Date: 2016-06-30
From: Baldpate Lean-to

To: Andover, ME, via South Arm Rd.
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: clear sky

I knew I had a big day ahead of me trying to get into town in time to actually get town things done, so I got up relatively early and was out before most folks. My tent was still quite damp, but such is life. I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to tenting, and really like it when my tent is dry. The day began with a consistently steep hike up to the top of the Baldpates. As I neared the top of the West Peak, the trees fell away to open slabs of rock, and the wind began to howl. The climbing was frankly pretty sketchy, and was a bit worrying. I felt I was getting blown off of the mountain. It was also hard to tell where I was going, as the mist obscured the blazes and the cairns. As the I crossed the West peak, though, conditions improved immensely, as the mountain blocked most of the wind. The clouds were clearing and I could see for miles around to some huge and beautiful ponds to my west. This part of Maine frankly looked gentle, and it was an interesting change of pace to feel less surrounded by mountains. The middle of the day passed in relatively quiet. Dunn falls were incredibly beautiful; a lot of these Maine waterfalls are just gouged out rock faces with streams running gorgeously down them. The run-up to Wyman mountain was long. At Hall mountain lean-to i found a familiar face in the form of Booty, who was taking a nap. I stepped aside to set up my hostel pickup for that evening, and left him a note to wake up to. After the lean to, the trail dropped precipitously down to Sawyer notch, where I met a sobo with a guitar. The next climb was up Moody Mountain, which I had been looking forward to as one of the steepest sections in the entire AWOL guide, climbing 1400 feet in .9 miles. The climb tuckered me out in a way that very few have recently, way more than Mahoosuc Arm or Old Speck. I had to take multiple breaks on the way up. The trail was heavily improved here, with rebar and staples in the rock, and a few sections where log gutters have been built into the sides of the granite faces to keep the dirt there. As I had been instructed, I called Pine Ellis Lodging from the top of moody mountain, and they told me they would meet me down at South Arm Road, but I would have to hurry to get in one van that was nearby, because they were picking up a bunch of sobos, or else have to wait for another round. So I hurried down from the top of Moody Mtn, and came out onto the road. Eventually a big Honda Previa pulled up driven by a woman named Roberta. We waited around for fifteen minutes or so for the sobos, but they did not show up, so Roberta and I just drove into town. She gave me a small tour of the town, which is just based around a single block. It's flat and very tiny, comprising really only a gas station and a couple of stores. Probably the smallest place I've resupplied. She then dropped me off at Pine Ellis, where I was readily given a muffin and instructed to take a shower. I did just that and picked out a bunk for myself. I was pretty late in arriving and ravenous with hunger. I went over to the general store to get some dinner and resupply. I truly didn't need much in terms of resupply, because, funnily enough, a plan I've been hoping would work out all summer is coming to fruition! When I came home for graduation, my family friend Dave Monz informed me that they have a cabin in Oquossoc, ME, near Rangeley, and would be headed up there for the days before the 4th of July. I told him that frankly that was right around when I was planning to get there, and I would love to meet up! And so, with Rangeley now added in to my resupply, I only needed one night's worth of food. I already had some left over from Gorham, because I had been hedging my bets of whether I'd take a zero at a shelter. i did pick up a new toothbrush, though, as my toothrush from Georgia has been ripped to shreds. I ordered a big steak and cheese sub from the lunch counter at the general store and chatted with another hiker who showed up who is also staying at Pine Ellis. Andover seems to have about the most ancient population of any town I'd seen, and I remembered learning that Maine, not Florida, has the highest median age of any US state. I headed back to the hostel, where I put in some laundry, dried out my tent, drank a couple beers and chatted with some of the hikers, including Lord Snotrocket, who is slackpacking this section while his daughter is out hiking the whole AT, and Raptor, a girl about my age who hiked nobo last year and is back for a sobo hike this year. I was up for a while futsing with the dryer, which kept insisting on turning off, but eventually I turned in with clean clothes, excited that only three more towns remain of my trip.