Date: 2006-09-04
From: East Branch Lean-To

To: Mahar Tote Road (White House Landing)
Miles today: 21.9

Rain, Rain, Rain!!! There is no better way to describe this morning other than a few select words that would be sure to give the journal an R-rating. Not to help matters any we decided to get up around 5:15am so we could get an early start. It was still of course raining but had let up a little from the midnight showers. Just after leaving the lean-to we had a short rock hop over the East Branch of the river and soon found ourselves at Kokadjo-B Pond Road. It was nothing more than a gravel service road but had some terrific trail magic. While at the Pine Family Cookout the other day a local guy talked to us about the wilderness and our hike. He mentioned that he was from around there and had done a lot of hiking back many years ago. He was interested in the trail magic concept and wanted to know what made for good ¢trail magic¢. We told him the things that we generally like to see and of course the girls told him that real trail magic would be a tub of cake icing. Well when we got to the road crossing sure enough he had put out everything we asked for including the girls icing. The clever thing about it was he put one tub of icing on a stump, hung another tub with a pack of Reece Cups from a tree, and stocked the stream with Gator-aid, cokes, and beer. This is surely some of the best magic we have had to date. Thanks a million. The next shelter was Cooper Brook Falls and the first thing we see is Rubarb the rubber chicken tied to a tree. Baro made it to the shelter last night and camped out by the creek. I should say river because Cooper Falls were flowing at full speed from all of the rain in the past 24 hours. To top off the good views and sound of the fall the shelter also had a brand new privy called the ¢Full Moon¢. What? A new privy I just had to try it out¢¦ Back on the trail I came across a sign that stuck in my head for a while that read ¢hornets on the left side of the trail by old tree¢. At this point my question was to the north or south then I had flash backs of kicking the log a while back and poor Shasta getting swarmed and stung. If it is to the south I am safe but if it is to the north I may have to break out the bynedril. I cautiously continued but never saw a sign of the little pests and got to thinking again ¢I wonder how long that sign has been laying there. Since this section of trail was parallel to Pemadumcook Lake I took a side trail and went out to the waters edge. It was mostly sand and if the temperature had been a little warmer it would have been perfect for swimming. I didn¢t swim but instead made a few quick sand sculptures and the proceeded on after admiring a view of Mount Katahdin through the clouds. We all met up at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To for a short break before pushing on for Mahar Tote Road. At this junction we took a blue blazed side trail over to what is know as White House Landing. The White house is a hostel or wilderness camp run by a local family. It is know by most all thru hikers because it is the only real place to resupply within the 100-mile Wilderness. To there as I said above you take a blue blaze trail to the lake and then complete the trip by boat. Once you get to the lake you find a sign with directions on how to blow the air horn for signaling and then you wait for the boat. We all gathered around the small boat dock, glanced across the lake toward the lodge and at 3:45pm blew the horn. Shortly after signaling we could see a figure walk down to the shore and step into a small boat roughly a quarter of a mile straight across the main channel and head toward us. As we waited we discussed all the horror stories that we had heard about previous hikers that didn¢t follow the directions on the sign and continuously blew the horn. The sign says to give one short blast but sometimes people have a little fun and blow it several times. This would be like going to a stranger¢s house and continuously ringing the doorbell until someone answers the door. You can imagine how you would feel if that were your door! As the boat approached we quieted down with an eerie feeling of what would happen. The boat pulled up next to the pier and to our surprise we were greeted with a cheerful smile and handshake from Bill Ware the owner of White House Landing. He greeted and welcomed us to the landing and shuttled us across to the home site. Baro, Jellybean, and I were in the first boatload and Jangles, Shasta, and H-Bomb in the second. Just a few days back we canoed across the Kennebec River with Steve but this was the first time on the trail to travel by motorboat. It was anything more than an aluminum boat with and 25hp outboard motor but after walking for months now it seemed like a jet boat as we made our way across to the other side. We reached the main land and took a look around. Bill showed us to the bunkhouse, shower house, main cabin, and laundry facility. It wasn¢t the typical washer and dryer that so many are accustom too but rather a washboard, bucket, and old-fashion ringer. We settled in and after cleaning up a bit met over at the main cabin around 5:00pm for dinner. The Ware¢s have the main cabin set up for supplies, journaling, as well as a full kitchen that they serve food. The inside is a museum of antiques with one of them being a 1944 canoe with original owner papers. The one table was arranged just behind the front windows giving a great view of Pemadumcook Lake. Here we sat with the only other visitor for the night. He was guy from New York named Joe that regularly hikes sections of the wilderness and frequently stays at the Landing. Joe was an odd guy but most interesting to talk to while at dinner. We split the orders between 1lb. hamburgers and pizza but started the meal off with a fresh salad then ended it with Whoopee Pies. I haven¢t talked much about Whoopee Pies in the past but they are basically a personal chocolate cake filled with cream. From what I gather they are a northern-thing but they are really good. There is no way under normal circumstances any of us could have eaten that much food but now after 5 months of hiking and about to finish the trip at the summit of Mount K we pigged out. As we ate dinner the Ware¢s told us about the Landing and how it operates. The camp is so remotely located that it has no power and the entire camp runs off of propane and solar energy. Income mainly comes from hikers on the trail but the camp also serves as a hunting camp in the winter. It also sells sheded moose antlers by the pound to a local craftsman who in turn makes things to sell. Stuffed from dinner and ready for some rest we all made our way over to the bunkhouse. There were two basic rooms inside one with bunk beds and the other with a couch and chairs for lounging. Just before bed I walked to the porch and noticed it was a beautiful night with clear skies and nearly a full moon. I posed the question of a night canoe trip and several said yes. We walked down to the shore and quietly launched two canoes. H-bomb and Jelly Bean were in one and Jangles, Shasta, and I in the other. We paddled around the point where the Ware¢s Cabin was built and off into the moonlight. We ended up about a half-mile from the shore in the middle of the lake. Here we stopped to gaze at the stars and take in the views of the Maine sky. We could see the outline of a mountains off in the distance and could only imagine it was Mt. Katahdin our Northern terminus.Tonight at White House: Jelly Bean, H-Bomb, Shasta, Baro, Joe, Jangles, and I