8/25/01
Cold air on the warm lake water brought a blanket of fog over us during the night as we slept. As we stirred and began packing our sleeping bags and other gear, the local mallards anxiously waited for us to leave so they could reclaim their hallowed ground that we had invaded. Across the street from the ice cream shop "Our Place Cafe" was open for breakfast, so we piled in. I had the best eggs benedict of the entire trail (actually they were the only eggs benedict I've had on the entire trail). After breakfast, it was time to get out of town, so all four of us stuck out our thumbs on Main Street, hoping for a quick hitch. Uncle Bob, who runs a hiker hostel just outside of town, stopped and picked all of us up after only 10 minutes of trying to get a hitch. He dropped us off at the trail and it was only 9 a.m., so we had a full day to hike several miles up the trail. From the road crossing to the top of Saddleback Mountain was just under 5 1/2 miles, with a total vertical climb of 2500'. Along the first 3 1/2 miles the ascent was gentle with two beautiful ponds along the way. Then we climbed steeply for 1000' to just above the treeline before the slope of the mountain became more moderate to the top. From the top of Saddleback we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the White Mountains in the far distance to the southwest, Sugarloaf Mtn., Mt. Abraham, and the Crockers to the northeast; Canada to the northwest and Maine flatlands to the east.
Since the fog and dew were heavy last night, I spread out several pieces of gear on the rocks to dry in the bright sunshine while I enjoyed lunch. Soon all five of us were stretched out, enjoying the view with no plans to move down the trail any time soon. While we were relaxing on the calm, beautiful day, a sudden strong gust of wind blew suddenly, which picked up several pieces of gear and sucked them several feet into the air. We all stood watching, aghast that ground cloths, pack covers, plastic bags and waterproof bags were blowing away off the summit in the fair weather mini-tornado. Some of our gear blew as high as 40 feet off the ground and we began chasing the gear as it finally started working its way to the ground. I had to wade my way through a dense grove of fir trees, then climb one to retrieve my ground cloth. Some of the fellas pitched in to help recover my gear and Phantom's gear. Eventually everything was recovered except one of my plastic garbage bags, which must have blown several hundred feet off the summit and dropped a thousand feet or more below us. The lesson learned is never to expect the weather to remain constant on mountain peaks, because things can change in an instant.
After the excitement died down and we returned to enjoying the top of the exposed mountain, Redneck and I got into a rather heated discussion which resulted in him hiking off the mountain ahead of the rest of us. We weren't sure we would see him again after the exchange, but I was hopeful that we would both think about it, settle down, and that he would rejoin the group. Our hiking day was certainly not over, and we finally pressed on to face The Horn, then Saddleback Junior, which both involved steep climbs and descents. It was late afternoon when we arrived at the Poplar Ridge lean-to, which was already crowded with a college group on a freshman orientation outing. Redneck was there when we arrived, so he and I exchanged words of regret and comfort and our short-lived feud was over. With a crowd in the shelter and good tent sites already taken, Phantom and I both tented on sloped ground, which meant I would be sliding all night to the foot of the tent. I made dinner and filtered water, then retreated to my tent by 8 p.m. for the night. Worn out from rough trail, I neglected my journaling duties once again and succumbed to the temptation to lay back in my sleeping bag with some radio tunes to lull me to sleep. It didn't take long! Today's stats: low 49, high 75. Sunny to partly cloudy. Today's mileage: 10.7; cumulative mileage: 1958.8.
