Forever on the AT

Day 117 - 8/15/10
Got up and left at close to 8 this morning. Had a steep climb up to
route 17. I actually stopped halfway up and made my post when I heard
some texts coming on my phone. I'll walk with it on in the morning
when I don't have service the previous night, and when it beeps I know
I'll be able to send it. I've been having to do this more and more
lately, almost every night in Maine so far. I'm definitely getting
back into deep wilderness.

It wasn't even a mile to the road, but when I made it up there I took
a break with Ichabod who was sitting on a bench that looks down toward
a lake. A very nice spot actually, and would be even better if it
weren't so close to the road. A great place to catch a sunset for
sure. I left after maybe 15 minutes and didn't stop again until Long
Pond where there was a sandy beach and some wooden seat things. A
great place to hit up for a swim, although it was only 10:30 then and
too cold to take a dip. Actually after hiking from route 17 to route 4
today I realized what an awesome little two day trip that section
would make. You've got a nice swmming spot, a shelter less than half a
mile after that, and a campsite with canoes at it only 5 miles from
there. I'm sure I'll pass through again for a weekend hike sometime.

I had a snack break at the pond, then commenced with the hiking all
the way to the aforementioned campsite. Along the way I met a feisty
little squirrel heading up a tree with a large nut or something in its
mouth. I snapped a picture of it, then shook my pole at him jokingly,
but he got scared and dropped his prize, scurrying up the tree as fast
as he could. Then he started squeaking at me angrily so I booked it
from there. Felt a litte bad about that. Anyway, at the campsite I
stopped for another snack and to get some water. I was worried I'd had
to resort to pond water, but there was a pipe right nearby coming out
of some underground water source. Like I said earlier there were
canoes, about 3-4, and not in bad shape. Plus the site itself looked
decent. I was sure to make a note of all that.

From Little Swift campsite it was just under 5 miles to route 4, and
what a nice easy 5 it was. Made it in under 2 hours, getting there
right at 3. Whippersnap showed up a minute later, who I hadn't seen
since Glencliff (right before the Whites) and then Ichabod came out of
the woods right after him. We all hitched into town together, getting
a ride from a guy in less than 5 minutes. It was in the back of a
pickup, not bad at all.

He dropped us right in town in Rangeley and we all walked over to the
Red Onion, a very good restaurant. All got a large pizza, pepperoni
for me, and I finished the whole thing. Ichabod finished his, too.
While we were eating out on the patio two guys showed up and ended up
striking up conversation with us about the trail. They were so
friendly that one offered to take us back when they were done.
Whippersnap was staying at a hostel in town so when he left Ichabod
and I walked to the gas station nearby, did a quick 1-day resupply to
get us to Stratton, then the guy picked us up there and drove us back
to the trailhead.

We did the 1.8 miles to Piazza Rock Lean-to really quick because I
think we were on such a high from our successful town trip. It was one
of the easiest trips into and out of a town I've had, only rivaled by
my time in Gatlinburg I'd say. So we made it to the shelter, stopping
in to talk with the caretaker before we hit up the actual shelter. He
gave us some good advice and tips for the next couple days.

After setting up a bit in the lean-to (I'm staying in here tonight
because I've heard it may rain), Ichabod says to me, "Shall we go
explore?" so I said sure. He didn't mean actual exploring, just go
check out some of the cool locations nearby. There's Piazza Rock, a
giant slab fallen onto another rock creating this ledge that juts out.
Imagine Lion King, that's pretty much what it looks like. Then there's
also some caves nearby that are similar to Mahoosuc Notch. You're
crawling in and out and over and under all sorts of differently shaped
boulders. A lot of fun. So we did those two things, spending maybe a
1/2 hour before it started getting too dark.

We came back to the shelter and I finished setting up my sleep spot,
then wrote up the entry here. Today was a really good day, the kind of
day that makes you wish you could stay on the AT forever. Nice trail,
cool spots, awesome trail town, good meal, perfect weather. It doesn't
get any better.

Total miles: 1960.9