Date: 2018-08-29
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

Once again we set the alarm to get up at 5:30 am. We hit the trail at 6:15am. The trail quickly began to climb. We passed by 3 ponds as we stair-stepped out way up to the base of Saddleback Mountain. It's called that because of its profile. It looks like a western saddle.Once we passed the last pond, the climb got very steep with rock steps first then slab walking. Near the top we went above treeline. I believe was the last time for this trip. Thankfully, the howling winds from the previous night had subsided... We had light winds with overcast skies. The last part of the climb eased in steepness. We had a slab walk from one false summit to the next, for about a mile. We finally completed our 2000 ft climb and reached the top around noon.Our info said we might see Mt. Washington and Mt. Katahdin on a clear day. We thought we could see the distinctive outline of Mt. Washington, but it was too overcast to the north to pick out Mt. Katahdin. Best yet we had cell service. It's getting harder the further north we go. So we sent off our journal and photo for the previous day. (ET has discovered that she can amplify cell reception and get the larger photo file sent, by putting her phone in a fir tree, leaning against the trunk.) Spider also called the shuttle service to reserve a ride from Stratton to Boston on Sunday...the first step in heading home!With cell service, Spider also checked his weather app and saw that the weather would be good for the rest of the hike except for a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening today...Hmm. As a front moves through temperatures will be dropping too, back to normal.It was a slab walk, interspersed with mud bogs, then a 500 ft descent, followed 500 ft. ascent of Horn Mtn. (The saddle horn!). The descent off of Horn Mtn. was shades of the Whites for about 1/2 mile with vertical rocks to climb down. Then the trail turned more normal, to rocks, roots and mud. We then had a long, muddy traverse to our third peak of the day, Saddleback Junior Mtn. It was a steep climb, where we passed a trail crew working on the trail. Thanks guys! Upon reaching the top, we took today's picture with the mountains we had climbed today in the background. (We were standing on the 3rd and had climbed the 2 to the left.) It's always amazing to look back and see how far we've come in a day.We had another Whites-like descent off of Saddleback Junior Mtn. for about 1/4 of a mile, then back to normal. During this time we heard our first rumble of thunder. Guess the forecast was right! We hustled down the trail as fast as our tired legs could carry us, arriving at the lean-to at 5:45pm. Obviously others had heard the forecast too, because the lean-to was full, so we looked around for a tent spot. Most of the good ones were already taken so we picked the next best with some roots to lie on..Oh Boy! As the rumblings got closer, we quickly set up our tent, moved our stuff inside and crawled in. 5 minutes later it started to rain...Whew! The rain lasted several hours so we cooked dinner in the vestibule of the tent and ate in the tent...a first for this hike. Lights out at 8:30pm...only 3 days to go!