9/09/01
This morning's sunrise provided a stunningly beautiful backdrop to the already gorgeous campsite on the peninsula jutting out into the lower Jo-Mary Lake. Several of us got up to snap photos before returning to our sleeping bags for a little more sleep. Phantom, Finn, Priceless and I were all looking forward to a lunch treat at the White House Landing Wilderness Camp, so we packed up and got on the trail before 8 a.m. The flat trail made hiking easy and we covered six miles quickly to the logging road near Pemadumcook Lake. All four of us were hiking together with Priceless in front when we reached a freshly cut logging road located just south of our road to White House Landing, when Priceless sounded the "moose" alert. We all saw the tremendous bull moose as he sauntered away from us down the logging road. Finally my quest to see a moose in Maine was satisfied. We continued on through thick forest to the Pemadumcook Lake logging road where we left the trail to hike to the lake. As we hiked the side trail, we met Smitty and Cy, who were returning to the AT after spending the night at the White House Landing bunkhouse. They raved about the burgers at the lodge, so we picked up our step as we eagerly anticipated some real food in the middle of the wilderness. The 1.2 mile side trail led us along the shoreline of the lake, which was very large in comparison with the numerous ponds we had passed in the wilderness. We reached a small boat dock with a sign on a tree which instructed us to blow the airhorn once with a steady stream to get picked up. Phantom did the honors and just a few minutes later we were all in a motorboat crossing the lake to the White House Landing. It was only 9:45 and the grill didn't open until 11:30, but we didn't mind a bit having to wait.
We took advantage of the warm sunshine to dry some gear, then sat on the hillside in the shade facing the lake. Priceless found some apple trees with apples and got permission to pick them. He picked one for each of us, then got another round as we savored the succulent crisp fruit. The air horn blew and soon Jeremiah Johnson joined us on the lawn, waiting for the lodge to open. I took advantage of the down time to catch up on some journaling. Eventually we all entered the small, rustic lodge and relaxed with pints of Ben and Jerry's and sodas while eagerly awaiting our ordered food. The half pound burger was fabulous as was the pizza Finn ordered and shared with us. After stuffing ourselves, we had the boatman drop all five of us off as the end of the lake nearest the AT. By 2 p.m. we were back on the trail with a plan to hike another 15 miles before day's end. We kept a steady, quick pace going all afternoon with a late afternoon hike around Nahmakanta Lake. I had pushed my pace and forged ahead of my counterparts as I arrived at the Wadleigh Stream lean-to. Sweating profusely in the afternoon heat, I took only a couple of minutes to sign the shelter register, then quickly filtered some water as I chatted with Mary Poppins, who was relaxing at the shelter. As Phantom, Priceless, Finn and Jeremiah Johnson arrived, I left them behind as I wanted to climb up and over Nesuntabunt Mtn. before dark and I wanted to try to hear the updated weather forecast to aid our planning for when we wanted to summit Katahdin.
The climb up the moderately steep 800' seemed to last forever since it was such a late day climb. At the forested summit a blue-blazed side trail led to a view. I took the radio with me and walked out to a small rock outcrop with a stellar view of Walimakanta Lake below. The hazy late afternoon prevented a good view of Katahdin, but with squinting eyes I could barely make out the silhouette of the tremendous mountain, now only 40 miles away or less. The weather forecast had been revised and the new forecast called for rain for tomorrow night with clearing and cooler conditions on the 11th and 12th. The fellas caught up to me on Nesuntabunt's summit. We kicked around the plan to finish and decided that we wanted to finish these last 35 miles and summit Katahdin together on Tuesday, September 11th. With six miles left to go to reach the Rainbow Stream lean-to, it was obvious we were going to do one last night hike, so I donned my pack and took off down the trail to get down Nesuntabunt before daylight could fade. Finn stayed with me, ahead of Priceless, Phantom and Jeremiah Johnson. Around 7:30 we reached the shoreline of Crescent Pond, a small but beautiful place to stop and cook dinner. We fired up our stoves and filtered water from the pond as dusk fell. All five of us ate in near darkness. After dinner, we relaxed for another hour on a large rock slab. The stars were magnificent above us as we lay on the rock, watching for satellites to go by and the occasional falling star.
Finally we mustered some gumption to resume our hike to the Rainbow Stream lean-to. We still had four miles to hike in the dark and Phantom's headlamp was extremely weak on battery power, so it was slow going. It didn't help that the trail had an abundance of rocks and roots to challenge our depth perception along the way. However, it was a beautiful night and the temperature dropped to a more pleasant level as we continued hiking. At Pollywog Stream, a little more than two miles from Crescent Pond, we crossed a road which allowed us to take a break where we could again view the night sky without any city lights to interrupt the view. The break was too short, but we continued on through the woods to our destination. We made one more stop on the trail in the middle of the forest next to a gurgling stream. This time we dropped our packs and turned off our headlamps for a few minutes. It was as if this was a last rite of passage to the end of our journey, sitting together in the dark, listening to the sounds of nature and enjoying each other's company. Finally we broke the silence and moved on to the lean-to, arriving there at 10:45 p.m. We awoke Grasshopper, who was sleeping soundly in the shelter upon our arrival. Finn, Priceless and Jeremiah Johnson joined him in the shelter, while Phantom and I both erected our tents on the pine forest floor a few yards up hill from the shelter. My thoughts turned to the realization that the journey is almost over and the full range of emotions ran through my mind as I lay staring through my bug-screened tent walls at the stars peeking through open holes in the forest canopy. Thank goodness I was tired from the long hiking day and sleep came quickly. Today's stats: low 65, high 88 (a record, the old one was 83 degrees). Sunny and hot. Today's mileage: 21.7; cumulative mileage: 2,138.0.
