The hikers have made great time and have enjoyed the remainder of the hike through Maine. Today, Wed., they plan to finally hike "The Mountain....Katahadin", in Baxter State Park! Larry traveled up Tuesday to greet the hikers and spend the evening catching up, feeding them, and hearing their stories of the trail. Today is a very exciting day! We are praying the threatening thunder storms will stay away. Kelly reminded me that the mountains have their own weather and who knows if they will be able to even hike it. Lillian (Dave's mom) will be heading up this morning with a couple of gals from the youth group to do some hiking and be there to meet the hikers . If all goes well, they will be home late tonight and will probably be back on trail in Andover on Monday. WOW. What a journey...and they will be heading south for more adventure. Kelly will blog trail notes while he is home, so we will get more information on the actual hike. Pray for good weather!!!!!!
By the way, Huck took the picture of the moose...it was peering down at him in his tiny backpacker tent, possibly wondering what the strange creature there on the ground was! What a great pic! Huck, you were so brave!
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/24/07...Sunday...AHHH!, What a wonderful day! We had no expectations for the day, no big miles either...We took our time, and our day was blessed. We got up and got our packs together, then headed up to the lodge to have breakfast at 8:00AM. We had a wonderful conversation with Bill, as he cooked, and we ate. Delicious! Bill gave us a bit of a rundown on some of the history of White House Landing, and other interesting tidbits. His wife, Linda, and son, Ben, also showed up while we were eating. We had a good time with them, then readied ourselves for the boat ride back to the opposite shore. We had a lot of walking before us, and Bill and Linda were needing to prepare for 11 visitors who were to be arriving soon...(and probably a few more hikers will show up, if we did a good job of convincing them as to what a great place it was!). Our stay was very relaxing, and I would hope to have the chance to visit again, someday. We took our time today, leaving White House Landing for the trail at 9:30 AM. We met very few hikers for quite a while, many of them may have bypassed us while we were having breakfast. We stopped at Nahmakanta Lake for awhile, and just relaxed. We snacked a bit, and I cooled my feet in the water. Then this fella, Don showed up, with three of his children. We chatted some about fishing, (there are some BIG fish in the stream!), and about his children, being involved with sports, etc....they were from Dover, Maine, and I mentioned that we, (Madison), used to play against Dover-Foxcroft Academy, during the football season, and maybe still did. He thought that we played against each other, too, and commented that D-F Academy had been a powerhouse in recent years, under the coaching of Paul Withee...Now, I had found a connection! Paul is a Madison native, and my wife and I had attended school with him. I asked Don if he ever sees Paul, and he figured at least twice a week. I gave Don a couple of my cards, and asked him to pass one along to Paul, and let him know that we think of him fondly. We got to talk a bit longer, then we hit the trail again, headed for the crest of Nesuntabunt Mtn. . ...Beautiful hike! The trail is interesting and difficult, and interspersed with wonderful views of the “Big K”...No, not ME, Katahdin!!!...It was beginning to get on in the day, so we started on our way down....OOPS! Oh yes, can’t forget the hikers that we met at Wadleigh Stream Lean-to, and at the base of the mountain that we had just begun to climb...There was the “Mississippi Three”, John and his two friends, that are finishing the section at Katahdin. We stopped to chat, and wished them well, and a great hike...As we began to pick our way up Nesuntabunt, we met Scott, and chatted with him, also...then, we started up the mountain. After hiking a bit, I thought I heard singing...sometimes it is “only in my head”, so I listened hard! It got louder! All of a sudden, we happened upon the singer, Tina, who was doing a SOBO hike. I think that we may have startled her a bit, as she was singing along to her MP3 player, and couldn’t hear us. I verified that, in fact, she had been singing, and that the song being sung was “ ‘tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”. We shared that we were all Christians, and told her about our missions trip. I gave her our card, and she will be in contact. Then, she shared with us the details of her hike. She is hiking to raise funds for a woman’s shelter...AWESOME! She was going to stay at Wadleigh tonight, and I suggested White House Landing