Date: 2016-07-11
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: White House Landing via Mahar Tote Trail
Miles today: 25.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a pretty poor night for everyone in the crew. Rain kept waking me up and I just felt damp in the morning. Apparently a tree shifted and Goldie's hammock basically ended up on the ground, I think she ended up coming up to Lightning's hammock and squeezing in with him for the rest of the night. We all looked tired getting set up this morning. After a few morning showers, the sun came out. it looked like we would have a nice day for the first time through the hundred. We broke camp decently early and started moving very fast, which didn't stop all day. We were excited by the weather and kept up a good pace. The trail was finally what I expected from the flat sections of the hundred, pretty wide and well-graded for the most part. We had one tiny climb up little boardman mountain where we paused because there was somehow cell service. I sent a text to my parents and Ali just to tell them that I'm alright. This lack of communication is starting to get to me, I really just want to talk to Ali. The other thing that changed today is the bugs. Since it's no longer frigid and rainy, they were out in full force, and I found myself constantly swatting away deerflies and mosquitoes, and they surrounded me whenever I stopped. Another reason just to keep walking. The trail mainly followed the route of Cooper Brook on a slight descent for most of the day, and the trail changed between sections of flat open terrain to very rocky, rooty and muddy, and long sections of puncheon boardwalk.I suppose one of the more surprising aspects of the hundred is that it feels less remote than many sections of the trail. Especially now that we've done the climbing over the only peaks, there are many logging access roads and sections of clearcut that we pass. Frankly a lot of the south felt more, well, wild. I spent much of the day just behind Seal Tree, Goldie, Lightning and Sorority Steve. They were moving crazy quick, and I would fall behind to ford a river or relieve myself and would not see them for an hour. I caught up with them at lunch, which was at some unnamed part of the trail. They then caught up with me at Mud Brook, where I sat out on the beaver dam to have a snack - really this was the only respite from the bugs, which are pretty horrendous. Seal Tree especially is getting fed up with them, and smacks around his head and makes noises that sound like "Raggum fraggum" a good deal. We all hung out at a beach on Jo Mary Lake before the last small climb of the day up an arm of Potaywadjo ridge. We skipped rocks and took our boots off. We had 22 miles under our belts and it was only 2 oclock. We were very happy with the time we were making but m feet were starting to get pretty sore. I even put my feet in the water, which is not something I usually do, because I like to keep them pretty dry. The climb was barely a climb, and Lightning and I stopped on the other side to take a drink out of Potaywadjo Spring, a beautiful artesian well spring where you can see the water bubbling up from the ground. The cool water helped me over the last couple of miles.A few miles later, Seal Tree caught up with us, but we were immediately sidetracked to a view on the edge of Pemadumcook Lake, which we followed to a rocky shoreline. And there, in the distance, was Katahdin. This was an amazing view of it - Its bulk just hangs above the surrounding area, so much higher than the lake and the trees near us. It is hugely imposing, its giant alpine zone gray and bleak on top of the green base. We stood in awe and laughter for a while just staring at it, knowing we only had a few days until we would stand atop it ourselves. We were a little jealous of the people who get to summit today - it's gorgeous out, and they're calling for much worse weather in the next couple of days. Hopefully I get some views and don't have to wait around in Millinocket to summit or something.It was then only a few miles to the trail turnoff we had all been waiting for, the Mahar Tote Trail. Lightning and I got there first and decided to leave Jan, a little plastic cutout of a woman's face from Lightning's toyota dealership, at the turnoff, to tell everybody else to come this way. The signage was a little abstruse, but we found our way to the edge of a pond with a dock, following the signs for White House Landing. They no longer have the airhorn signaling system, instead asking you to call them on their phone for pickup. We all have AT&T or Sprint, though, and we waited for Goldie, who has Verizon, which has had consistently better service in the 100. (A word for prospective hikers: Cell service is never a huge issue, but Verizon has consistently better service in the south and slightly better in Maine. The only time AT&T wins is NY & CT).Goldie eventually rolled up and had no trouble placing a call, and soon we heard the sounds of a speedboat coming across the water. The owner, Bill, introduced himself and said he could take three of us. Goldie, Seal Tree and Steve hopped in and Lightning and I hung around skipping rocks. Jim was back to find us in just a few minutes, so we piled in with our stuff. He knows the rocks in the lake like the back of his hand, and it was fun to be moving so fast with the wind in our faces. I did get the unfortunate spot in the boat in that all the spray was hitting me the whole time, so I arrived pretty damp at the dock to White House Landing, which is a series of a few cabins along the beautiful shoreline of Pemadumcook Lake. The place is apparently reopen this year after some renovations, and it looks pretty great. We set all of our stuff down outside on some benches and began to dry out the objects that had gotten unacceptably wet over the last couple of days. We were also given a small tour of the place, and set up the rest of our things in the bunkhouse, which is very comfortable and has actual gas-fed lighting that looks straight out of the 19th century. We bought a bunch of baked goods to tide us over til dinner. Zucchini bread was especially tasty, and Lightning and I both bought little loaves of it. Their shower system seems simplistic but was actually incredibly hot and lovely. This was such a needed break from the drudgery of the last couple of days. It is also a needed break because we realized that we are all running out of food faster than we thought we would; we all made compromises on our food bags leaving Monson because we knew we couldn't carry such a crazy large amount of food. But I am eating more in this section than I have the whole way, I feel like, and having now a dinner and a breakfast that I can buy is a huge boon. They do have some resupply food, but it's very minimal and pricey. The whole place is pricey, but hey, its the hundred mile wilderness. Things are hard to come by. We spent a great deal of time sitting on the porch of the main cabin, which reminds me of a cleaner version of Harrison's, but with a similar feel with antlers on the walls, and lots of old signs and photos. We played with their dog, throwing it a deflated basketball all over the campus. Eventually, dinner opened up, and we tried to get seated first, because we had heard that service can be slow (since the kitchen staff is just Bill and his wife). I got a big ol burger while some other folks got pizza. Seal Tree, who got a burger too, and I were considering splitting another pizza, but the fullness kicked in before I could put in the order, and it ended up just being Seal Tree's pizza. Leftovers!The evening was spent sitting out enjoying the sunshine on the grass and chilling inside the bunkhouse, which has some very comfy couches. Tomorrow we'll grab breakfast here before our last full day in the hundred!