked out on a log walkway over a swamp when all of a sudden the walkway disappeared. Snake tried to convince me that we could move some logs over to the much and build our own walkway, but I had a firm vision of the logs sinking like an anchor, or worse, floating on top. I braved it out, hoping I was right in thinking there would be no alligators in Maine, and used my feet to feel for the mound of old sunken logs at the bottom. I was successful at only sinking up to my knees, but an exclamation from Snake made me glance over to see him thigh-deep in the muck. It was a very comical ford. After we got out an agitated Snake nearly killed me by running the 8 miles left without any breaks. I tried as I might to get him to leave me behind, including the ¢I promise¢ assurance, but he never leaves a man behind. I barely made it. The Pierce Pond Shelter is not that great of a shelter by itself. Its beauty is all in its location. As we pulled up I could hear two loons in the distance, and the sun was setting behind the hills that surrounded the pond. The sky had turned that orangey-pink color that skies seem to turn before dusk. I dropped my bag and sat out on a rock for ten minutes or so, trying to absorb the peacefulness of the moment.