as a destination for tomorrow. With her funds being way limited, she didn’t think that she should...so I made a small donation to the cause, to help her out with the costs...I hope she has a wonderful hike, and that she is able to raise the badly needed funds for the ministry that she is involved with! Thank you, Tina from Tennessee, you were a bright spot in my day!...Hiking on, it was getting pretty late. We still had about 7 ½ miles to go to get to Rainbow Stream Lean-to, hopefully before it was too dark. We did well, arriving at 9:00PM, with me just at the point of having to turn on my headlamp. We were able to do 17 miles in 11 ½ hours, and pretty much had taken our time doing it. We were dead tired, though, and called it a night, with no cooking, just a light snack. It’s lights out, John Boy...good night and God Bless!!!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/25/07...Monday...Dragging our feet a little bit on this fine morning? You bet! We got up a little late, then chatted with “Sapra”, who had tented nearby. His name is Peruvian for “Beard”. He had spent a couple of years there in the high Andes, with the Peace Corps, and was the only person there having a beard. Real nice guy, hope he has a wonderful hike. In the shelter were a few odds and ends that someone had left, to be picked up by other hikers. Apparently, it is very common that a hiker will leave the trail, or just lighten their load, and leave the goods at a shelter, to the benefit of a fellow hiker. One of the items that had been left was a very nice headlamp...much nicer, and brighter than the one I was carrying. Sapra suggested that it would be good etiquette if I was to take the lamp, and leave my lamp in its’ stead. I was about to do just that, when a better opportunity presented itself. Bobby Lee, from Nevada, had just showed up with a lady hiker, (sorry, forgot name)...Seeing as Bobby Lee had no light at all, I kept my old one, and gave him the new one. God always seems to provide, and has helped me many times to show some small act of kindness. Bobby Lee was an entertaining character, and we enjoyed his company very much. As we were finally leaving camp to jump back on trail, we received a nice thank you from Bobby Lee, and he said that he hoped that God would bless our trip...He just did, Bobby Lee, He just did! ...Later, we came across “Smiles”, a young man who recently had left the Army...(By the way, Smiles, if I did not thank you for your service to me and the rest of the country, please accept my apology. I am so grateful to you, and to all of our servicemen and women!)...Now, you can probably figure how he got his trail name...he SMILES! And, that makes everyone else smile! It’s infectious! Try it sometime!!! Now, here is the real interesting part of our meeting...Smiles was heading SOBO, but stated that he had completed more than 800 miles...that just didn’t make sense to me, unless he was flip-flopping, which he wasn’t! Here’s the deal...He had gotten out of the Army in March, and started hiking in April. Yeah...from Indiana to Maine. That was his “warm-up walk”, so to speak. 800 miles. It seems that when he was hiking East, he came upon the Trail, took a left, and headed North to Katahdin. After he summited, he started hiking SOBO, heading for Georgia. I asked what his plans were when he got to Springer Mtn., Georgia, and he said that he thought that he might just as well keep going. He thought that he would head West, maybe taking a dip into Mexico for a time. If he is up to it, eventually complete the circuit by hiking North, then East again. No doubt he can do it! Hope all goes well, Smiles, may God bless your travels!...Met a man from New York, who was hiking with his young son. They appeared to be having a bit of a hard time on the trail. I asked how far they were planning to hike, and he said that he hoped to make it back to New York. Not that I have figured out the finer points of hiking, and what to carry, I assessed some of their gear, which was quite plentiful, and heavy. I told them that I had no doubts that they could complete their hike, and even go further, but that it might go well if they were to lighten the burden a bit. I encouraged them to stay at it, and folks along the way would help them get it all manageable, and they would be fine. Hopefully, they will not give up yet, as it has only been a couple of days of hiking for them. It is a general “rule of thumb” that even after making the decision to leave the trail, a hiker should remain on trail for at least three days before actually stopping the hike. Things often change for the better in three short days...Arriving at Hurd Brook Lean-to, we met Rebecca, a young ER Nurse, and a young man named Eric. They are both from the West