Hiking the night away...almost.

Day 123 - 8/21/10
I had the alarm set for 4, very ambitious, but when it went off and I saw how dark it was I knew we wouldn't be able to hike out. Plus it was cold and I didn't want to leave my toasty bag. Ended up waking up at 7 and not leaving until an hour later. The first thing we hit right away was a steep climb up to Pleasant Pond Mountain. Over 1000 ft. in a mile, so we were up around 2400 elevation. It was a nice view and a "pleasant" way to start the day. Haha. Then it was a long gradual down to Moxie Pond, but the elevation profile was once again incorrect and there were many surprise uphills Davin and I faced.

We stopped at Moxie Pond for a quick water break, had a few powerline crossings, then were back in woodsy swamp area. Perfect place for a moose sighting, which we got. A giant cow was hanging out in a pond as we loudly walked by. The sight of it jumped Currie a bit, and because of our talking it bolted away pretty quick, so no pictures unfortunately, but I'm glad to have seen at least one moose in Maine. And who knows, maybe there'll be more to come. That was a pretty exciting moment for us, I'm glad Davin got to experience it.

We made the first shelter for a late lunch, so I had my two remaining English muffins with Nutella. The flatbreads were much better, it can be very difficult to spread Nutella onto the muffins. And they're crumbly. Live and learn I suppose. After that break we had our next tough climb of the day up to Moxie Bald. That one was more enjoyable than Pleasant Pond, not as steep, and it had a much better view, so we hung out on the top of there for a while even though it was only 2 miles from the previous shelter. You could see tons of mountains in the distance, and I'm sure Katahdin was among them, I just don't know exactly which way to look, or which mountain it is. I'm very eager to see it and actually be certain.

We hiked out, and on our way down played some categories to pass the time. Things like fruit, Presidents, boys names that begin with D, and so on. Usually the more people you have for that game the more fun it is, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Had some laughs because of it. We made it to Moxie Bald shelter at 4, and Davin was really getting tired (we've been pushing pretty good the last 4 days) so he swam and we took a more extended break than usual. Didn't end up leaving there until probably close to 5, maybe 4:45, and the next shelter we were aiming for was 8.9 miles away!

We made it, and nothing worth noting happened in that stretch except lots of really fast walking. We even hiked a bit into dark, getting to Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to after 8. It's amazing how I used to be able to hike until almost 9 if I wanted, but now that'd be considered night-hiking. It's a sign of how much time has gone by since I've been out here. Anyway, Ichabod and The Crusher were both at the shelter, I hadn't been expecting that, so it was cool to bump into them. They'll be in Monson tomorrow, then hiking out Monday like me, so I think with the timing of things we three will potentially be summiting together. Great group to go up with for sure.

Davin and I both opted for sleeping in the shelter, too. We're just too wiped to do any tent set-up. He'll be heading back home after we make it into town tomorrow, but I think he's had a chance to get a taste of what the AT in Maine is all about. It was a good time and we had some funny adventures. Now I'm really looking forward to seeing some family tomorrow, then heading into the wilderness the next day. Katahdin is so close!

Total miles: 2055.6