attroll
09-07-2004, 12:08
Man what a great trip we had on our backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Maine this Labor Day weekend. The wife had to work so a friend came along with me (Pete). The length of the trip was 31.3 miles. We started at the Pleasant Pond lean-to parking area and headed north. ¼ mile later we were climbing Pleasant Pond Mountain with a one mile accent to an elevation of 2,477 it was not the worst climb I have ever done but it had some steep spots. The decent down on the northbound side was a 4 mile decent bringing us down to Moxie Pond. Why they call this a pond I will never know because it is over 7 miles long. We had a small ford that we were able to rock hop across at the sooth end of the pond. From there we had a 3 mile hike to our destination which was Bald Mountain Brook lean-to. Our distance for day one was 9.3 miles. We had 4 thru-hikers pass us as we were hiking this day. They were Wicked Lobster and (Buddy the dog), Mist, Slim, and Biscuit. I had a great surprise when a couple of thru-hikers (Grass and Uncle Ben) came into the shelter about dinner time to spend the night. I some of you don’t know Grass is Rain Mans daughter here on WhiteBlaze. We both sat up for quite some time chatting away. There were two other section hikers at the lean-to also. The temperature this night was in the upper 30’s. I am glad I did not go lightweight this time. I brought my zero degree sleeping bag so I stay warm all night long. But I slept about four feet away from a fast running stream and I think this is what made me have to get up three times in the night to go pee. LOL
Day two started out with breakfast and saying our goodbyes to Grass and Uncle Ben. We knew they would leave us in the dust and we would never see them again. They were heading to Monson which was 22 mile away and we were heading for Horseshoe Canyon lean-to that was 13.1 miles away. Our big challenge for the day was Moxie Bald Mountain. Right from the lean-to the climb started. The accent was 2 miles to reach the elevation of 2,629. We went through a grove of spruce as we were climbing and boy the smell of spruce is great. At the summit you could see every mountain around us. It was awesome. On the downward decent we went through a section of forest that was full of birds flying around everywhere. The sounds were amazing. On our decent down we ran into “Pipe Smoke” a thru-hiker that had flip flopped flip. Pike Smoke had hiked from Georgia to New Hampshire now he is heading south. We also ran into two older men who had been hiking the Appalachian Trail in section for 8 years and they were completing it this year on this trip, there names were Cain and Able. The decent off Moxie Bald was 2 miles down to Moxie Bald lean-to. This is a great place to spend the night because it is on Bald Mountain Pond. The loons started talking while we stopped there for lunch. I stayed here last year on this same trip southbound with my wife and we set our hammocks right on the water. I would like to have done it again but it was way too early in the day and we still had a lot of ground to cover. After leaving the lean-to we hiked for 2 more miles to another fording at the outlet of Bald Mountain Pond. There are remnants of an old damn here and when the water is low you can walk across it. But on this day the water about 2 inches above the remnants of the old damn. So instead taking our shoes off we went up the outlet a little bit and found a place to rock hop across. From there we hiked 4 more miles until we got to the confluence of the West Branch of the Piscataquis River and Bald Mountain Stream. We had to take out shoes off for this one and put on our water crossing shoes. It was above our knees. It was pretty cold too. From here it was about 3 more miles to Horseshoe Canyon lean-to. These last 3 miles seemed to take forever. It took us almost 2 hours to cover the 3 mile. We made it to the lean-to at about 7 pm. There was a husband and wife team at the lean-to that had hiked in for the night. So we were lucky to have company again for the night. This was a 13.1 mile day and we were tired. It took all the energy we had to walk to the water source to fill up before we started to cook dinner. We cooked up dinner and went to bed after talking around the fire that the other couple had started. Pete decided to sleep in the lean-to with the couple that had already set up for the night in the lean-to. I set my hammock up about 40 yards away in the woods at a tent site. I don’t know how Pete could stand it because I could here someone snoring like crazy in the lean-to from where I was or it could be that it was Pete snoring. That is one of the reason I never stay in the lean-to’s.