coast, she from Washington, he from California. They actually met here in Maine, and are hiking together, for the present time. We had a nice evening talking with them. We discussed lot’s of things, including gear, food, hiking light, and the like. Eric is already pretty light, carrying 35 lbs., or less, including his water and food (enough to get him through ten days of hiking). He talked about other things that he planned on getting rid of, some small, like his compass/whistle, and some large, like his lightweight tent. There were many other items, also, and I started, jokingly, to refer to him as “Naked Man”, as he was obviously a “bare necessity” hiker. I don’t believe that name will stick, nor would I want it to, but it did get a good chuckle out of him...They are early risers, usually hiking by 5:30 or 6:00 AM, so they have turned in, and are fast asleep. I will close shortly, also, and get some rest. We didn’t start hiking this morning until 10:45 AM, and stopped early, at 5:30 PM. That’s 6 ¾ hrs. of hiking, completing 11 ¾ miles from Rainbow Stream Lean-to to Hurd Brook Lean-to. Tomorrow, we will try to cover the 13 ½ miles between us and Katahdin Stream Campground. That will set us up nicely to climb to the top of Mt. Katahdin on Wednesday. Here’s hoping that the weather holds up! Love to you all, God Bless!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/26/07...Tuesday...We had a super day today! We finished the 13 ½ miles to arrive at Katahdin Stream Campground! One of the big highlights of the day was when we emerged from the “100 mile wilderness”, walking down the road across Abol Bridge, and seeing the Abol Bridge Store! The owner of the store was there (sorry, ma’am, I’ve forgotton your name), and a sweet young clerk named Olivia. They were both so nice and helpful! We tanked up on food, while sitting at their picnic table, and I made out a few postcards. I wasn’t very hungry, so I only had a roast beef and cheese sub...and an Italian sandwich, ...whoopie pie...bag of chips...soda, crackers, and maybe a couple of other things...It was SO good! After asking the ladies to send out my postcards, we started back on our way to Katahdin Stream Campground, at Baxter State Park. When we entered the campground, I looked off to my right, and could see my brother Larry’s pickup truck parked at one of the shelter sites. We didn’t find him, though, so we continued on to the Rangers’ Office, where Ranger Corrigan got us all squared away with our fees and such. Brother Larry then showed up, and we all had a good chat with the Rangers. They were extremely friendly, and accommodating, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them. We then went back to Larry’s site, where, of course, we had some more to eat. Thanks Larry! Faithful and I were able to set up our bags in the back of Larry’s truck, which made for a comfortable nights sleep. We had thunderstorms, and some rain, through the night, and the truck’s cap proved out to be watertight. We ended up having a great nights sleep in preparation for our climb of Katahdin. We also were able to give out many cards today. They were all accepted, with many of the folks saying that they would check out the website and the blog. I can’t ask for a better day! Time to sign out...God Bless!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/27/07...Wednesday...Got up to a bit of a cloudy sky, and wondered if we would be able to climb Katahdin. We decided that we would be OK, and had a bit of food for breakfast, and some nice, hot, coffee. We started along the Hunt Trail (the A. T. route) at 6:50 AM. The weather cleared up a little bit, and we were able to get a few good pictures along the way. Faithful had a great hike up, having no problems in navigating all the rocks, iron bars, and the like. I surprised myself, also having no problems in making the climb. Up at the top, it was very cloudy, wet, and cool. We got our pictures taken at the sign, and then I took pictures for many of the other hikers. I didn’t mind doing that at all, and it gave me several opportunities to start up conversations with them, and tell them about the missions trip. I am not sure just how many cards I gave out, but it was a pile of them! We met people from all kinds of places, and most accepted a card from me. There were a lot of folks from Canada, also some from England, Germany, and Finland. Eventually, we left the mountain’s summit, making our way to the “Saddle Trail”, on which we would find our way back down. We met many more folks on the way down, including a group of young hikers as they made the camps at Chimney Pond. Two young men from England led the way. I took pictures of the group for them, then helped the leaders and one young hiker play a trick on the