[at-l] Hundred Mile Wilderness

[ARTCLOUTMN@aol.com]

8/7/99   Antlers Tentsite

    Planning on hiking 16 big miles today we got up at 5 AM.  The Thru hikers 
ate cold cereal in plastic ziplock bags.  They had mixed the dry cereal with 
powdered milk in the ziplocks then just added water in the morning.  Really 
easy clean-up and no cooking.  Maybe I’ll try that next time out.  The only 
problem I see as that the dry cereal takes a tiny bit more space than 
oatmeal.  It certainly cannot weigh much more.  By 6 AM the thru hikers were 
gone.  It took us another hour to pack up our wet belongings.  We shook out 
the tent, fly and ground cloth.  Packed our wet cloths in zip locks or hung 
them from the back of our packs in hopes of some sun.  Then hit the trail by 
7 AM. 
    We started with a steep climb up Boardman Mountain.  It would be our only 
major up for the day so we were energized.  We made the summit by 10:00 AM.  
Four miles down only 12 more to go.  Going down was an easy gentle slope with 
pine needles to cushion each step.  The path was very wide and it soon became 
obvious that is was an old logging road.  We came to Crawford Road, where the 
four boy scouts and the two boys from the second day were all waiting at the 
side of the road.  Talking to them we found out the boy scouts were waiting 
for resupply and two more adults and the second day boys were waiting for 
resupply and one more hiker.
    Shortly after crossing the road we came to a sign for sandy beach.  I 
could not resist a swim in Crawford Pond.  It was great to wash the sweat 
off.  John did not join me.  The water was very clean and warm.  There was a 
cool breeze across the pond but the sun was shining to warm everything up.  
No one was around so I took off all my clothes so I would not have to hang 
wet shorts on my pack (actually my pack was already decorated with drying 
laundry from the rain).  
    We continued down this great section of trail making it to Cooper Brook 
Falls by 12:40 for a lunch break.  8.1 miles ment we had about 8 more miles 
to go for the remainder of our hike.  At the site we hung our tent and wet 
clothing from lines to dry.  We ate PB+J on tortillas while watching the 
water fall in front of this very popular shelter.  A group of 10 Canadian 
boys with their camp counselors were setting up camp for the night.  The 
counselors advised us that there was a group of girls from the same camp two 
shelters ahead of the boys group.  He was concerned that the large groups 
would spoil our sense of tranquility.  
    While we finished eating and waiting for our stuff to dry the 6 boy 
scouts - formerly 4 boy scouts - came into the site.  They checked out the 
area and discussed the possibility of taking over the lean-to.  One of the 
leaders knew that was not a good idea.  So they headed down the trail.  We 
passed them rummaging through the woods setting up a tent site.  I bet they 
dug more trenches around their tents.
    We left the Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To at 2:15 PM to complete the 
remaining 8 miles to Antlers Tentsite.  We continued to hike mostly down hill 
or flat torraine along an old logging road.  At one point we came apon a 
large grove of Hemlocks.  John reminded me that most of the Hemlocks in New 
England had been distroyed by insects or desease.  Some of these tree were 2 
or more feet in diameter and very tall. But the most remarkable part of the 
hike today was the extensive sections of bog bridges.  Most were in excellent 
repair.  They were so long it made me dizzy to walk them.     
    We arrived at Antler’s Tentsite at 5:00 PM.  This amazing site is 
maintained by the employees of LL Bean.  It is imacculately raked and pruned. 
 There are small rocks lining the walkways around the various tent sites.  
And there is one fire ring for use of the entire site.  The entire area is 
covered with a thick layer of soft pine needles.    
    Two other sites are occupied by hikers.  We picked a small site with a 
perfect view toward the East of Lower Jo-Mary Lake.  A young couple oocupies 
the site just beyond our site on a point of land that views the lake from 270 
degrees.  Just before our site were three identical backpacking tents (Walrus 
- Arch Rival) and a tarp.  A man and three young women occupied this area.  
They were a group learning how to backpack.  Each of the ladies had her own 
stove to fire up and cook meals.  They shared a water filter but each had to 
set it up and take it apart.  Every part of their hike was instuctive.  The 
leader seemed very knowledgeable and he appeared to be enjoying his work 
emensely.  (I would love to have a part time job like that when I retire..)  
I asked the leader if he knew the weatherforecast for tomorrow - clear in the 
morning with late afternoon thundershowers.
    Seeing that we had a 14 mile day tomorrow, John and I decided to try to 
get on the trail early to beat the foul weather.  Before bed we each waded 
into the lake to rinse off some sweat and grime.  Lower Jo-Mary Lake is long 
(maybe 3 miles) and thin with no man made structure to be seen.   We hit the 
hay by 8:00 PM.

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