We eat a wonderful breakfast cooked by Bill, seated at the table with the sun pouring in through the window, with a wonderful lake view. Eggs, bacon, muffins, and blueberry pancakes. We stuff ourselves as per usual. We have saved the left over pizza from last night for our lunch today, and Linda packs it up for us to carry.
Bill takes us right along the lake to save us having to retrace the 1 mile detour. The hiking is great today and we have lunch on a sandy beach out of the wind. We experience our second viewing of Mt Katahdin from Nesuntabunt Mt summit. We see no other walkers until we reach the shelter, as Uncas and Hat-trick have walked ahead of us.
The last 4 miles follows up a mountain stream with rapids - great walking to the shelter. We arrive at 6pm and there are 3 hikers in the shelter. We set up camp on the hill above the shelter.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Day 172 - 19th Sept - Crawford Pond - White House Landing - 16.1 miles
We have a very early start in freezing temperatures at 7.00am, and we hope with some fast walking to make the distance to the landing for a 'relaxing' afternoon at the White House.
We make it to the landing by 4.00pm. We sound a hooter horn which echoes across the lake so that Bill knows there is someone to pick up. It is a beautiful sunny afternoon, and watching the boat scooting across the water to us, dangling our feet over the jetty is a great scene to remember.
Digby and I have a 'private' room which turns out to be a whole house, minus the bathroom. If you want water you go to the edge of the lake and bucket it up. Life is simple. There is one shower for all of us based on a gravity feed which is very low. But we are very appreciative even if the shower fails to reach Aussie standards.
At 5.00pm we arrive at the main house for dinner. Linda cooks us gigantic burgers, plus a pizza. We meet two other thru hikers - Uncas and Hat-trick. They have covered a much bigger distance than us, and spent last night in a shelter with On the Loose.
Linda and Bill have an interesting lifestyle. They live at the White House for the summer and spend the northern winter in Florida working in the tourism industry down there, so their 12 year old son can go to school. The vegetable gardens here are huge. It would be an interesting way to spend the summer watching all the thru-hikers come through. I would be tempted to come back and work as a volunteer here.
We make it to the landing by 4.00pm. We sound a hooter horn which echoes across the lake so that Bill knows there is someone to pick up. It is a beautiful sunny afternoon, and watching the boat scooting across the water to us, dangling our feet over the jetty is a great scene to remember.
Digby and I have a 'private' room which turns out to be a whole house, minus the bathroom. If you want water you go to the edge of the lake and bucket it up. Life is simple. There is one shower for all of us based on a gravity feed which is very low. But we are very appreciative even if the shower fails to reach Aussie standards.
At 5.00pm we arrive at the main house for dinner. Linda cooks us gigantic burgers, plus a pizza. We meet two other thru hikers - Uncas and Hat-trick. They have covered a much bigger distance than us, and spent last night in a shelter with On the Loose.
Linda and Bill have an interesting lifestyle. They live at the White House for the summer and spend the northern winter in Florida working in the tourism industry down there, so their 12 year old son can go to school. The vegetable gardens here are huge. It would be an interesting way to spend the summer watching all the thru-hikers come through. I would be tempted to come back and work as a volunteer here.
Day 171 - 18th Sept - Sidney Tappan - Crawford Pond - 14.8 miles
We start the hike on 2102 miles this morning, so we are now counting down with less than 70 miles to go. It's hard to believe. It was a freezing night last night - glad that we are nearly out of the forest as the seasons change, as the temperatures are too cold for us.
We do 3 climbs in quick succession. The final climb to White Cape Mt provides us with our first view of Mt Katahdin in the distance. It looks magical, pale blue in the misty haze on the horizon. What a landscape.
There is a very long descent to a river which we have to cross on steppping stones. My walking pole gets stuck in between rocks and I lose my balance and plunge in to the water with both boots getting submerged. This is all captured on video by Stickbuilt.
We camp by the pond - a lovely camp - sun, no wind, beautiful reflections, and great sunset lighting on the trees surrounding the pond. We eat dinner on the sand. A French guy camps with us at the campsite.
We do 3 climbs in quick succession. The final climb to White Cape Mt provides us with our first view of Mt Katahdin in the distance. It looks magical, pale blue in the misty haze on the horizon. What a landscape.
There is a very long descent to a river which we have to cross on steppping stones. My walking pole gets stuck in between rocks and I lose my balance and plunge in to the water with both boots getting submerged. This is all captured on video by Stickbuilt.
We camp by the pond - a lovely camp - sun, no wind, beautiful reflections, and great sunset lighting on the trees surrounding the pond. We eat dinner on the sand. A French guy camps with us at the campsite.
Day 170 - 17th Sept - West Chairback Pond - Sidney Tappen Campsite - 13.4 miles
The weather clears after a wet night, and we have a beautiful sunny day. (Yes the tent leaked again). The steep drop to the river is really fast. We have to negotiate a 200m rock scree slope on the descent.
At the river we have to ford it - it is very wide. Once across we take off our shoes and socks to have lunch and dry our boots and our tent in the sun. We meet Kristin the ridge runner here. She did the AT in as a thru hiker in 2009.
We make the steep climb up to the campsite. This is a special campsite. The register is kept in the loo. There are problems with hedgehogs eating the door! Hikers have written in the register about moose wandering around the campsite in the middle of the night. Alas not on our night.
At the river we have to ford it - it is very wide. Once across we take off our shoes and socks to have lunch and dry our boots and our tent in the sun. We meet Kristin the ridge runner here. She did the AT in as a thru hiker in 2009.
We make the steep climb up to the campsite. This is a special campsite. The register is kept in the loo. There are problems with hedgehogs eating the door! Hikers have written in the register about moose wandering around the campsite in the middle of the night. Alas not on our night.
Day 169 - 16th Sept - Wilson Valley Lean To - West Chairback Pond - 13.9 miles
A rugged day with LOTS of climbing. There are great views from Barren Mt, which is a surprise since we have had such shitty weather over the last week and missed all the views from the summits.
The steep rocky sections are quite challenging for Stickbuilt, and he starts to conk out around 4pm from lack of food. Digby feeds him lots of sugar to get the engines started again, and we make it to a bush camp next to a huge granite boulder at 5pm, near the pond outlet. It is the only flat campsite for miles and we breathe a sigh of relief that we find it, just 10 minutes before a couple arrive from the other direction arrive also looking for a campsite.
The steep rocky sections are quite challenging for Stickbuilt, and he starts to conk out around 4pm from lack of food. Digby feeds him lots of sugar to get the engines started again, and we make it to a bush camp next to a huge granite boulder at 5pm, near the pond outlet. It is the only flat campsite for miles and we breathe a sigh of relief that we find it, just 10 minutes before a couple arrive from the other direction arrive also looking for a campsite.
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