rest of the troupe. We convinced them that they needed to get their gear stowed in the bunkhouse quickly, so that they would have plenty of time to enjoy the “Hot Springs” at Chimney Pond! (There aren’t any...). Countering one young fella’s insistence that there were no hot springs in Maine, I asked him if he thought the only place was Hot Springs, Arkansas. What about Circle Hot Springs and Chena Hot Springs, both located in chilly Alaska? Of COURSE Chimney Pond was a Hot Spring! Why would they call it “Chimney”, if it wasn’t hot?!? Having convinced them thoroughly, they hustled to get all their gear in order, and Faithful and I went happily on our way! By the way, the pond is strictly protected, and is off limits to swimming, bathing, etc...oops! Onward and downward we went, and I had a bit of a time with it. The trail, initially, was steep, and consisted of a lot of loose rock and the like. My knees took a pretty fair beating, and twice, the right one gave out on me, sending me sprawling on my face. But, eventually, I made it! We got back down to the end of the trail at Roaring Brook Camp, where we found Larry patiently waiting for us. He was sitting on a bench reading. He had also had a great day, getting in a little swimming, reading, and moose watching. Our day had been just grand, even though we didn’t get the “perfect day”. We had made it to the summit and back in just under 10 hours. The Rangers had said that was a good average hike time, so I was feeling pretty good about not just making it, but being “average”, to boot! On the way home, we learned that Lillian and two girls, from the youth group at their Church in Canaan, had come over to meet us, and do a bit of hiking. They were going up Hunt Trail as we were coming down Saddle Trail... OOPS! So sorry that we didn’t connect...maybe we will do this again sometime? We ran into severe thunder storms on our way home, along with some incredibly high winds. We all got home safe and sound, but had reports that Larry’s house on Lake Wesserunsett was damaged in the storm, along with several other camps and homes in his area. A bit of a microburst...Let’s keep them all in prayer, that the damages are not too severe, and there are no injuries. Well, that’s about it for now, time to take a couple of “zero days” before returning to the trail in Andover, Maine. Again, our thanks go out to Larry for all of his terrific support! Night all, and God Bless!
Stickman
By the way, Huck took the picture of the moose...it was peering down at him in his tiny backpacker tent, possibly wondering what the strange creature there on the ground was! What a great pic! Huck, you were so brave!
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/24/07...Sunday...AHHH!, What a wonderful day! We had no expectations for the day, no big miles either...We took our time, and our day was blessed. We got up and got our packs together, then headed up to the lodge to have breakfast at 8:00AM. We had a wonderful conversation with Bill, as he cooked, and we ate. Delicious! Bill gave us a bit of a rundown on some of the history of White House Landing, and other interesting tidbits. His wife, Linda, and son, Ben, also showed up while we were eating. We had a good time with them, then readied ourselves for the boat ride back to the opposite shore. We had a lot of walking before us, and Bill and Linda were needing to prepare for 11 visitors who were to be arriving soon...(and probably a few more hikers will show up, if we did a good job of convincing them as to what a great place it was!). Our stay was very relaxing, and I would hope to have the chance to visit again, someday. We took our time today, leaving White House Landing for the trail at 9:30 AM. We met very few hikers for quite a while, many of them may have bypassed us while we were having breakfast. We stopped at Nahmakanta Lake for awhile, and just relaxed. We snacked a bit, and I cooled my feet in the water. Then this fella, Don showed up, with three of his children. We chatted some about fishing, (there are some BIG fish in the stream!), and about his children, being involved with sports, etc....they were from Dover, Maine, and I mentioned that we, (Madison), used to play against Dover-Foxcroft Academy, during the football season, and maybe still did. He thought that we played against each other, too, and commented that D-F Academy had been a powerhouse in recent years, under the coaching of Paul Withee...Now, I had found a connection! Paul is a Madison native, and my wife and I had attended school with him. I asked Don if he ever sees Paul, and he figured at least twice a week. I gave Don a couple of my cards, and asked him to pass one along to Paul, and let him know that we think of him fondly. We got to talk a bit