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I had only planned on doing 8 miles today, but that would
have put me at the Avery tentsite at 3800' of elevation.
The wind was roaring up there and the skies looked like they
might let loose a downpour at any moment.  I decided to press
on and try to get to a lower, warmer elevation before setting
up camp.

The climbs over Avery and West Peaks were above treeline and
freezing.  At times I'd have to grab on to nearby rocks to
keep from getting blown over.  The views were still spectacular
despite the cloud cover, but it was way too cold to linger for
any length of time.


9/20 - Day 194
5.2 mi to Little Bigelow Lean-To - 1987.2 cum

It poured last night and it was still raining when I awoke.
I waited until it was just a misty drizzle to break camp and
I was on the trail by 9:30.  It was a very cold and windy
day and it looked like a lot more rain was yet to come.

I met 4 women backpackers on the trail today.  They were
all from Maine and were usually just dayhikers, but had
decided to try a backpacking trip.  Unfortunately, they
picked a lousy weekend weatherwise and were cutting their
trip short and heading back to their warm, dry homes.  A nice
bonus for me as a result of their change in plans was that I
got all their extra food - ham and cheese, fresh bread,
hummus, Snickers bars, Ramen Noodles, peanut butter crackers,
and even a fresh tomato.  As they were pulling all these
goodies out of their packs at the Little Bigelow Lean-to, it
really began to pour - I mean skin-soaking, cold sheets of
rain.  With all my new found goodies, the idea of going out
in that rain to walk 7 more miles in the rain was becoming
les and less attractive.  I ended up staying right where I
was and I'm glad I did.  The rain never really quit.

Hiking Viking pulled in not too much later and decided to
stay as well.  He's from Raleigh, NC too and got his trail
name for the unique had he sports while hiking: a black
fleece hat with two large viking-like horns extending from
either side.

Just at dusk, a very cold and wet Big Bird and Mountain
Laurel showed up followed by Will.  It's a full house,
but we're all just glad to be under a roof.


9/21 - Day 195
17.5 to Pierce Pond Lean-to - 2004.7 cum

It felt good to be able to do some big miles again.  I
started the day just planning to go as far as was comfortable.
It was a cook, breezy fall day with blue skies and puff
clouds.  The trail was particularly nice today - gentle
terrain and in good condition.

I hiked for a little while with Big Bird and Mountain Laurel
today.  It was nice to have some chit-chat to make the miles
go by.  I also saw Sedona and Safari this afternoon.  I was
really glad to see them since I last saw them in NY.

As I was leaving the shores of West Pond this afternoon, I
spotted a bull moose standing among some trees about 50' from
the trail.  He calmly watched Micah's and my progress and
then slowly turned into the woods and trotted off.  What an
impressive animal!
I pulled in to the Pierce Pond Lean-to at about 5:15.  SkyGod
was already bundled up in the shelter.  The wind was bitingly
cold coming in off the lake and it was blowing full force
right into the front of the shelter.  I was relieved to set
up my tent and get in out of the wind.

I'm so glad I've got a 0-degree down bag.  Some of the other
hikers have slept pretty cold these last few nights,
especially the people with synthetic bags.  It seems like a
lot of the synthetic bags are just not lasting the whole
trip.  A lot of them have lost a considerable amount of
their loft and just aren't insulating as well as they used
to.  I also noticed that people who had used compression
sacks on their sleeping bags seemed the most miserable.

I was awoken at 3:30 in the morning by the eerie sound of
the loons calling to each other across the lake.  I don't
think there is any other sound in nature that makes me feel
so remote and separated from all the world, except for the
howl o fthe wolf perhaps.  The moon was shining bright and
I stepped outside my tent to stand and look at the stars
and listen to the wind playing among the branches.  The
loons continued their calls throughout the early morning
hours, oblivious to their human audience.


9/22 - Day 196
3.9 mi to Caratunk - 2008.6 cum