Date: 2004-09-23
From: Little Bigelow Lean-To, ME

To: Lakes and Ponds
Miles today: 17.3

A few days ago, a hiker showed me some maps that indicated the elevation profiles of The Appalachian Trail in Maine. He placed the maps side by side. It would appear that the toughest climbing is behind me with the exception of Mount Katahdin.During today's hike, it was ponds and lakes rather than mountains that constituted the prominent landmarks.During the morning, I descended from the Bigelow Range and stood upon the shore of Flagstaff Lake. I had seen this lake from up in the mountains. It has a long and narrow inlet that connects to a wider body of water. I think that the inlet represents a staff and the larger part of the lake represents a flag. If that is true, then I was standing at the base of the staff.A strong wind was creating whitecaps on the water. The wind was blowing directly at me. At my feet was a narrow strip of white sand; I guess you could call this spot a beach. Driftwood was piling up where the sand gave way to bushes and trees. It was cold in the wind and I remained at this beautiful spot only briefly.The trail crossed Long Falls Dam Road. As I stepped out of the trees, I noticed some words painted in the middle of the road. The words read, "2000 Miles," that was nice way to learn that I had hiked such a distance. But the essential number will be 2,174, the distance from Springer Mountain to the terminus at Mount Katahdin.I stopped for lunch on the shoreline of West Carry Pond. I don't know why they call it a pond, it is really a lake. What a beautiful place to rest.Across the pond was a range of hills. The foliage on some of the trees was turning red and orange. The stiff wind was blowing across the pond from my right to the left, creating whitecaps in the middle of this body of water. But the wind was tame along the shore in my vicinity, thanks to a tree covered peninsula to my right that acted as a buffer.A red leaf alighted on the water in front of me. I watched it float toward the deeper water. Around the leaf, sparkles of light flashed as the first whitecaps of water on its route caught the rays of sunshine. The further out the leaf floated, the greater the frequency of the sparkles. In my imagination, the leaf was like a celebrity walking toward a crowd of paparazzi¢ha!--firing off their flashes. Soon, the leaf was surrounded by a hot white glare of thousands of sparkles where the whitecaps were at their most active.I soaked my feet in the pond during lunch. At one point, I lifted up my feet and examined them merely out of curiosity. It amazed me that these feet had taken me over two thousand miles.After lunch, I passed by East Cary Pond. Some hikers had etched their names in the sand beside the water's edge. I used a wooden walking stick and wrote into the sand, "Paparazzi was here." This message will hopefully be seen by the hikers traveling behind me.I finished hiking at Pierce Pond and strung up my hammock. During supper, I visited a nearby shelter and hung out with some section hikers and Arc, the thru hiker I had camped with on the previous evening.It is relaxing to lie in my hammock while listening to loons on this pond call loons at other locations. The loons far away can be heard faintly.