Date: 2007-09-21
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

The folks in the shelter and tenting next to me were up and about not long after 5.00 AM, determined to make big miles today. I on the other hand had no interest in rolling out of my tent until after 6.00. One couple (Stitch and Figgi) left not long after 6 and the second couple (He-Man and She-Ha) left soon after. Safari 26, who was tenting next to me, didn't leave until about 7.00 AM, about the same time I was finishing packing my camp too. This group of five has been hiking together for quite some time and they are determined to summit Katahdin together. He-Man seems obsessed with his schedule and plans every minute of his day (and consequently of She-Ha's day to), right down to setting his stop watch to ring when their 12 minute rest break is up. His type A personality, especially his compulsive break timing, quickly drives me nuts and I'm glad not to have to spend too much time with this group. However, they are all nice people one on one and generally good company at camp in the evenings.I'm not sure why, but I had very little energy today and everything seemed to take forever. I seemed to creep up the hills and crawl down the downhills. I struggled to make 1 mph average speed during the morning. It was just one of those days when I had to keep pushing on regardless of whether the hiking was fun or not.The trail began to climb Barren Mountain almost immediately from the shelter. It was a typical Maine ascent, meaning the trail went straight up and was steep and rocky, often over open rock ledges. There were plenty of boulders and roots just to keep life interesting. At the top of the Barren Slide and on the Barren Ledges there were great views to the southeast over Lake Onawa and the Bodfish Intervale. The only real sign of human presence was a large gravel haul road winding up to and around the lake. Many different ages and sizes of clearcut patches were visible on nearly every hillside and valley. Nearly everything visible to the horizons is owned by private timber companies who harvest timber for paper pulp in any manner that makes economic sense, not necessarily the way that makes the most ecological sense.The peak of Barren Mt had the shell of an old steel fire tower still standing on it. Unfortunately there were no views from the wooded summit. The summit ridge seemed to go on forever in a long series of ups and downs over wooded ridges and small bumps. It was a lot of work with few views from mostly wooded narrow ridgelines. I didn't bother going to the Cloud Pond Lean-to because it was a half mile off the trail and a 200' climb. Today was not a day to waste energy on off-trail side trips.The hike up 4th Mtn was steep and rocky but there were nice views east to Columbus Mtn and north to Long Pond from the open rock ledges on top. At the saddle following 4th Mtn the trail crossed a bog on a typically rickety series of narrow logs nailed together end to end. They were slippery and somewhat rotten from the constant soaking in the bog water but I managed not to fall off them as I crossed. I got a fine close look at a female Black-backed Woodpecker foraging on a spruce snag. I have heard a number of black-back's on this trip, mostly in the Mahoosucs and the Whites, but this was by far the best look I have had. They do not occur in CO and I have not seen one in many years since birding in VT's Northeast Kingdom. Their close cousin the Three-toed Woodpecker is fairly common in CO but is very rare in the northeast.By mid afternoon I had made it to 3rd Mtn. The views to the east and north were much the same but very nice. There is a touch of color coming on the hills now and a number of the locals I have met along the way are predicting good colors within the next week.I finally found water at the West Chairback Pond outlet stream, about 9 long miles from where I started the day. After filtering up 2 liters of water I started up Columbus Mtn. I didn't want to carry too much water up the steep climb since the shelter was only a half mile beyond the summit and SOBOs said there was water there. When I got to the shelter I found the spring to be a nearly stagnant mineral pool that smelled bad and looked even worse. I filtered only enough water to cook dinner and hoped I had enough in my camelback for breakfast and to get me over Chairback Mtn and down to the West Branch of the Pleasant River. The shelter register at Chairback Gap Lean-to was filled with stories about super human mice inhabiting the shelter, so I decided to tent behind the shelter. I was the only one there on a pleasant cool evening high on a remote mountain in Maine. As Whishbone would have said "No place I'd rather Be!". After typing up the days notes I fell asleep by 8.30 PM at the end of a tiring day.