Date: 2015-08-07
From: Three Mile Road

To: Lyme -Dorchester Road
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

Gail was able to slack pack me again today. Her husband was hiking south and I was hiking north over just about the exact same section of the AT. So it all worked out.We again got up early and had breakfast at the Norwich Inn, but this time I did not eat quite as much so I would not feel so stuffed the first few miles. The weather was perfect for hiking, and the trail was still relatively kind to us - not too steep. It was nice having company on the trail and not having the blue beast strapped to my back.I had a hard time sleeping last night. According to the AT guide the trail was going over both peaks of Moose Mountain, then dropping over 1,000 feet into a gap before climbing back up steeply over 1000 feet. The steep drop and climb did not bother me. But the description, specifically "Holts Ledge, precipitous drop-off", I have to admit had me a bit scared. Gail looked it up on her laptop. That only made matters worse. The picture she found showed a giant rock formation several stories tall, with people climbing up the face like mountain goats. (Actually, to me, they looked like ants clinging to the vertical jagged rock wall for dear life.) All I could think of was I AM GOING TO DIE! I am not a rock climber and I hate heights. So far the guide has provided only one other written warning (about southern NY), and it was right on the money. I AM SO GOING TO DIE!Gail only wanted to hike 10 miles. We were making good progress so we skipped the Moose Mountain shelter. At Goose Pond Road, about 4.6 miles in and just before the climb to Holts Ledge, she headed back to her van to wait for her husband. I continued hiking north. On the climb up, just before Holts Ledge, I met her husband, Dan, as he was hiking south. Of course I asked him about the "precipitous drop-off." Dan assured me there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The ledges were simply a few openings in the trees that went to the edge of a ledge with a sharp drop off.Thankfully Dan was right. The AT was safely away from the ledge. There were small breaks in the trees and bushes which provided wonderful views, but if someone was not paying attention it would be easy to step off accidentally.   I stopped at one of the ledges, sat on a rock safely away from the edge, and enjoyed a snack and the view. I was so grateful that the actual AT was nothing compared to what I had imagined based upon the written warning in the guide and the scary picture Gail found on the internet.The rest of the day was a piece of cake. The weather remained perfect. The trail was mostly down hill and smooth. I saw several of the rock walls I love. And I saw several chipmunks. (Chipmunks are found in Florida only in the western panhandle, and they are protected.)I skipped the Trapper John Shelter. The guide mentioned the Bill Ackerly home. In fact, there was a sign on the trail letting hikers know that Bill offered free ice cream and water to hikers. His house is literally a stones throw from the AT, so I stopped by. No one was home, but I signed his hikers journal. I passed and photographed the concrete milepost mentioned in the guide. It is a very nice cement post with the AT mileage north and south engraved on it. Sadly the total mileage is listed as 2145. The current mileage is 2189.2. Someone paid a lot of money for that mileage post, and it was probably obsolete very shortly after it was created.I easily made it to Lyme-Dorchester Road and had energy left to hike a few more miles. But Gail and I agreed to meet here, so I had to stop for the day. It actually worked out well for me. At the kiosk at the trailhead some kind person left trail magic in the form of a cooler stocked with orange soda and Hershey bars. I enjoyed a nice snack while I waited leaning against a guardrail next to the gravel road and a beautiful babbling brook.Suddenly a man appeared from the woods to the north. He headed to the brook for water and I watched him very closely. Thru hikers tend to quickly size up other folks in the woods. He was not wearing typical thru hiker clothing and was not carrying typical thru hiker gear. He collected his water in a Nelgene bottle and a small peanut butter jar.I said hello, and he sat near me on the guard rail. I was not too concerned because occassionally a car went by and I knew there was at least one house fairly close. After talking with him a few minutes and observing him, I was not sure I wanted to be in the woods with him alone after dark.Gail and Dan arrived. They watched him for a few minutes and came to the same conclusion. So we decided to see if Bill Ackerly would let us camp in his backyard. Although Bill was not home when Dan and I independently stopped by his house earlier in the day, we now found Bill home. He graciously allowed us to stay and invited us to sleep on his screened porch - no bugs and no dew!! So we had a little slumber party on Bill's porch.Bill offered us ice cream, water, and the use of a port-a-potty. He also invited us in to visit with him and to have a piece of cake, but by that point Dan and Gail were already asleep. You know what they say, you snooze you lose! So I enjoyed a lovely conversation and a piece of delicious cake as the others slept.Afterwards I quietly crept back to the porch and went to sleep. In the middle of the night nature called. The clear starry sky was AMAZING! Well worth the effort to get out of a warm comfortable sleeping bag.The AT is calling. I am extremely grateful for kind and generous folks like Bill Ackerly, who help make the AT such a wonderful experience.