The last day of the trip we left the lean-to at about 9:30. Within 2 ½ miles we had to put our water shoes on again and cross the East Branch of the Piscataquis River. This was even colder then the ford we had to do the day before. It was only knee deep though. From here we hiked on up to Shirley Blanchard Road. After crossing the road we were happy to see some Trail Magic a short ways into the woods. Someone named Strider03 had left a cooler full of soda and fruit like Peaches, oranges and apples for hikers that were passing through. I had done the same thing from were we started. I had left a cooler full of soda and ice. It was nice to receive some of the magic also. I had and apple and some root beer and headed on our way. We still had six more miles to cover and then drive home. We went over Buck Hill but there not views to be had. But the hike through the woods from here to our finish was pleasant.
I am sure there are things I have forgotten to include in this trip report. But I wanted to type it before I forgot some of these. I do not have the memory I use to. But this was a great trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. But I think I would prefer to do it southbound again next time. This is the first time I have done it northbound. I personally think southbound is better for this section. This now leaves me only about 50 miles left to complete the AT here in Maine.
Day two started out with breakfast and saying our goodbyes to Grass and Uncle Ben. We knew they would leave us in the dust and we would never see them again. They were heading to Monson which was 22 mile away and we were heading for Horseshoe Canyon lean-to that was 13.1 miles away. Our big challenge for the day was Moxie Bald Mountain. Right from the lean-to the climb started. The accent was 2 miles to reach the elevation of 2,629. We went through a grove of spruce as we were climbing and boy the smell of spruce is great. At the summit you could see every mountain around us. It was awesome. On the downward decent we went through a section of forest that was full of birds flying around everywhere. The sounds were amazing. On our decent down we ran into “Pipe Smoke” a thru-hiker that had flip flopped flip. Pike Smoke had hiked from Georgia to New Hampshire now he is heading south. We also ran into two older men who had been hiking the Appalachian Trail in section for 8 years and they were completing it this year on this trip, there names were Cain and Able. The decent off Moxie Bald was 2 miles down to Moxie Bald lean-to. This is a great place to spend the night because it is on Bald Mountain Pond. The loons started talking while we stopped there for lunch. I stayed here last year on this same trip southbound with my wife and we set our hammocks right on the water. I would like to have done it again but it was way too early in the day and we still had a lot of ground to cover. After leaving the lean-to we hiked for 2 more miles to another fording at the outlet of Bald Mountain Pond. There are remnants of an old damn here and when the water is low you can walk across it. But on this day the water about 2 inches above the remnants of the old damn. So instead taking our shoes off we went up the outlet a little bit and found a place to rock hop across. From there we hiked 4 more miles until we got to the confluence of the West Branch of the Piscataquis River and Bald Mountain Stream. We had to take out shoes off for this one and put on our water crossing shoes. It was above our knees. It was pretty cold too. From here it was about 3 more miles to Horseshoe Canyon lean-to. These last 3 miles seemed to take forever. It took us almost 2 hours to cover the 3 mile. We made it to the lean-to at about 7 pm. There was a husband and wife team at the lean-to that had hiked in for the night. So we were lucky to have company again for the night. This was a 13.1 mile day and we were tired. It took all the energy we had to walk to the water source to fill up before we started to cook dinner. We cooked up dinner and went to bed after talking around the fire that the other couple had started. Pete decided to sleep in the lean-to with the couple that had already set up for the night in the lean-to. I set my hammock up about 40 yards away in the woods at a tent site. I don’t know how Pete could stand it because I could here someone snoring like crazy in the lean-to from where I was or it could be that it was Pete snoring. That is one of the reason I never stay in the lean-to’s.
The last day of the trip we left the lean-to at about 9:30. Within 2 ½ miles we had to put our water shoes on again and cross the East Branch of the Piscataquis River. This was even colder then the ford we had to do the day before. It was only knee deep though. From here we hiked on up to Shirley Blanchard Road. After crossing the road we were happy to see some Trail Magic a short ways into the woods. Someone named Strider03 had left a cooler full of soda and fruit like Peaches, oranges and apples for hikers that were passing through. I had done the same thing from were we started. I had left a cooler full of soda and ice. It was nice to receive some of the magic also. I had and apple and some root beer and headed on our way. We still had six more miles to cover and then drive home. We went over Buck Hill but there not views to be had. But the hike through the woods from here to our finish was pleasant.
I am sure there are things I have forgotten to include in this trip report. But I wanted to type it before I forgot some of these. I do not have the memory I use to. But this was a great trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. But I think I would prefer to do it southbound again next time. This is the first time I have done it northbound. I personally think southbound is better for this section. This now leaves me only about 50 miles left to complete the AT here in Maine.