05:30 – I am waking up in Baldpate shelter on AT in Maine. The night was warm, so nothing is wet from the morning dew. The plan is to gather things quickly and have some food already at the next shelter 3.3 mi away.
06:37 – start hiking really early.
07:27 -West Peak – 3,662 ft.
08:01 – sitting on a boulder with backpack on. I decided to take a break – just for me. Not to miss a moment in this difficult journey. From here I can see not only just visited West Peak, but Speck Mountain on the side of the valley visited on my May trip
08:19 East Peak -3,812 ft. – 1.8 mi completed. Tomorrow at 4AM the rain will start. So, if I want to stay dry, I need to hike 13.5 miles today to the next shelter. When I was taking a selfie, a boulder rolled of the pyramid and crashed my walking stick. I can repair it with a duct tape, but the repair will last only few hundred yards. This is a memorable place for me. 5 years ago – 2017-09-02 FR – I was flattened here by the enormity of the Synology crash that happen just the night before at home. I would call it the darkest hour. Black flies simply attacking all over. Every hit kills at least 2.
Discovered a speed feature in Duolingo – up to 1.5x. And top pocket of my backpack was open again all this time.
09:12 start the hike again with a sad feeling
10:16 I am Frye Notch shelter. The sign says 10.5 mi to the next shelter. That will be tough. It is a breakfast time. There are two older gentlemen here who do sections with two cars at both ends.
10:47 I filter some water for the road, and a good 18-inch snake is sitting comfortably on the way to water.
13:04 I am at Dunn Falls. As I was suspecting I completed 3.55 with a decent average speed 1.8 mph mostly down. 5 years ago, we communicated with Lira that we definitely will find some way to connect to Synology and resolve the crash problem. This time I am a bit earlier and have time to take a plunge. Luckily, there is no one around.
After the shallow swim, I feel refreshed, and bug lost me from their warmth radar for a minute. Filter a bit more water just in case I will note make another 6 miles to the shelter today.
Instead of one broken carbon stick I now have 2 wooden sticks with smooth handles files with a knife.
My trek will be mostly up, but not very steep. Now I have at least 5H to complete remaining 6.5 mi to the next shelter.
14:18 I am crossing East B Hill Rd. From here – 5.4 mi to Hall Mtn shelter.
15:42 I am at Surplus Pond. I take another plunge, but this time it is awkward – the pond doesn’t have a stable bottom – you step either on bolder or slip into the mushy slimy nowhere.
There is 900’acsend ahead of me. 3 more mi to go.
15:58 – I am crossing Burrough Brook Rd. This is a dirt road.
16:41 it is simply tough to go on. Among other things – I am looking for water in case there are none at the shelter.
17:31 I am stopping every hour for a quick rest. Only 1.36 leaf to go. Consuming Lara bar. It is my back that is tired, not so much as legs.
18:36 – exactly to the minute 12H after a started the hike this morning I see the hut. And there are some puddles of water someone constructed to catch. I am all set now. Rain, rain come again. Come and catch me if you can. I will be under the roof tonight. And South bounded Kaleb and Taylor even have the fire going. They started on June 8 from Katahdin. Nice!
19:41 I brought some water, climbed a few yards for a cell signal. It was a big selloff on Wall Street. But it is so far from here. I’ve completed 13.54 mi today
20:11 fire is going, tea is brewing, hot meal will be ready soon. Someone small, like a mouse, bitten chunks of my Lara Bars.
20:46 unexpectedly the rain starts. We didn’t expect till 3AM tonight. One more piece of luck – I am all set with cooking and ready to go to sleep. Forecast shows that rain must stop around 10AM tomorrow morning.
Navigate through the List
- 01 July 2022 trip to ME - between routes 26 and 17 (2023/06/29)
- 02 2022-06-30 Thursday - very treacherous Garland Pond Rd (2023/06/30)
- 03 2022-07-01 Friday - hike 6 AM to 6PM to cover 13.5 mi on familiar grounds (2023/07/01)
- 04 2022-07-02 Saturday - a dream spot at the end of the day (2023/07/02)
- 05 2022-07-03 Sunday - aspire to Upper Richardson Lake (2023/07/03)
- 06 2022-07-04 Monday - last 28 miles to the car (2023/07/04)
- 07 Travel Lessons and further actions (2023/07/05)
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