Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 10 - Crossing the Kennebec river
5th August 2023
Pleasant Pond Lean-to (mile 145.7) – Carry pond Lean-to (mile 165.4)
Daily miles: 19.7 (+ 1.2 to Sterling Inn)
Total miles: 171.9
It was an interesting night in the shelter. As expected I had to get up and wee in what I thought must have been the middle of the night, it turns out it was only 23:30. It rained really hard as I was going to sleep so I didn’t want to go out outside.
There was some snoring which made the floor vibrate a little, and of course men over a certain age can’t go through the night without getting up to wee so there was a bit of that going on too and some heavy footsteps which made the floor shake.
Older people also rise early naturally so that was a good thing because the way I was feeling this morning I could have slept in for ages. Most people generally take their time in the mornings… make breakfast, make coffee, pack up slowly.
I do pretty much the exact opposite; skip breakfast, I don’t drink coffee and I pack up as quickly as I can. It’s the same routine every morning and it takes me half an hour pretty consistently.
Last night’s shelter with a bouncy floor
Muddy shoes about to get more muddy
I said goodbye to my shelter buddies around 06:40 and prepared to do the 6ish miles to the road. As expected it was a total mud fest after all that rain, but on the plus side there was blue sky and sunshine in the sky. And my eyes were less puffy this morning so I could see.
There was a lot of hopping from rocks and tree roots to avoid the mud, and a mosquito would always aim for my ear or eye or bite my shoulder just as I was precariously balancing on something and trying not to fall in the mud.
Into the mud
Weirdly after not needing hardly at all to wee on trail (aside from morning and pre-bed) I had to have 3 wees in fairly quick succession this morning. The time between thinking you need to go and the urge to go right away is about 3 seconds (this is something that you need to retrain your body to do after the trail, hold a wee in for longer). If I get away without setting my pants before this trail is done it will be a miracle; it really feels like it’s all or nothing with my body at the moment. I think it’s broken.
I slipped on a bog board. I still haven’t broken a trekking pole which is another miracle at this point given the amount of times they have saved me or I’ve landed on them. I did add another scrape to my knee.
I heard a noise in the forest and my spidey senses went off, but it was just a deer.
More mud!
Me, smiling and a bit puffy around the eyes, but not as bad as it has been
The AT logo carved into a log
Bog boards
I picked my way slowly through the mud and came to the road at 09:40 which means I’m going a pretty consistent 2 miles an hour at the moment, and that’s me pushing it a bit!
The Sterling Inn is 1.2 miles down the road so I started walking and stuck out my thumb out. All the cars were going so fast. You can call the Inn for a free shuttle but I did it have service. I kept walking and putting my thumb out and eventually, about half way, I gave up on a ride because loads of cars had already passed by.
The road to the Sterling Inn
It took about 20 minutes to walk to the Inn where I met Cal, on one the other friends of Heaps who started with Toe who I met back in Monson. He’s fast and he has a tiny pack.
I hung out there for a bit; Put my tent out to dry and plugged in my electronics. You can also do your laundry and shower for free if you wanted to, even if you’re not staying there, but I couldn’t be bothered. They have a little store there with hiker resupply which is the reason I went there anyway.
I picked up a few bits, all over priced of course but that was to be expected. I also picked up my first Mountain Dew of the trip and a mini tub of Ben and Jerrys, my first ice cream of the trip – very different to going northbound! The Dew went down in one without even touching the sides.
When Puff Puff met Cal, another SOBO
Resupply at the Sterling Inn
All the essentials
My first Dirty Dew
I could have hung out there a lot longer, also if I had waited at the road the owner of the Sterling Inn shuttled a load of NOBOs there just a few minutes after I arrived.
So when another load of NOBOs rolled out I jumped in with them. I wasn’t quite ready but I could feel myself getting sucked in to staying longer than I should. Cal was hiking out later after he had an interview.
As we drove off I bent down to tie my shoe laces and by the time I had finished tying them we were there back at the trial head. The walk that had taken me 20 minutes earlier!
Hiker dog
Northbounders heading north
After a short walk down to the river I had to get the ‘ferry’ across the Kennebec river. This is a recognised part of the AT as the river is large and wide with a strong current and a dam system upstream. Hikers have died here in the past trying to cross, so a ferry system is operated between certain times. Today it was 9am-2pm.
