Day 179
Start: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
End: Little Swift River Pond
Miles Hiked: 12.9
Miles on AT: 1972.0
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This morning was another lazy morning. As I sat and ate my breakfast, the two hikers from last night passed me by and started on the trail. I was completely fine with having a slower morning; last night was a late night, so I was more than happy to reclaim a few minutes in the morning.
Once I was ready to hit the trail, I packed up my things and got moving. As I had predicted last night, the terrain in this section was pretty cool. The trail just followed the bare, curved rock of the mountain, weaving between patches of moss here and there. The sky was eggshell blue and amazingly clear, the air maintaining a gentle warmth. The mornings clouds rose all around me, ready to wake with the morning. All I wanted to do was sit on a rock and sunbathe, which I did for a few minutes, but then it was back to hiking.
My plan for today was to head to a small town with a grocery and a small deli so that I could do a light resupply and lunch, then get right back on trail and finish the day at a pond. I didn’t want to spend the time to take a nearo, so getting in and out of town for a meal and some food was the next best thing.
But first, I had to get to the road. Descending the mountain, I entered the golden forest of fall, with bright yellow and orange leaves filling the space all around me. The forest was aglow with the colors of fall and it felt like I was in a whole new land. I reached a creek that turned out to be my first “ford” of the trail in Maine. Although the creek wasn’t that wide, it was pretty deep given the recent rains. With all of the rock-hopping routes obscured with at least 2 inches of water, I had to take my shoes off and step into the water.
And it was cold! Luckily, it only took me a couple of steps to cross the creek, but if I wasn’t awake before I crossed, I definitely was awake now. I normally hate taking off my shoes for water crossings, but the days were getting too cold for my feet to have any chance of drying, so I had to take the extra 2 minutes to take off and put on my shoes.
After one steep climb (with Tyler, the Creator blaring in my ears to keep me motivated), I finally reached the road where I could get a hitch down Route 17 to the Oquossoc Grocery. Before that, though, I had to stop and marvel at the view from the Height of the Land overlook. What a spectacular view of Maine! It had everything: lakes, mountains, fall colors, beautiful sky! After mingling among the tourists and enjoying the view for a while, I got back on the side of the road and stuck my thumb out.
It wasn’t long before two retired ladies and their dog picked me up. They were going to Rangely, not far from where I needed to go, and were more than happy to help me out while listening to my story. When I arrived at the store, there were so many people milling around that I was a bit overwhelmed. It was lunchtime, so there was a long line to get food and people were seated on the picnic tables on the porch outside. After braving the crowds, I settled into enjoy my pizza and fruit smoothie.
I didn’t linger too long at the store after eating. I made my way back to Route 17 so I could stick out my thumb again and get back on trail. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a hitch! I think this was the sketchiest hitch I’ve had on the AT so far. The guy who picked me up was an older gentleman with his dog as a passenger. He was the sketchy part, it was his truck. The interior upholstery on the doors had been completely removed and all that was there was bare metal. I couldn’t even identify where the door handle was. After saying hi and getting in, I reached back to put on my seatbelt, only to find that there was no seatbelt. Welp, I would just have to hold on tight. At least the road was relatively straight.
I had a good time chatting with my hitch. His daughter had hiked the trail 10 or 15 years back, so he liked to help hikers when he could. He told me about his kids and grandkids, how he and his family moved up to Maine from Massachusetts, but, like all good snowbirds, wintered in Florida. When we got back to Height of Land, I was a little sad to say goodbye, but grateful that I had the chance to connect with someone that I probably would have never talked to otherwise.
When I got back in the woods, I was once again greeted with supremely pleasant trail. I spotted a male Spruce grouse on Spruce Mountain and ran into a SOBOer who gave me some tips about what to expect up ahead. My goal was to make it another 7.5 miles, but when I reached Long Pond, I couldn’t resist taking some extra time to sit on the sandy shore and out my feet in the water while sunbathing. Yeah, it would be better to get more miles in, but it was just too perfect of a day to pass up sitting by the pond. Plus, it was starting to get cold; I wouldn’t have too many more of these warm, sunny days left.
Soon, it was time to go. I wasn’t going to reach my goal, but I would only be about 2.5 miles short, not bad. When I arrived at camp, I discovered I had the whole place to myself. The pond (I think Maine ponds are more like lakes) was on the smaller side for Maine, but just as beautiful as all the rest. As usual, I started to run out of daylight quickly, so I had to do all of my chores before sundown. I didn’t quite get there, but eating dinner in the dark was no big deal. I was a little lonely at this quite pond so late in the season, but the forest was so quiet that I didn’t even need my earplugs to fall asleep.
And that’s day 179.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.