8/31/01
After a great night of sleep (no sheriff visits!) the crew was up and around by 8:00 this morning. My goal was to get some journaling done so I pounded out a day's worth of journaling while everyone else ate some breakfast and packed up. At 8:50 we hopped in Steve's truck and he drove us back to the trailhead on his way to begin the day's ferrying. Priceless and Redneck started hiking while Finn and Phantom and I hiked the short road walk into Caratunk to the PO. I sat on the front porch journaling while Phantom sorted his food drop and Finn showed up with his food drop from the Caratunk house. It was such a beautiful morning with perfect temperatures and breezes, we just sat and watched the morning go by. Two hours later we were still sitting and relaxing outside the PO as folks drove up to get their mail. The pace of life in Maine is very laid back and the folks seem to go about their days work relatively stress free. Steve's wife drove up to the PO around 11:30 with Leading and Trailing in the car. The PO had just closed for lunch, so they planned to wait 30 minutes to get their food drop. Meanwhile, Finn eyed the station wagon and suggested we ride back to the Rivers and Trails Hostel to grab some lunch. We thought it was a great idea, so back we went to the hostel. So much for starting the day's hike, which originally was going to be 15 miles. The thee of us ordered lunch from a place that offered free delivery and kicked back for another hour waiting for our food to arrive. Finally at 2:45 Steve was leaving to return to the river for the afternoon ferrying, so we hopped in the back of his truck for the second time of the day to return to the trail.
I guess we had so much fun in Caratunk we didn't want to leave. With rain on the way, we modified our hike from 15 to 5 miles and arrived at the Pleasant Pond lean-to around 6 p.m. Inside the small shelter were 3 Sobos and 1 flip-flopper, so Phantom and I were forced to tent, leaving the one remaining shelter spot for Finn, who doesn't carry a shelter. We found an adequate tent site a few yards from the shelter and set up in anticipation of a rainy night ahead. After doing the normal camp chores I was in the tent by 7:45 doing some journal catch-up. The wind outside the tent was howling and I knew it was just a matter of time before rain would begin. Funny, I had just been talking with Phantom about the absence of thunderstorms on the trail and tonight made up for it! By 8:30 the sky was full of heat lightning and around 10 p.m. the first thunderstorm hit. It lasted about an hour and I finally fell sleep as it moved on. Then around midnight a second thunderstorm passed. I listened to the thunder echoing through the mountains and valleys surrounding us as the rain beat hard on the tent. I did a flashlight survey of my home and found that it was 100% dry, so I returned to my slumber. At 2:30 a.m. thunderstorm number three hit. This time the rain was heavy and sustained and lasted into the dawn hours. My tent survived dry through the night and I was pleased that I made it through three storms without fear of the lightning! Today's stats: low 48, high 75. Sunny to cloudy, late thunderstorms. Today's impressive mileage: 5.7; cumulative mileage: 2,022.6.