It’s a canoe. A lady canoes people backwards and forwards across the river. It’s normally a guy but she is the Saturday cover. I looked really hard work!
The Kennebec River ferry
It’s a canoe
She must be knackered doing this all day
I wasn’t sure where I was going to get to this afternoon. The next shelter was too close as it was about 4 miles away and it was only 12:45. I needed to get more miles than that.
So I walk on and see what the trail is like. It’s a bit rocky and rooty but not as muddy as it has been which is good. There were lots of nice water sources and when I came to this mini waterfall I sat and took a break; something I haven’t done a lot of between the rain and wanting to make the miles so it was nice to just sit for a moment.
Some nice trail
Log bridge
Mini waterfall and a nice place for a break
While I was sitting Cal caught up to me. We hiked together for a while and chatted. We had to cross a river which was just over knee deep and I was pleased to see he was a shoes off person too, so we both crossed barefoot. This one was slightly trickier as the rocky were quite pointy and uncomfortable but taking it slowly and steadily we managed it without any problems. Cal then went to the shelter to have lunch and I carried on. We had discussed going to the next shelter for the night and there would be no way I would have made it if I stopped for lunch.
Cal crossing the river
Some parts of trail were easy to walk on. Other parts I kept having to check I was still on trail and not in the actual river because the trail was basically a flowing stream after all the recent rain. It was tricky and slow going in places.
It was 10 miles to the shelter, 5 miles in I had to stop for a quick break. I shovelled down some crisps and bits of pepperoni sausage. Most likely made of all sorts of horrible ingredients but highly spiced so that masked any lips and assholes.
The trail was quite nice in some places, especially when it went around the edge of the lake. It wasn’t easy to walk on, it was still rocky and rooty, but at least the view was nice.
More muddy trail
Stepping stones
Bog
Bog boards
A nice bit of boardwalk
Scenic views
Wooden planks to cross the lake outlet
Shores of the lake
I came out onto a dirt road and needed to get some water from the river (which was gross orange water so I didn’t drink it) and I ate some more crisps and pepperoni sausage. I also needed to take my shoes off for a second because the soles of my feet were really sore again from being wet.
Cal caught up to me. This confirms he is a VERY fast hiker. I have been hiking as quickly as I could and barely stopping and he caught up to me easily. It was another 2.7 miles to the next shelter and it was 18:30, I was unsure whether I was going to make it.
My very soggy left foot
My very soggy and sore right foot. The Compeed plaster is helping, I’m amazed it is still stuck on.
Cal waited for me to pack up and he lead the way and I tried my best to keep up with him (he definitely slowed down for me!) and it was a bit of a struggle in some places because the trees were so dense it was getting a bit dark and hard to see where the rocks were to stay out of the mud. One foot took a plunge.
We chatted the whole way and I was thankful that we got there at 19:30 before it was dark, and that he had pulled me along with his speed and made the time go more quickly with his conversation. If I had done that on my own it would have taken a lot longer.
Following Cal on the boardwalk
A bit of history
It was late-ish for getting to a shelter and there was already one guy tucked up in the corner, luckily he wasn’t yet asleep and he was open to having a chat. A flip flopper. Lots of flippers this year.
I got some water from the pond (not my favourite water) and the waves were really crashing against the shore which made water collection quite tricky. I rolled up my sleeve and lay on a rock and prayed I didn’t get wet. I was able to fill up a little with each wave.
I wasn’t that hungry but decided because I had purchased some of those dehydrated meals, and because it was a big day ahead climbing up the Bigalows, I should fuel up. So I made Mac and Cheese after some debate about how much 2 cups of water was.
Big mistake. I wasn’t hungry enough for it, and it was quite gross – it didn’t taste cheesy at all. I struggled my way through it. There were some crunchy bits of pasta where it hadn’t hydrated properly, and some powdery bits where it hadn’t mixed properly. I couldn’t eat all of it so I’m now having to carry the left overs in my pack.
Home for the night
A mouse ran over my shoe while I was eating and then continued to scurry around the floor of the shelter.
I actually managed to clean my teeth and have a wee before bed tonight so hopefully I wont have to get up in the night.
Once again as I lie here the pain / throbbing in my feet is overwhelming.
