Date: 2013-07-15
From: Horns Pond Shelter

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: clear sky

Big day planned so up and on the trail by 7. The day started with an ascent up South Horn, followed by even bigger ascents up Bigelow Mountain west peak (4,145 ft.) and Avery Peak (4,090 ft.). We'd been told that the Bigelow Range is spectacular, and the mountains lived up to their reputation. I've added pictures to the photo section. It was yet another blue sky day, although hotter and a bit hazier than the last ones. It was extremely windy on both summits, and I found the climb up to the west peak to be a little unnerving. West peak is a true peak, and the wind was so strong I struggled to keep my balance. Let's just say there was no margin for error.It was then down before ascending to Little Bigelow Mountain. By this time it was noon and I was just about out of water. The next water source wasn't until Little Bigelow Lean-to, about 11 miles into the day, so I didn't take much time to admire the views from Little Bigelow. Water was the priority.Dragonstick and I reached the lean-to and water source by 1:30, so we filled our bottles and ate lunch. We shared our lunch spot with a group of teen girls from Camp Newfound, who are doing a 5 day stretch of the AT. We'd run into the other half of the group on Little Bigelow and knew we'd see them again at the shelter tonight. In yet another small world story, a hiker passed us as we were eating and it was Sue Chickering. Sue's a school counselor in VT and she's working on the AT in sections. One never knows who you'll run into in the woods!At 2:15 I took off down the trail since we had another 7.7 miles to make it to the West Carry Pond Shelter. In yet another wonderful round of trail magic, I'd learned that David and MaryEllen Royce lived on the pond across from the shelter. David was the principal of the high school where I work before I was hired, but he and MaryEllen had served as interim principals my second year there. Through our mutual friend Mary Stetson they'd made plans to arrive by boat with food sometime around 5:30 so I wanted to hustle.I arrived at about 5:45, dropped my pack, and walked down to the water. I met Live Simply and Uno and as we were talking I saw a boat coming our way. I felt as though I was a contestant on the reality show "Survivor" and the prize for winning the challenge was a catered dinner brought to the island by boat. Sure enough it was the Royces and a friend, and they'd brought enough food for a bunch of hikers. I found a few people to help unload and we carried the feast up to the shelter. MaryEllen had made barbecued chicken, pasta salad, tossed salad, garlic bread, and cupcakes. She'd even brought along chips, salsa, and a box of wine. We all had a grand time feasting and talking. As one of the hikers commented "wow, I really picked the right team tonight!". Rerun, Dr. Evil, MBot, Taco (NOBO who I last saw in Damascus), Peter, Live Simply, Woody, Uno, Dragonstick, Breeze, Pastor John, Choo Choo, and I ate very, very well. MaryEllen regularly leaves a box of trail magic here, filled with homemade cookies and other goodies, and she replenishes the box every 4 days. Thank you to the Royces - you rock!A huge crowd here tonight, with the group of camp girls tenting and many hikers in tents and hammocks.Today's highlight: the amazing trail magic dinner.