Daniels Journal Sept 15 - 18

Tuesday, September 15
	It sure was warm last night!  Still had a good sleep.  Feels like rain to
me.  Let's get things packed before things get wet.
	1500 feet up right out of camp.  That will get your blood flowing.  (And
the sweat running).  Nothing will do you as much good as an early morning
walk!  OK.  Good things these rocks have anti-slip traction bars on them. 
Some places the trail was solid rock with a 6-12 pitch.  Other places there
were stone steps, except the steps were made for a giant.  Oh well, we made
it to Speck pond by 10:30.  Not bad!  2.5 miles in 2.5 hours.
	We ate a snack by the edge of the pond.  It was pretty.  I filled up with
water, and stopped at the caretaker's hut to say hi.  (The AMC charges $6
for overnight use of this area.  That is why we did not camp here last
night.)  By the time I was done chatting, the others had already left.  As
I was packing up, it began to sprinkle.  I had not gone far when it began
to rain.  I stopped and put on my pack cover.
	It was raining steadily when I got to the top of Speck Mountain.  The fog
was quite close, so there was no chance of a view.  I caught up with Mt.
Roamer, and she said that the others had gone on ahead.  We slowly worked
our way down the 2500 feet into Grafton Notch.  The rain stopped, and we
got a good view of Grafton Notch.  We ate a snack while we enjoyed the
view.
	Down at the trailhead parking, we met Raincheck and Wild hair.  They were
waiting in their van looking for some friends.  They gave us cold cokes and
rolls.  Yum.
	At 4:00 p.m., Bear showed up in his red truck.  Misquito, Nutbar, Yoyo,
Mt. Roamer, and I piled our packs in back and climbed in front.  It was a
crew cab.  He took us to a place in Andover, called The Cabin.  It is nice!
 It's Honey and Bear's retirement home and they are fixing it up to be a
hiker hostel.
	Hot showers sure felt good.  Then we all sat around the table and had a
candle light supper.  Chili, salad, garlic break, and ice cream f or
dessert.  It was all good.
	Mt. Roamer got a whirl pool bath after supper.  That about put her to
sleep.  PMS and Ante-Up are staying at the cabin too.
	Hiked seven miles today.

Wednesday, September 16
	Great breakfast of blue berry pancakes!  What a good way to start the day.
 We left our packs at the cabin, and Bear took us back to the trail at
Grafton Notch.  We hiked to table rock and stayed there till lunch.  We had
a lot of fun crawling through and under the rocks.  It was similar to
spelunking.  Table rock is a cliff on the mountainside.  From the top you
had an excellent view of Grafton notch.  Below the cliffs there were large
cracks in the rocks.  That is where we spent our time.  Seeing who could
squeeze though the smallest spot.  Mt. Roamer won.
	On top of Baldpate Mountain, we got an excellent view.  You could see Mt.
Washington.  It was clear!
	Baldpate is 3800 feet high.  Its top is solid rock with no trees.  It
really has a bald pate.
	Oh yeah.  Yoyo almost lost a shoe on the mountain.  He was crossing a bog
bridge.  Usually it's quite simple.  Well, this bridge was only one log
wide.  Still should be no problem.  Eight solid wide inches.  He usually
hikes with Lekis, but today he was without them because of slacking. 
Somehow he lost his balance and stepped off the bridge.  Not good.  He sunk
to his knee in muck.  Oops.  He pulled it out and then plunged in again the
second time.  Yanked it out again and finally regained his balance enough
to walk to the end of the bridge to solid rock. A water puddle on the rock
made a good spot for him to clean up.  We all had a good laugh and I got
pictures.
	We stopped at Dunn Notch to enjoy the falls.  Then we hiked on to East B
Hill Road.  It was 5:30 and PMS and Anteup were waiting for us in the red
truck.  We all piled on and headed back to the cabin.  Who was in the
truck?  Salt, Truly Blessed, Captain, Red Rock, Jerry, Root, Mt. Roamer,
Yoyo, PMS, Anteup, Skitz, and I.
	We stopped in Andover and most of the hikers went to the Andover
Guesthouse.  Salt and Truly came to the cabin with us.
	For supper, Honey made fried chicken, sweet corn, salad, and for dessert
we had apple pie and ice cream.
	The family came to the cabin after supper.  It was great to see them
again.  They had gotten off the trail at Crawford Notch.  Marty's knees
were hurting too much to hike on.  They took two days off in Gorham, and
then came here to the cabin.  Now the cabin is slacking them for several
miles.
	Ten miles for today.

Thursday, September 17
	Some more great pancakes for breakfast this morning.
	I decided to slack south with Misquito and Nutbar today.  We started from
South Arm Road and did ten miles to East B Hill road.  I was glad I did. 
First thing, we climbed Moody Mt. and then Wyman Mt.  Up 1000 ft.  Down
1500.  Up 1500.  All in just four miles.  The next six miles were all down
hill and very easy.  It was a beautiful day, so we got some excellent
views.
	We met Crow and Critter.  Critter had seen three moose this morning. One
was a bull with a large rack.  We also met Bug Bite, Granny Lo, Guapo,
Goob, and Doc.
	Mt. Roamer was ready to leave the Cabin today so she got her pack and
started from East B Hill road and hiked north.  Yoyo decided to do the same
thing.  We met two miles from the road.  Everything was going well.
	We got to the road at 2:00.  Skitz and Root were already there.  They said
that they had been there for an hour and not one vehicle had passed.  We
sat and waited.  To pass the time, we threw rocks at a water bottle. 
Finally at 3:00, Richard from the Andover Guesthouse came in his truck.  We
all piled in and went to town.  At his place, he gave us a tour of his
house.  He has a very nice bed and breakfast.  To help us hikers, he runs a
shuttle every day at 3:00 p.m. from the AT to Andover.
	I stopped at the library to check my e-mail.  Then I went back to the
Guesthouse.  Richard took Misquito, Nutbar, and I back to the cabin.  It
was great to hang out and relax.
	Ten miles for today.

Friday, September 18
	More pancakes and bacon.  Good stuff.
	I decided to hike with Nomad and Rascal today.  Bear took us out in the
red truck.  On the way, we saw two moose.  We stopped to watch awhile,
while they ate in a marsh.
	We had an excellent hike.  Nomad took the lead and then it was Rascal and
me and PMS and Anteup.  It was great to hike together.
	We stopped at a pond that had a nice sandy beach.  A swim was in order, so
we waded into the water.  Our feet went numb almost immediately. The water
was so old!  No swimming for me!  I'll just wade.  Rascal's watch had a
thermometer.  The air temp was 48 degrees.  He threw his watch in the
water, and it read 56 degrees.  I had to hike a mile before my feet warmed
up.  Got to hear some loons.  The first I heard loons on this trip.  Hope I
get to hear more.
	Bear was waiting for us at Rt. 4 at 4 p.m.  We stopped in Rangely to get
our mail drop and other supplies.  I stopped at the Mac machine for cash.
Then we headed for the cabin.  About twenty minutes from Rangely, I got
this bad feeling.  I checked my wallet.  Sure enough!  I had left my card
in the Mack machine.  Bummer.  Now I'm going to have to pinch my pennies to
reach Katahdin.
	Back at the cabin, I called and had my Mac Card cancelled.  They said I'd
get a new one in seven days.
	Thirteen miles today.



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