longer, then we hit the trail again, headed for the crest of Nesuntabunt Mtn. . ...Beautiful hike! The trail is interesting and difficult, and interspersed with wonderful views of the “Big K”...No, not ME, Katahdin!!!...It was beginning to get on in the day, so we started on our way down....OOPS! Oh yes, can’t forget the hikers that we met at Wadleigh Stream Lean-to, and at the base of the mountain that we had just begun to climb...There was the “Mississippi Three”, John and his two friends, that are finishing the section at Katahdin. We stopped to chat, and wished them well, and a great hike...As we began to pick our way up Nesuntabunt, we met Scott, and chatted with him, also...then, we started up the mountain. After hiking a bit, I thought I heard singing...sometimes it is “only in my head”, so I listened hard! It got louder! All of a sudden, we happened upon the singer, Tina, who was doing a SOBO hike. I think that we may have startled her a bit, as she was singing along to her MP3 player, and couldn’t hear us. I verified that, in fact, she had been singing, and that the song being sung was “ ‘tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”. We shared that we were all Christians, and told her about our missions trip. I gave her our card, and she will be in contact. Then, she shared with us the details of her hike. She is hiking to raise funds for a woman’s shelter...AWESOME! She was going to stay at Wadleigh tonight, and I suggested White House Landing as a destination for tomorrow. With her funds being way limited, she didn’t think that she should...so I made a small donation to the cause, to help her out with the costs...I hope she has a wonderful hike, and that she is able to raise the badly needed funds for the ministry that she is involved with! Thank you, Tina from Tennessee, you were a bright spot in my day!...Hiking on, it was getting pretty late. We still had about 7 ½ miles to go to get to Rainbow Stream Lean-to, hopefully before it was too dark. We did well, arriving at 9:00PM, with me just at the point of having to turn on my headlamp. We were able to do 17 miles in 11 ½ hours, and pretty much had taken our time doing it. We were dead tired, though, and called it a night, with no cooking, just a light snack. It’s lights out, John Boy...good night and God Bless!!!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/25/07...Monday...Dragging our feet a little bit on this fine morning? You bet! We got up a little late, then chatted with “Sapra”, who had tented nearby. His name is Peruvian for “Beard”. He had spent a couple of years there in the high Andes, with the Peace Corps, and was the only person there having a beard. Real nice guy, hope he has a wonderful hike. In the shelter were a few odds and ends that someone had left, to be picked up by other hikers. Apparently, it is very common that a hiker will leave the trail, or just lighten their load, and leave the goods at a shelter, to the benefit of a fellow hiker. One of the items that had been left was a very nice headlamp...much nicer, and brighter than the one I was carrying. Sapra suggested that it would be good etiquette if I was to take the lamp, and leave my lamp in its’ stead. I was about to do just that, when a better opportunity presented itself. Bobby Lee, from Nevada, had just showed up with a lady hiker, (sorry, forgot name)...Seeing as Bobby Lee had no light at all, I kept my old one, and gave him the new one. God always seems to provide, and has helped me many times to show some small act of kindness. Bobby Lee was an entertaining character, and we enjoyed his company very much. As we were finally leaving camp to jump back on trail, we received a nice thank you from Bobby Lee, and he said that he hoped that God would bless our trip...He just did, Bobby Lee, He just did! ...Later, we came across “Smiles”, a young man who recently had left the Army...(By the way, Smiles, if I did not thank you for your service to me and the rest of the country, please accept my apology. I am so grateful to you, and to all of our servicemen and women!)...Now, you can probably figure how he got his trail name...he SMILES! And, that makes everyone else smile! It’s infectious! Try it sometime!!! Now, here is the real interesting part of our meeting...Smiles was heading SOBO, but stated that he had completed more than 800 miles...that just didn’t make sense to me, unless he was flip-flopping, which he wasn’t! Here’s the deal...He had gotten out of the Army in March, and started hiking in April. Yeah...from Indiana to Maine. That was his “warm-up walk”, so to speak. 