Date: 2013-06-29
From: sugarloaf mountain

To: horns pond lean-tos
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: few clouds

I began my day on a later start than I had wanted, as the summit was clouded over and windy in the morning which hampered my motivation. I eventually made my way down off the summit and back to the AT, which soon dropped off on a steep descent to the river. As I made my descent I caught a glimpse through the clouds at some distant waterfalls running down a huge rock slab and I could hear some water deep down in the gorge which made me a little uneasy. I continued down anyways as I was determined to cross as I had heard others were able to the night before. The last mile was incredibly steep and quite rocky and I almost slipped and fell several times during my descent, but soon it ended and gave way to the river. I could hear the sound of the rushing water grow louder and louder as I neared the river and made the final 100 yard steep and root ridden descent to the water. The ford site had several large boulders scattered throughout the river with a small plank between two in the middle. I tried my luck with the plank, but as I neared the middle of the board it bowed so deep that it was beginning to touch the water. Knowing my luck with bog bridges I decided to step right into the water rather than risk falling in and being swept into the nearby rapids. When my left leg finally hit the bottom I was a little off balance and the force of the water was much stronger than I had anticipated. It nearly knocked me off my feet, but I was able to grab ahold of the plank for support, which shifted sideways as I put my weight against it. I was quite glad not to have trusted the board, and I made my way across the short section before climbing back onto the rocks and skipping across the rest of the river. There were two French Canadian section hikers heading the other way and I waited as they barely made it across the precariously placed plank to the other side..I made the steep climb out of the river gorge, my legs shaking a little from nerves of my near slip in the river. Soon I reached crocker mountain amidst a blanket of fog and then crossed the col to north crocker mountain before making the long 5.5 mile descent towards Stratton. When I finally reached the road I decided I would give it 15 minutes to attempt a hitch in Stratton before I would give up and keep hiking. I was not in need of any supplies and the only need to reach town was to eat some real food. Sure enough after 10 minutes a nice French Canadian couple pulled over and offered me a ride to the Canadian border. I thanked them and said I only needed to go five miles down the road. When I reached town I discovered a festival was being held near the lake and I stopped in the convenience store for some breakfast pastries for the next morning. I remembered there was a diner up the street so I continued down the road and was soon greeted by a wore out old sign that read simply 'diner.' When I made my way inside I was shocked by what I saw. Inside it was very well decorated with a beautiful granite bar and modern d©cor. The owner was sitting at the bar and explained that they were closed but would serve me anyways. I sat and enjoyed an excellent burger and seafood chowder complete with fresh clams and shrimp. I was also able to chat with the friendly staff and the owner and pet a kitten that they were raising. Overall it was a real boost to my morale and one of the best dining experiences on my trip, and to top it off they gave me a ride back to the trail...I had originally planned to camp a mile or two from the road, but after the boost from the food in town I decided to make the 5 mile hike up the mountain to the next lean-to. The climb was long and quite steep, but as I made my way up the terrain gave way to come of the most beauty I've seen on the trip. There were numerous boulders scattered around and along the trail, covered in bright green moss and littered with forest life. When I neared the top of the main climb I caught a view through a gap in the trees.. I could see all the surrounding mountains that I had just scaled in the past few days, with dense storm clouds above them. It was my first real view in several days and I enjoyed it quite a bit. After the blunt of the climb was over I began traversing a small ridge to the base of the bigelow mountains and to horns pond, catching several impressive views along the way. I could see across the valley to the towering sugar loaf mountain that I had been on that morning, and I could see that I had traveled quite a good distance that day..Soon I reached the shelter(s) and chose the unoccupied one to spread out my stuff and partially dry my tent out. Shortly after another hiker arrived and I soon found out he was a NOBO who left April 21st! Impressive feat indeed... I had decided after reaching the shelter that I wanted to push 28 miles to be close to the Kennebec river. There is a 'ferry' that runs across the river each day, but it only runs from 9 to 11 am.. The bugs rolled in and made for another rough night of sleep..