Date: 2007-09-17
From: Bald Mtn Brook Lean-to

To: Monson Blue Blaze
Miles today: 18.7

It was cold and clear last night. I awoke to 32 degrees at 6 AM, making it hard to leave my sleeping bag and get moving. But I managed to get on the trail by 7.30 and begin the climb up Moxie Bald Mountain.It was a steady but not too steep climb up to the top of Moxie Bald Mt. Near the summit the Trail diverted to the south to go thru a jumble of very large rock blocks perched in large piles. The Trail passed under several large slabs making for some impressive passages. The summit of the mountain was a long series of open rock slabs and low stunted spruce-fir forest. It reminded me a great deal of the vast Canadian Shield forest that stretches across much of boreal Canada just south of treeline. The views from the open rock slabs were superb, overlooking many large and small lakes and lots of mountains, including many that we have walked over the past few weeks.It was a relatively short descent down to Moxie Bald Lean-to but I was the only one there. JB and Iceman had already come and gone after a brief snack break. I am still very slow on the downhills, especially on steep and rocky ones, and JB and Iceman had gotten well ahead of me. I ended up spending the rest of the day hiking alone and did not see another hiker until late in the afternoon.The next several miles were spent walking around 2 large bays of Bald Mountain Pond. The Thru-hiker's Companion said there were lots of moose in this area but I didn't see any. I seem to have no luck with moose. The next 4 miles were spent following down Bald Mountain Stream to where it flowed into the west branch of the Piscataquis River. At this point we had to ford the river. The Companion said the crossing was knee deep and fast water. I took off my boots, put on my croc's, and never had water much over mid-calf. The low water levels everywhere in Maine are especially obvious in the very low fords of the rivers.The next 3 miles was walking down the Piscataquis River to the Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to. This shelter was also empty when I arrived at about 3 PM. Because it was still early afternoon I continued on. Two miles later I came to another ford, this time the East Fork of the Piscataquis River. The water was so low I was able to walk across rocks without even getting my boots wet.I kept going across the Blanchard Road. Here the Trail followed several snowmobile trails as it continued east towards Lake Hebron. I passed up several water sources enroute because they were low, dark and not moving much. I am hoping to get water from a lake for camping tonight. At the blue blazed side trail to Monson I left the AT and walked the half mile to Lake Hebron for water. As I was filtering water from a camp dock several loons were calling from across the lake. What a great sound! I would have loved to have camped right there on the lawn of the vacant camp listening to the loons all night but didn't want to risk the owners coming back to find my tent pitched on their lawn. So, I walked back up the woods road towards the AT and camped in a wide spot near another empty camp that was for sale. I could still hear the loons calling from Lake Hebron as I was cooking dinner and setting up my tent. I was careful to set my tent up well to one side of the woods road so that I wouldn't get stepped on if a moose wandered down the road in the middle of the night. I also made sure to choose a site with overhead branch cover to catch the dew that is likely on such a clear and cold night.It had been my longest day since injuring my ankle and I was beat. My right ankle and left knee were both sore and I had a number of new aches and pains, probably due to favoring my right ankle the past week. It seemed that my ankle improves a little each day, but today I whacked it several times on stubs and rocks, making for a painful afternoon. It has been a full week since I fell but I'm still walking with a pronounced limp and I have to be very careful of where I put my right foot on rocky or rooty terrain.