Date: 2015-07-26
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: South Branch Carrabasset River
Miles today: 13.1

It rained and everything was soaking wet. I sat in my tent for a long time debating if I should pack up or not since I wasn't sure if I could only hear water falling off trees on to my tent, rain or both. Randomly I got a bloody nose. Maybe I thought too hard. Eventually I could hear the others in the shelter talking and the drops on my rainfly seemed to become less frequent so I started packing up. I discovered the floor of my tent was wet underneath my sleeping pad. I wasn't sure if it was a leak or condensation since it was just the lower half of my pad. It took me awhile to pack up as I moved my stuff over to the shelter to keep as much dry as possible. Besides Happy, CiderMaker and two section hikers were there. I finally left at 8:30 and started a wet slick muddy morning. I passed some trail maintenance workers who were making stepping stones through some of the soupy mud sections. Nice!! I crossed a deep stream managing to only get one shoe wet. I passed 3 SOBOs coming from the shelter. I kept debating whether to stop 8 miles at the next shelter or go further and camp in my wet soggy tent. I am lucky I have not had to set up a wet tent. I have always been able to dry it out. Maybe it was time to have the full experience.On the climb up Lone Mountain, I was startled by a dog barking at me. He belonged to 3 day hikers. We chatted for awhile. I also met SOBOs Stutter Step and Waterfall who gave me some great must see views in Maine, making me wonder if I should forego the group summit goal and take a couple extra days to hike the last 200 miles. At the top of Lone Mountain, I stopped and hung a line to dry my tent. There was a slight breeze and fewer trees dripping water. It was foggy so I could see moisture in the air. I ate lunch and waited for evidence something was drying. After over an hour, I gave up and packed everything up. At least some of the heavier wet was off. But everything was still wet. It was just 2.1 miles to the shelter and already 2 pm. I considered calling it a day and decided to see who was at the shelter. Surprisingly, the trail was actually nice descending the mountain and I covered the two miles in 45 minutes. Nobody was at the shelter so I took it as a sign and moved on. It was a pleasant steady climb up Spaulding Mountain. I didn't take the side trail to the summit as I typically do since we were clouded in and there weren't any views. The descent also was nicer than some of the recent descents and it was a nice traverse along Sugar Loaf Mountain. I stopped on an exposed ridge to once again attempt to dry my tent by holding it and letting it blow in the wind like a parachute. It was misty so again it wasn't going to dry out but at least the wind whipped off the excess moisture. The descent got very steep and bouldery again. I am always amazed and relieved when I make it down a really tough part. As I stare straight down at the wet rocks, sometimes I am not sure I will make it down. It also makes me wonder how a blind person survived and even people with other challenges. Finally I made it to the South Branch Carrabasset river where I hoped there were good tenting sites left. I crossed the river and found Happy camped on the other side. Transporter a SOBO from Ocala attending UF was also camping. I set up a line for one last attempt to dry my tent while I soaked my feet and knees and ate dinner. I chatted with Transporter and promised to send him some helpful info for towns later on. My tent was not perfectly dry, but at least it wasn't wet either. So it all worked out. I hope it doesn't rain again tonight!