Date: 2005-09-18
From: East Pleasant River Lean-To

To: Mahar Tote Rd./ White House Landing
Miles today: 21.9

Later in the afternoon yesterday, Lion King limped in along with Bear Tracks. Papa Razzi and Ug stopped in briefly to try and dry out before heading on. The guys ended up building a fire last night, and we stood around roasting our clothes like marshmallows trying to get them good and dry.This morning came early and we were a little late getting out. The good news is that both Bug's and my bags had pretty much dried out after getting soaked in the rain yesterday (not good when you have a down bag). Our clothes weren't too cold and wet when we got dressed this morning, but it was raining and we weren't looking forward to going out in it. The shelter itself was beautiful, it was new and had skylights built in so it wasn't so depressing inside. There were beautiful moss covered rocks and boulders all around the shelter, the forest looked like something out of a fairytale. Three tenths of a mile into our hike, we had to tackle our ford of the day. The water was angry and rushing after all the rain yesterday. Sherpa was the first to tackle the river. He took his time and was careful with each step he took and soon made it across, but there were times that his legs seemed a bit unsteady on the crossing. I wasn't too far behind him, keeping a close eye on where he stepped so that I could follow. Just before the opposite side, the river got very fierce and deep but Sherpa didn't go much deeper than his knees and I thought I would be home free (I didn't take into account how tall he is). I went to step off a large rock down into this deep abyss and placed my pole down first. As the water rushed around the pole, it caused the pole to vibrate back and forth which made me that much more fearful of stepping down into the water. When I stepped down, I had decent footing but it was much deeper than I expected it to be. It went up to my upper thigh and the skirt I worked so hard to dry last night, was wet once more. The important thing is that I didn't fall in this one and neither did Bug. Pumpkin had a close call upon crossing, but she too managed to make it across getting only a little wet.Upon getting our trail runners back on our feet, it was heads down and minds on hiking! We had Little Boardman Mountain to climb, which was just over 2,000 feet but still took the wind out of me. From there it was smooth sailing. There was plenty of "HFT" (Happy Flat Time/Trail) to be had and we took advantage of it. There was a brief rest-stop at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To. The shelter itself left a little to be desired as it was older, but the setting could not be beat! The falls were rushing and were absolutely beautiful!!! Pumpkin, Sherpa, Bug and I left after about 15 minutes. We would have loved to have stayed longer, but the call of food and a real bed was too strong to ignore. We continued on and passed over many many bog bridges. Typically, I love these because it is easy to hike fast across them seeing as how they eliminate the hassle of rocks, roots and side-stepping mud puddles and sludge. Today however, I nearly bust my rear more than a handful of times. They were slick with rain and moss and I continually lost my footing. Soon enough though, we were at Antler's campsite where we broke for a brief lunch. We were doing great! We hiked 16 miles in 6 hours....that is an average of 2.7 miles an hour! We ate our last Backpacker's Pantry Meal (Cajun Chicken) while Pumpkin and Sherpa feasted on mashed potatoes. We were out within 30 minutes and had a little over 5 miles to our day's destination. Bug and I stopped briefly at Pemadumcook Lake in hopes of getting a glimpse of that pretty lady, Katahdin. But to quote Hairball, "she is a sassy one" and decided to keep herself shrouded in clouds. So we trudged on towards Mahar Tote Road. We were there by 4:30 and had about mile to walk on a blue-blazed trail to the lake where we waited for our boat pickup. When we got there we sounded the air-horn and waited for Bill to come over and pick us up. Bug soaked his feet in the lake as we waited and soon we were speeding across the lake to White House Landing. We were shown to our cabin and first thing we took hot showers! Next, it was over to the main lodge for dinner. The Brits-Jon and Rachael, along with Pumpkin, Sherpa, Papa Razzi, Bug and I sat down to a massive dinner. We were treated to complimentary salad (tomatoes and cucumbers in a Balsamic vinaigrette) and home-made zucchinni bread. Bug and I both ordered the famous 1 lb. cheeseburger. I think Linda made Bug's bigger than a pound because he had to wait longer than everyone else. I am pleased to report however, that Bug and I both ate all of our burgers (Bug also ate about 1/4 of the meat on Pumpkin's burger that she was unable to finish). In addition to this, we each had a pre-celebratory and final pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (I had Fossil Fuel and Bug had Dublin Mudslide). I am utterly stuffed and feeling good, it was definately worth the 22 today! Just a few more days until Katahdin.