Date: 2011-07-06
From: Crawford Pond

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 14.1

2011 Day 5 ¢ 7/6/2011 Crawford Lake to Sidney Tappan Campsite ¢ 14.1 milesSunny ¢ hot and hazy by the afternoon; thunderstorm in early eveningI was up at 5 AM. Soon after getting up I heard something splashing in the lake. I went down to the lake in time to see the hind end of a moose heading into the woods. Ate my breakfast on the beach ¢ very tranquil.On the trail at 6:45 am. Steady climb up to Little Boardman. Some views of Whitecap Mountain just after the summit.   After taking this picture, I forgot and left the camera on when I put it away. When I took it out about 15 min. later to take another picture the message on the screen said ¢deleting¢ ¢ arghhh! I couldn¢t figure out on short notice how to stop it so I just shut the camera off.   From the number of pictures in memory, I can¢t tell if it deleted some pictures - hopefully not. [p.s., when I got home I could tell no pictures were deleted].I made steady progress to the East Branch Lean-to, arriving at 9:15 AM. One SOBO was still there, ¢T-something¢. Next it was on to the Logan Brook Lean-to. It was easy going at first, then the trail steepened up. I met two trail maintainers from Nova Scotia who were trimming back the growth on the side of the trail. I arrived at Logan Brook Lean-to at 11:30 and had Part I of lunch (PB and crackers). Here I met two more trail maintainers (also from Nova Scotia) who were carrying up a new sign for the summit. One is an industrial engineer and had his ¢iron ring¢ on, signifying his membership in the ¢Order of the Engineer¢ (I¢m also a member). I filled up on the cool water from the nearby stream.Left for the summit at about 12:15 PM. It was steep going in places. Some stretches had hand placed rock steeps. It must have been a ton of work to place. I arrived at the summit at 1:45 PM and took a picture of the old sign. The two trail maintainers arrived and put up the new sign. I helped to pile rocks around the base of the new post then took a picture of the new sign. Thus, I was the last person to take a picture of the old sign and the first to take a picture of the new one. I had part two of lunch ¢ a shelf stable Bickford pepperoni sandwich. It was OK. The pepperoni was just a stick. The views from Whitecap were not the best ¢ very hazy. I could just make out Katahdin.I left the summit at about 2:15 PM. First it was down off Whitecap, then up Haystack, down off Haystack, up West Peak, and finally down to Sydney Tappan Campsite. I took several sit down rests along the way.   I arrived at the campsite at 5:10 PM. I set up my tent. The campsite was adequate, but nothing to write home about except for the ice-cold spring. This was the best water so far. As I made my dinner, I could hear a thunderstorm rolling in from the south. I had just started to eat the main course (chicken and rice) when it started to rain. I got everything buttoned up and then finished eating in my tent. It was pouring, but the tent kept everything out except for a little splashing in through the mosquito netting on the sides. It is 8:30 PM and it has stopped raining. The storm has cooled things off.Today was 14.1 miles. The climb from the East Branch of the Pleasant River to Whitecap was 2, 400 ft. More than enough work for today.   Tomorrow could be 11.7 miles to Chairback Gap Lean-to with just one down and one up or 18.6 miles to Cloud Pond Lean-to with many more ups and downs. We will see how I feel.