800 miles. It seems that when he was hiking East, he came upon the Trail, took a left, and headed North to Katahdin. After he summited, he started hiking SOBO, heading for Georgia. I asked what his plans were when he got to Springer Mtn., Georgia, and he said that he thought that he might just as well keep going. He thought that he would head West, maybe taking a dip into Mexico for a time. If he is up to it, eventually complete the circuit by hiking North, then East again. No doubt he can do it! Hope all goes well, Smiles, may God bless your travels!...Met a man from New York, who was hiking with his young son. They appeared to be having a bit of a hard time on the trail. I asked how far they were planning to hike, and he said that he hoped to make it back to New York. Not that I have figured out the finer points of hiking, and what to carry, I assessed some of their gear, which was quite plentiful, and heavy. I told them that I had no doubts that they could complete their hike, and even go further, but that it might go well if they were to lighten the burden a bit. I encouraged them to stay at it, and folks along the way would help them get it all manageable, and they would be fine. Hopefully, they will not give up yet, as it has only been a couple of days of hiking for them. It is a general “rule of thumb” that even after making the decision to leave the trail, a hiker should remain on trail for at least three days before actually stopping the hike. Things often change for the better in three short days...Arriving at Hurd Brook Lean-to, we met Rebecca, a young ER Nurse, and a young man named Eric. They are both from the West coast, she from Washington, he from California. They actually met here in Maine, and are hiking together, for the present time. We had a nice evening talking with them. We discussed lot’s of things, including gear, food, hiking light, and the like. Eric is already pretty light, carrying 35 lbs., or less, including his water and food (enough to get him through ten days of hiking). He talked about other things that he planned on getting rid of, some small, like his compass/whistle, and some large, like his lightweight tent. There were many other items, also, and I started, jokingly, to refer to him as “Naked Man”, as he was obviously a “bare necessity” hiker. I don’t believe that name will stick, nor would I want it to, but it did get a good chuckle out of him...They are early risers, usually hiking by 5:30 or 6:00 AM, so they have turned in, and are fast asleep. I will close shortly, also, and get some rest. We didn’t start hiking this morning until 10:45 AM, and stopped early, at 5:30 PM. That’s 6 ¾ hrs. of hiking, completing 11 ¾ miles from Rainbow Stream Lean-to to Hurd Brook Lean-to. Tomorrow, we will try to cover the 13 ½ miles between us and Katahdin Stream Campground. That will set us up nicely to climb to the top of Mt. Katahdin on Wednesday. Here’s hoping that the weather holds up! Love to you all, God Bless!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/26/07...Tuesday...We had a super day today! We finished the 13 ½ miles to arrive at Katahdin Stream Campground! One of the big highlights of the day was when we emerged from the “100 mile wilderness”, walking down the road across Abol Bridge, and seeing the Abol Bridge Store! The owner of the store was there (sorry, ma’am, I’ve forgotton your name), and a sweet young clerk named Olivia. They were both so nice and helpful! We tanked up on food, while sitting at their picnic table, and I made out a few postcards. I wasn’t very hungry, so I only had a roast beef and cheese sub...and an Italian sandwich, ...whoopie pie...bag of chips...soda, crackers, and maybe a couple of other things...It was SO good! After asking the ladies to send out my postcards, we started back on our way to Katahdin Stream Campground, at Baxter State Park. When we entered the campground, I looked off to my right, and could see my brother Larry’s pickup truck parked at one of the shelter sites. We didn’t find him, though, so we continued on to the Rangers’ Office, where Ranger Corrigan got us all squared away with our fees and such. Brother Larry then showed up, and we all had a good chat with the Rangers. They were extremely friendly, and accommodating, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them. We then went back to Larry’s site, where, of course, we had some more to eat. Thanks Larry! Faithful and I were able to set up our bags in the back of Larry’s truck, which made for a comfortable nights sleep. We had thunderstorms, and some rain, through the night, and the truck’s cap proved out to be watertight. We ended up having a great nights sleep in preparation for our climb of Katahdin. We also were able to give out many cards today. They were all accepted, with many of the folks saying that they would check out the website and the blog. I can’t ask for a better day! Time to sign out...God Bless!
