Date: 2013-06-23
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-to

To: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camps
Miles today: 9.7

DAY 14MILES ON AT FOR DAY- 9.7MILES TOTAL FOR DAY- 10It was funny because for whatever reason I woke up a bunch last night. Partially due to the loons howling on the pond near by. Since last night was my first night outside since the solstice, I hadn't noticed how light out it was at night. Kind of nice since I'm not a huge fan of the dark I was up at 5:30am, packed up my stuff fast, had a quick bar for breakfast and headed out not too long after Stilts, Globe, and Moto. It was only 5.7 miles and the terrain was supposed to be pretty flat, but better to leave extra time. Bill or "Mojo" had to bring some of his stuff back to his car parked on a road that intersected the AT not too far down so we walked together. He mentioned that he was impressed when he saw chicks doing the trail because they had to carry packs that were just as heavy as the guys but they were so much smaller. I said "yea well for me it's not too bad because I'm built like a brick s*** house". I said it real nonchalantly but he thought it was hilarious. He said, "that should definitely be your trail name". And it had been over a week and I didn't have one yet so there it was... My trail name was Brick.... short for Brick S***House haha (if you don't know what it means... Google it).I had my first temptation to blue blaze or skip part of the AT. Mojo was headed into Caratunk to get some coffee and breakfast and asked if I wanted a ride along. It was sooo painful but I said no, knowing that I would be mad at myself if I skipped those 5.7 miles, especially so early on in my hike. We went our separate ways and I was off to meet Gary. The hike to highway 201 was surprisingly super easy. I hit 201 way before I thought I would which is the first time that has ever happened. Typically I'm like "I thought we would've already been at the lean-to an hour ago!" So it was nice that I got to just relax and hang out for 30-45min until Gary showed up. Mojo and Cosmo rolled up in Mojo's car to say hi and were surprised how fast I made it too. I told them, "I told you, I'm built like a brick s***house!" Haha.So Gary showed up early and we headed to the Kennebec river. This guy has been ferrying people across the river for the past 7 years in a canoe. Interesting lifestyle I must say. It was pretty cool to cross the river on the AT in a canoe though. It even had a white blaze on the bottom as shown in the picture. We had to sign waivers and wear life jackets and everything! The whole shebang. After we got across the river, which took only a few minutes, we had about another 4 miles to go. I hadn't read about it but Gary mentioned a lodge to stay in right off the trail called Harrison's Pierce Pond Camps. I checked my guidebook and there it was. So we decided to stay there for the night. And come to think of it I had heard of the 12 pancake breakfast... and apparently this was the place.It was only 0.3 miles off the trail. It had a sketchy long bridge made out of palates leading up to it over a river. We did a 10 mile day but because we had started so early due to the ferry, it was only about noon. No one was there so we had to wait around for about 2 hours. No big deal since all we would be doing at the lean-to is sitting around anyways. Finally Tim, the owner, came back. He was a very nice but interesting guy. He had been an actuary in Boston for most of his life and then one day, 28 years ago, decided he wanted to own a sporting camp. So he took over this one. There used to be sporting camps like these all throughout the 100-mile wilderness and it was a big money making thing in the 1930's until they ripped them down or abandoned them. This sporting camp is the only one still in use today. It was a huge log cabin over 80 years old. And you could tell. There was a pool table in there where one end was lifted about 4 inches to make it level. When you looked at it it looked as if the pool table was crooked, but really the house was crooked!We talked with Tim for a while and then he showed us to our little cabin. After such a humid day the day before, it was really nice to have another shower so soon. We cooked some dehydrated meals, split them so we could each try, caught up, and then went to bed soon after. And this night I slept very sound in a bed P.S. For hikers- Mountain House sells dehydrated meals for cheaper at Walmart and they are tastttttyyyyy!