Date: 2007-09-13
From: Speck Pond Shelter

To: Rangely, ME
Miles today: 51.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Winter is a comin', and I seem to be moving INCREDIBLY slow lately. I really want to see Saddleback Mountain, the Bigelows, and of course, Katahdin. So, I hopped ahead from Grafton Notch to Rangely. I've been comtemplating this move for a number of days. Five minutes after I verbalized it, Dark Pork walked up and said that she was going to Rangely to get her car at the trailhead. Realizing the yellow blazing potential of the situation, I jumped at the opportunity to split a shuttle with her and Life Saver (who is getting off trail for a few days to visit her). Birdman decided to join for the ride to Rangely, and Uncle Silly hopped onboard as far as Andover.In walks David of Pine-Ellis Bed and Breakfast. He is a good guy -- a little bit of a crazy driver, but an all-around fun person. He took us on a micro tour of the charming town of Andover (the library building was AMAZING -- it looked like a Shaker round barn). After dropping Life Saver and Dark Pork off at their car, he, Birdman, and I went to lunch in Rangely. There, David entertained us with tales of life in rural Andover. Apparently, the town has a siren that goes off when a moose is killed by a car. The locals run out to the scene of the road-kill with their chainsaws, vying for the choicest cuts of moose meat. Also, there are no fire hydrants in town, but they do own a brand new fire truck. As you may have figured out, a fire truck without water is useless. When a house burns in Andover, the brand new fire truck pulls up and idles while the locals show up with beers to watch the building burn to the ground. Andover just got its first ATM machine a few years ago, said David. When the locals heard about the machine that dispenses money, they showed up at the general store to check it out. One of the locals tried to get it to produce money by merely speaking to it. After discovering that he needed an ATM card to access money, he gave up. David told us that some of the locals will still sneak a feel of the unused money producing machine, secretly running their hands over its keypad as they stand in line at the register. Maine may be quickly replacing Vermont as my favorite state on the AT....Two major sightings today: On our ride to Rangely, we spotted a mother and baby moose on the highway. My first LIVE moose sighting! They are such wild, massive creatures. It seems as though everything in Maine is on steroids -- the mountains, the animals, my appetite, etc. We also got a super fast drive-by glimpse of Katahdin. Cruising by, I asked if it was the pointy mountain in the distance. There was a clamoring for window space, a foot hit the accelerator, and we were once again driving in a dense tunnel of trees. Wow. Katahdin....We're at the Gull Pond Lodge, a thoroughly agreeable little cabin on the shore of a beautful pond. The owner, Bob, is a relaxed and pleasant man who takes very good care of hikers. Also here are Fuzzy Monkey, Matlanta, Laredo, Forrest, and Spaceman. I had honestly hoped to plop myself in a quiet hiker void -- empty shelters in the rain and silence being key to my current "wilderness" experience. I like having one or two kindered spirits around for company at camp, but the "crowds" of testosterone filled twenty-somethings make me feel like a crabby granny at times! That's okay, when this trip is over, I'm sure I'll miss those crazy youngsters.