8/29/01
Sleeping in a shelter on a cold, windy, wet night sure beats having to pack a wet tent to start the day! Our full shelter with Nobos, Leading and Trailing from Knoxville, Finn, Phantom, a Sobo and me, all were packing in the dry shelter as clouds and fog swirled by. Despite the rain having already ended, leaf drip from the trees, combined with 100% humidity, made the start of the day damp and clammy. We climbed up and over The Horn, then up the west peak of Bigelow Mtn. in the cloudy conditions. It was slow going for me on the descents due to slippery rocks and roots, but the slope of the trail was moderate and manageable with care. Priceless had started earlier this morning with Gobblin (Brodie, of the Shiners) and The Dude and had told us he was going to bust a 27 mile day, so we weren't sure we would see him again. So Phantom, Finn and I took a break at the top of Bigelow with the clouds screaming by and a cold wind chill sucking our body heat away. We paused on the side of the exposed summit that blocked the wind, but nevertheless didn't stay long before descending to Bigelow Col before climbing the east peak (Avery Peak) of Bigelow Mtn. By the time we were climbing out of Bigelow Col, the sun was breaking through the lifting clouds and we temporarily saw outstanding views of the valley below with lots of lakes and ponds dotted throughout the wilderness landscape. From the top of Avery Peak the clouds had further lifted and we were able to view a 360 degree panorama of spectacular wilderness in every direction, except the lone ski resort of Sugarloaf to the SW. The trail descended steeply from Avery Peak to Safford Notch. All three of us were hungry before we reached Safford, so we stopped and ate lunch next to a huge boulder towering over us. The break was brief before we pressed on across Little Bigelow Mtn.
Upon reaching the plateaued (new word?) top of Little Bigelow, we caught up to our friend Priceless, who was napping on the rocks in the sunshine, along with Gobblin and The Dude. They invited us to join them, which we did happily! I laid out some gear to dry, carefully, after remembering the tornado incident atop Saddleback; then packed up to move north. The trail took us past the neck of Flagstaff Lake before we returned to the woods. All of the fellas passed me on the next stretch in eager anticipation of reaching Long Falls Dam road. The road itself was meaningless, except for one thing. In yellow paint, in the center of the road at the AT crossing point, was painted "2000 Mi". By the time I caught up to the guys, they were all chilling next to the road, occasionally letting out a war whoop or giving each other high fives as we celebrated the fact that we had just hiked 2,000 miles. For some reason the accomplishment didn't excite me that much. I guess knowing that we still had 168 miles to go with uncertainty still that sickness or injury could rob us of a complete thru-hike tempered my celebration of the milestone. I cruised the next three and a half miles across gently sloping trail and was the first to arrive at the West Carry Pond lean-to at 6:30 p.m. I quickly started my alcohol stove to get some water boiling for my dinner, then raised my tent and filtered water as the sun began setting and the forest colors darkened. The rest of the guys, Phantom, Medagator, Finn, Priceless, The Dude, Newton, and Gobblin soon arrived. As usual, Phantom and I tented while the rest of the shelter rats picked their spot in the shelter for the night. Gobblin built a fire, which most of us contributed some wood to, and we relaxed by the fire until time for bed. A chilly night was ahead, so I slipped in the bag and journaled for a few minutes before turning off the headlamp and going to sleep. Today's stats; low 48, high 65. Cloudy to partly sunny. Today's mileage: 17.5; cumulative mileage: 2,002.9.
