GoHalls

I started voting at eighteen. while I was still in college 1972. I was a registered democrat at the time and I voted democratic though I didn't vote for president I couldn't vote for either Nixon or McGovern. Just couldn't vote for McGovern though I hated Nixon. The first election I remember was 1960 Kennedy vs Nixon. I would have voted for Kennedy had I been able to at 6. Mostly because dad liked him. But I would vote for him now if he was running. Though I am unhappy that he ran a deficit in his first year. 

Walked out a short 5 miles to Stratton it was a pretty hike. I am going to take a couple of weeks off go home to Tammy. I miss her and want to spend a bit of time.

I saw this rock it came out of the woods like some sort of a Fairy castle.

Short day out of Caratunk pretty pond  and I am stopping early. plus there are mountains coming up. East carry pond was quite large and scenic in most places it would be called a lake. I think the differences (in Maine) between a pond and a lake is the depth. Ponds are shallow and lakes are deep.

Many of these lakes were quite warm in august and September. I swam in many of them. It was nice.

Maine has 282 miles on the Appalachian Trail it Katadin at one end and about 5 miles past Mahoosuc Notch. Maine is the hardest section on the trail and it is second to Virginia in Length. New Hampshire would dispute this even though Mahoosic Notch is commonly accepted as the hardest section on the trail. Though I think Mount Washington to Osborn ridge camp in New Hampshire  is the most difficult section closely followed by Mount Moosalac the North face.

I spent three days at the Caratunk House trying to decide if I was going to finish the trail. The pain in my knee was quit high, I was missing Tammy and I was thinking of quitting.

Well I took off from Shaws on Aug 16 and headed south the rest day made my knee feel some better. I tried to stretch my Merrells to fix them and try to stop them from cutting off my big toe.

Between Caratunk and Monson there are two mountains Moxie bald and Pleasant Pond Mountain. Stayed

On the 16 th I hiked to a stealth site Just before bald mountain rd 10 or twelve miles Knee is still bothering me.

I could have gotten out of the the Hundred mile wilderness, but it was about two I had six ish miles left and Buddha and his friend (I am calling him Blue pearl) were building a fire and there were stairs. So I stopped and helped them build a fire.

I pulled into long pond early it was quite beautiflul. I had gone over the top of Barren Mountain.

Met Btterfly and Huckeberry again I had met them at Abol campground. They have done 800 miles in the South and I have seen them at Abol campground and now here. They are a Nice couple. We have exchanged mushroom pictures. The are going to Shaws tomorrow I expect to see them there.

I pitched my tent on a ridge over looking the Lake. It was pretty.

This was a mountain I was tired by the time I go to chairback pond and I had to go down hill about 100 feet down to the lake it is beutiful. but down a steep 100 ft. I realy wasn't looking forward to climbing up in the morning.

 White Cap is perhaps the best view on the entire trail.Though I had to climb the endless stairs of Khazad-dûm. Then there was a steep climb nearly vertical, the climb I put away my poles and did  four points of contact to get to the top. Tammy after I showed her the picture of the blueberries wanted to be at White Cap. So I sent her the picture of the vertical rock fall I had to climb.

This was a steep 11 miles over Hay mountain and White Cap.  There were a bunch of stairs up to White Cap and a steep climb up many nearly vertical boulders.

Got out early-ish cooked breakfast and packed up and headed out before eight and came over little Bordman mountain and then camped. On the way there I stopped to for lunch at a brook. It was sunny and nice. The water fell over bolders for several feet into a pool about 20 feet accross. The area up stream had many Water skippers. The large ones were moving slow and the small ones skittered around franticly. It seemed to be a metafor of something. I am not sure what you get big by being calm and carring on or to get big you must hustle.

Seven miles to Antlers Campsite. Though I have said that hundred mile wilderness isn't flat this was pretty flat. I did six miles and my wash the lake was very shallow I went swimming in it and tired to rinse off the sweat I hung up my close to dry and rested my knee. There was a group of young kits perhaps college maybe high school. That had hiked in. and an older gentleman who I lent a pencil to.

Fourteen Mile Day to Nahmakanta. I didn't get out until late say eight thirty to nine. When I woke up the inside of my Tarptent pro trail was soaked. I had set it up close to the ground and shut the vestibule it was damp enough that I saw my own breath the night before and I had condensation  lesson learned a tent needs to breath. I hung up my tent to dry a little before and cooked breakfast so I got out late. I stopped just before Nahmakanta . It was dark and I was tripping over roots and rocks, and had to set my tent up in the dark. I decided to take it more easy and rest my knee.

Large sections of the Hundred mile wilderness look flat. I found that it is never flat it was always up and down up 100 ft down 100ft up 200ft and down 200ft. Additionally who ever laid out the trail in Maine though that we needed to go over the top of any bolder larger than a kitchen table. So I was forever climbing up on a rock only to slide down three or four feet. Once I climbed down a twenty foot ravine to find as I turned around that it flattened out a few hundred feet up so that I wouldn't have had to climb at all. This kind of stuff irritated me.