7/10 Day 129 Speck Pond to Andover – 14.9 miles
Today makes day 18 of rain, but with some better hiking. We
felt like we were actually making normal time again, with the exception of the
rain slowing us along the rock faces. With food supplies running low, we
debated on staying the night in the small town of Andover. We had rain and
clouds all day, with no views, and we needed a break, especially after some tough
hiking over the Baldpates due to the slick rocks which sealed the deal. From a
hilltop, we called for a shuttle at the road for fear of a difficult hitch;
we’d been warned that both roads in and out of Andover had low traffic, and they did. By
the time we got to the road the rain had picked up again, and our shuttle
driver packed us all in the van like sardines, charging us $6.00 a person,
driving very fast down a back curvy road with poor vision through a fogged up
windshield. When we arrived at the hostel, there were south bounders, including
our now flip flopper friend Shutterbug, everywhere; this hostel was busting at
the seams. We were told that they had beds for us but the whole place seemed
unorganized and all together stressful; in Moose’s words, it was a “sketchy
situation with no organization”. We were assigned beds that clearly had other
hiker’s belongings on top of them and the owners looked at us like we were the
crazy ones; 2+2=4, not 8, and somehow the numbers weren't adding up. Moose and
I tried to help make sense of the math by allowing Sharpshin and Kestrel to
share our room, and floor space, instead of making them try to share a bunk
with an unsuspecting stranger. Oh, we also got a tempting offer to buy some “moose
$#*^” jewelry, which was also very interesting. We finally got through the tour
of the hostel in time to catch some dinner at the General Store before waiting
our turns for a late shower. Bed time came way after hiker midnight.
7/11 Day 130 Andover to South Arm Road Campsite – 10.1 miles
We slept in a bit, up late last night taking our turns to
shower and finish up laundry. The 6 of us ate breakfast together one last time
at the general store; service was slow and the food mediocre but filling. We
made it back to the hostel right on time as our shuttle David tried to hurry us
along; quick shouts of goodbye were yelled back at Howbout as we grabbed our
packs and jumped in the van, putting our boots on as we drove away. Shuttle
Dave got us safely back to the trail around 9:40. We enjoyed more hiking in the
rain, all good and muddy, while hiking on to Hall Mountain Lean-to for lunch.
After lunch, the SUN started to peak, the rain stopped and the sun came out for
the rest of the afternoon. I wish I could say it was all rainbows and
butterflies the rest of the afternoon but we did have to tackle Moody Mountain,
about a thousand feet straight up. At the bottom, we found a note from the boys
telling us they were moving on past the campsite but found them taking a break
on the other side of the river. Poor things, Sharpshin and Kestrel forded the
river to move on but couldn't resist our charming personalities, sunny
campsite, and the first dry evening for a campfire in weeks. Giuseppi joined us
and we enjoyed the first of hopefully many nice evenings to come.
7/12 Day 131 South Arm Road Campsite to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
– 17 miles
It was beautiful and dry today, including some nicer hiking
as well, but first things first. After breaking down camp, we walked in our Crocs down to the river bank where we forded the cold river. After drying our feet
and donning our boots, we began our assent up Old Blue Mountain. The difference
with this climb and the many others here recently is that we actually had
views; we were finally getting to see Maine and it is beautiful. I really can’t
think of a good way to describe Maine; we were always told that Maine was both
rugged and beautiful and I think that’s a pretty adequate description. Moose
and I decided to skip the swimming at the beach, though it did look pretty
awesome, and decided to keep going on to the Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to. We had
planned on swimming once we set up camp but upon arrival to the lean-to, we
discovered we were not the only ones with that idea. A big group of young camp
girls had decided to go swim in their underwear and became embarrassed by our
bunch of misfits. We decided it best to hold off on the swimming for now and
focus on cooking dinner. Oh, there was a pretty intact moose skeleton along the
side trail up to the lean-to, which was kind of neat and disturbing to see, not
far from your only water source. Nobody got sick though, at least not that we
know of, and we all slept pretty well despite the bugs. Off to Rangeley in the morning.
7/13 Day 132 Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to to Piazza Rock Lean-to
–11.2 miles
Today was a great day. We awoke early so we could get to
town early and hiked a rather enjoyable 9 miles all the way to the road in just
a couple of hours; it felt great to be making good time again. At the road, we
encountered a little bit of a glitch in that getting a hitch was a little slow.
The road in to Rangeley had low traffic, so we sat on a rock in the shade next
to the parking lot and cheered on the boys, Sharpshin and Kestrel, as they
tried to look as innocent and hungry as a thru hiker can look. Also sharing our
rock were 2 guys we met back in Lincoln by the name of Taco, a fast moving thru
hiker, and Highliner, a very happy and optimistic section hiker with only one
more section to go. Taco had 2 friends that came to hike with him and just
happened to get so lucky as to hike the Mahousic notch and arm with him; the
friends decided to get off the trail early and find a ride to the airport from
Rangeley. As for the boys, they stood alongside the road for 20 or 30 minutes
before a car finally pulled over to make room for them. We were excited they
were leaving so the rest of us could now take our turn at this slow process. At
this rate, it didn't even matter that we made good time this morning because we
were losing so much time getting a ride, kind of depressing, but we tried to
keep spirits high. Taco and Highliner didn't need to resupply so they kept
heading north. We watched as the 2 friends of Taco nervously made their first
attempt at hitchhiking. Lucky for them, they didn't have to try for long. Some
random guy pulled in to the parking lot offering us, and them, a ride. Moose
and I called for them to quit the road and we all 4 piled in to a car headed
for Rangeley. The nice guy dropped us off in the middle of town but almost
forgot to let us get our stuff out of the trunk; he tried to drive away but
stopped after we started yelling after him—that was a close one.
It wasn't long before we found the boys checking out the
town, which was adorable. We walked around a few of the shops before finally
giving up on Giusseppi and heading to Sarge’s Pub for lunch. He found us just
in time to order food and before we even finished eating lunch we picked out an
ice cream place across the road for dessert. Now, let the relaxation commence.
The boots came off, the Crocs came on, and we ate ice cream by the lake—it was
a beautiful day. Rangeley is an awesome little mountain town if anyone is
looking for a quiet place to get away, perfect for relaxing, and that’s just
what we did. By late afternoon we were feeling kind of lazy and decided it was
time to resupply. We walked to the IGA where we bought not only food for the
next 2 days but hot dogs and buns for a campfire dinner, something we hadn't
done yet. The nearest shelter was only 2 miles out so we figured that would be
cheaper than staying in town. Again, a tough hitch out, but we finally got one.
We had a fairly easy walk to the shelter where we found some weekenders who
already had a fire going, out of wet wood, which they allowed us to use. Dinner
was great and the boys even packed out some marshmallows to end our relaxing day.
Time for bed and off to hike the Saddleback’s tomorrow!
Love and prayers always,
Wide Load
"There is a difference between eating and drinking for strength and from mere gluttony." Thoreau