Stickman
STICKMANS' JOURNAL...6/27/07...Wednesday...Got up to a bit of a cloudy sky, and wondered if we would be able to climb Katahdin. We decided that we would be OK, and had a bit of food for breakfast, and some nice, hot, coffee. We started along the Hunt Trail (the A. T. route) at 6:50 AM. The weather cleared up a little bit, and we were able to get a few good pictures along the way. Faithful had a great hike up, having no problems in navigating all the rocks, iron bars, and the like. I surprised myself, also having no problems in making the climb. Up at the top, it was very cloudy, wet, and cool. We got our pictures taken at the sign, and then I took pictures for many of the other hikers. I didn’t mind doing that at all, and it gave me several opportunities to start up conversations with them, and tell them about the missions trip. I am not sure just how many cards I gave out, but it was a pile of them! We met people from all kinds of places, and most accepted a card from me. There were a lot of folks from Canada, also some from England, Germany, and Finland. Eventually, we left the mountain’s summit, making our way to the “Saddle Trail”, on which we would find our way back down. We met many more folks on the way down, including a group of young hikers as they made the camps at Chimney Pond. Two young men from England led the way. I took pictures of the group for them, then helped the leaders and one young hiker play a trick on the rest of the troupe. We convinced them that they needed to get their gear stowed in the bunkhouse quickly, so that they would have plenty of time to enjoy the “Hot Springs” at Chimney Pond! (There aren’t any...). Countering one young fella’s insistence that there were no hot springs in Maine, I asked him if he thought the only place was Hot Springs, Arkansas. What about Circle Hot Springs and Chena Hot Springs, both located in chilly Alaska? Of COURSE Chimney Pond was a Hot Spring! Why would they call it “Chimney”, if it wasn’t hot?!? Having convinced them thoroughly, they hustled to get all their gear in order, and Faithful and I went happily on our way! By the way, the pond is strictly protected, and is off limits to swimming, bathing, etc...oops! Onward and downward we went, and I had a bit of a time with it. The trail, initially, was steep, and consisted of a lot of loose rock and the like. My knees took a pretty fair beating, and twice, the right one gave out on me, sending me sprawling on my face. But, eventually, I made it! We got back down to the end of the trail at Roaring Brook Camp, where we found Larry patiently waiting for us. He was sitting on a bench reading. He had also had a great day, getting in a little swimming, reading, and moose watching. Our day had been just grand, even though we didn’t get the “perfect day”. We had made it to the summit and back in just under 10 hours. The Rangers had said that was a good average hike time, so I was feeling pretty good about not just making it, but being “average”, to boot! On the way home, we learned that Lillian and two girls, from the youth group at their Church in Canaan, had come over to meet us, and do a bit of hiking. They were going up Hunt Trail as we were coming down Saddle Trail... OOPS! So sorry that we didn’t connect...maybe we will do this again sometime? We ran into severe thunder storms on our way home, along with some incredibly high winds. We all got home safe and sound, but had reports that Larry’s house on Lake Wesserunsett was damaged in the storm, along with several other camps and homes in his area. A bit of a microburst...Let’s keep them all in prayer, that the damages are not too severe, and there are no injuries. Well, that’s about it for now, time to take a couple of “zero days” before returning to the trail in Andover, Maine. Again, our thanks go out to Larry for all of his terrific support! Night all, and God Bless!
Stickman
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