Date: 2009-10-02
From: Pierce Pond Lean-To

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today turned out to be one of the most interesting days on the trail. In the morning, we raced off to Harrison s Pierce Pond Camps, a beautiful cabin next to the Pierce Pond Lake and adjacent to numerous waterfalls. It is used as a rustic getaway for families and couples, as it is truly in the woods. The owner whipped up an assortment of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, which we appreciated immensely. At the West Carry Pond Shelter, Odin had picked up some camaflouge hunting pants that were at the side of the shelter. I had seen them, but there was no way that I was taking the pants. Anyway, it turned out that the pants were roughly 15 sizes too big for Odin, but he decided to wear them anyway and it was an absolute riot. We asked him why the hell he continued to wear them, to which he replied in his deadpan and witty tone:  So I can sneak around!!!  What a character...We then proceeded to encourage him to wear them all the way up to Katahdin.We then raced down to the Kennebec River, in which Hillbilly Dave, a local paid by the MATC, would take you across the river in a canoe. The canoe is the official white blaze of this section as fording the river is dangerous, due a dam upriver and the unsuspecting release of huge amounts of water. So, we arrived to the edge of the river, waved a flag to the other side, at which point we saw Chef and Beechucker buying some food items out of Hillbilly s car. Hillbilly Dave then saw us, jumped back into the canoe and paddled across. For security purposes, we even had to fill out a waiver, which would not hold the MATC liable in case of injury or death. We obliged enthusiastically, crossed the Kennebec, and then headed up the  main  road that led into the small village of Caratunk. We were both surprised to see how small the town really was and there were date plaques that listed the dates of houses dating back to the late 1880 s. Quite incredible, really. As we approached the post office at the other end of town, we could see all of our fellow thru-hikers outside going through packages that their loved ones had sent. I went in and picked up my own package from my Aunt Kathy. Man, was I happy to get some support from back home! We were sitting outside the PO goofing off for a while, exchanging meals and making sure that everyone had enough to make it to Monson when a random woman came up and asked us if we could help her move. She said that she would give each of us $30 if we could help for an hour. We all said that she didn t have to pay us and that we wanted to help. So, we walked down the street and started unloading the furniture that was in the woman s U-Haul. There was about eight of us helping out and we were having so much fun, as it was just something entirely different than hiking. I suppose that it opened up our minds to the idea that this is a slight trip into reality. At one point, we had to unscrew the barn door, climb on top of the U-Haul and lift a piece of furniture up into the barn. However, we ran into a problem in which we couldn t break down the door (Chef even tried an axe) and, therefore, couldn t get into the house from above. We had helped the woman with everything that we could and she was just incredible happy with our help and positive spirit. Around this time, Chef, who was on the second floor of the barn, did a U-Haul Blaze and jumped out of the second floor and slid (imagine a slip n slide) from the back end of the truck all the way to the front. Mind you, this is a very large track that is some 12 feet off the ground. We then watched Big Camera and Chef do a joint U-Haul Blaze and we captured it on video in the process. Then, we headed back to the post office to gather our belongings and the woman drove us down to the Northern Outdoors Resort. I took shotgun, while the others loaded into the darkness of the huge cabin at the back of the U-Haul. Crazy kids, I tell you. At the NOC, we had a few beers, a wonderful meal, and I even took a shower in the bathroom (which was much-needed). Keeping to the name of an honest thru-hike, the woman dropped me and Jungli off at the trailhead, where the rest of the gang decided to take another U-Haul blaze and be dropped off directly at the next shelter. Fortunately, they took our packs and we were able to slackpack our way through the small section. At the shelter, there was another raging fire and some card playing. It was getting to the point where we hadn t seen anyone new in a long time and we were realizing that it was just us out here in the woods...enjoying nature to the max.