Friday, 5/1

AT Miles = 21.2 / 559.5
Other Miles = 0 / 21.2
Total Miles = 21.2 / 580.7

Happy May Day!

Hey, I am half way to half way! I have now hiked more than 1/4 of the miles from Springer Mtn to Katahdin.

After a big breakfast at the restaurant this morning — two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage, two bacon, two biscuits with gravy, home fries, coffee, orange juice, and water — I set off a few minutes before 8:00. After crossing under the highway the trail spends several miles traversing farm fields and overgrown meadows. It was really nice. At this low elevation everything is in bloom and the trees and shrubs were full of birdsong.

I climbed up onto a ridge and again was high enough that spring hadn't quite arrived, but then descended back into the lowlands and for another few miles the trail threads through farm country. I must have climbed a dozen stiles over farm fences. At each one I thought to myself that this is the perfect opportunity to fall, break a leg, and bring my hike to an end. Luckily, that didn't happen.

I was feeling good today after all that food and a good rest, and I reached my intended destination, Knot Maul Shelter, 14 miles into the day at 1:30. I ate lunch there and contemplated the sky, which had treated me to rain showers on and off all morning. One minute it would look dark and menacing, and the next bits of blue sky would appear. Finally I decided it was simply too early to call it a day and around 2:00 I saddled up and moved on.

I hiked a couple more hours until I came to a Forest Service road. Checking my book I could see that I should come to what is listed as "spring fed pond" in about 2 miles of uphill hiking. I decided that was my destination. Well, the uphill was of the heart attack inducing kind. At least, it felt that way at the end of a long day. It took about 20 minutes longer than I thought it could possibly take, but I finally arrived here and found a nice spot in the woods just behind the pond to hang my hammock and call home for the night. The sky has looked like rain is imminent ever since I arrived here, but I've got camp set up, cooked, ate, and cleaned up from my dinner, and once I finish this I will crawl into my hammock and listen to my radio or read my book until sleep overtakes me, which won't take long.

It looks like I will be in Bland sometime Sunday morning. Unless the weather is a total washout, I plan to get into town to resupply then get back out and move on to the next shelter.

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com