Date: 2012-09-19
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: East Branch Lean-to
Miles today: 9.0

And rain it did! The rain wasn¢t actually coming down all that hard, but the wind was howling. I had to get up at one point to use the privy, and it was not a fun experience. My tent is no longer waterproof in the corners, so I had my bandanna at one end and my rainjacket at the other, trying to soak up/block the moisture coming in.When I woke up, it was still raining. I heard OD turn off his alarm, but then we both went back to sleep for a while until there was just a little drizzle outside. We had breakfast in our vestibules, then I finally got up the nerve to get dressed and pack up. I was way ahead of OD in the packing process (he¢s super slow in the mornings), so I set off by myself. Just around the corner from the campsite, the trail had turned into a pond, and I had no choice but to walk through the ankle-deep water. I love starting out the day with wet feet. I made it up and down West Peak, and was halfway up Hay Mountain before OD caught up. The climbs were pretty easy, even up White Cap. Unfortunately, White Cap was above treeline, and with the howling wind and cold front that had come in, it was not a good place to be. I was trying to run as fast as I could across the boulders, to get back below treeline before I froze to death. We did, however, get an amazing 1st view of Katahdin. I didn¢t believe it was Katahdin at first, because it looked so big and close (we were still 71 trail miles away at that point, although I¢m sure it¢s closer as the crow flies). But that had to be it. No time to admire it for long, but still an incredible sight.We stopped at Logan Brook Lean-to to eat lunch and put on some warmer clothes. By the end of lunch, the sun had come out and there was blue sky, which was a welcome sight. There were lots of blowdowns (fallen trees) on the trail after we left the shelter, I assume from the storm last night. We passed by East Branch Lean-to and saw a fire going in the fire pit, so decided to stop in and see who was there. One of the first people we saw was SOS, sitting in the shelter in his sleeping bag; and odd sight for 2:30 in the afternoon. He said that the Pleasant River, 0.3 further down the trail, had risen due to the storm and was now too high to ford. So we left our packs at the shelter and went to check it out. Sure enough, it was raging; all you could see was fast-moving whitewater. But OD, being the daredevil he is, wanted to try crossing anyway. There was a thin rope stretched across the river, which he held onto as he attempted to cross. He made it halfway, in water up to his waist, before he decided it would be best to turn around. I got a sweet vide of the whole thing on my camera. So we went back to the shelter and dried out our wet socks and shoes over the fire, and talked to SOS, Nice Lady, Solo and 2 German guys; Riff Ralph and Big Pack. Around 5 PM, a bunch more people showed up: Daystar and Gribley, Pace and Hungus, Towlie and Cheesewater. We told them about the river and showed them the video, but they were really determined to cross it, so we followed them down there to observe. Hungus got in the water without his pack and tried to cross, but had to turn back. Different crossing points and strategies were discussed, but eventually they all saw reason and went back to the shelter. We had a really nice evening sitting by the fire as we ate dinner and told stories.Today just goes to show once again that you never know what the trail¢s going to throw at you! In the really world, rarely does something like the water level of a river make you have to change your plans, but out here, you have to learn to go with the flow and accept that you don¢t have control over the environment, just your own attitude.