poison ivy
Well-known member
While I could have day hiked the small 12.2-mile section around Pleasant Pond Mountain, I decided to stretch it out to a nice overnight trip since the drive to the trailhead was so long. Shaggy and I stopped for a quick 1.2-mile hike to Moxie Falls, which was gorgeous and worth the trip, before he dropped me off at Route 201 on Caratunk to start my journey at 11:30 a.m.. Pictures are in a new place (bpschroder has convinced me to abandon Webshots…) located here.
Armed with a new backpack, (a Gregory Tega, since the airline broke a clip off my long-suffering Reality on a recent trip to California) I headed off along the trail. I knew the six-miles up to Pleasant Pond were pretty much a gentle uphill the entire way -- the real difficulty for the day was the heat, which almost immediately had my head pounding. Fortunately, much of the trail meandered along Holly Brook, so I stopped several times to dip my head and sit in small pools around the brook to cool off.
For the most part, the hike was just a stroll through the woods, giving me lots of opportunity for wild flower spotting. It took just three and a half hours to reach Pleasant Pond Lean-to, where I set up for the night. The shelter was pretty grimy and had a cooler filled with trash in it-- there is a road just a tenth of a mile away. Someone had also dumped glitter all over the shelter and wrote in the log that it was fairy dust. I wasn’t too happy to find “fairy dust” in my oatmeal the next morning! There was a nice raspberry bush right near the shelter so I had a few berries to gorge myself on too.
After setting up, I headed right down to Pleasant Pond, which is just a short way from the shelter and spent the next few hours swimming and lounging. The pond is very pretty and a flock of loons floated right on by me… of course they fled once I reached my camera. Once I had enough lounging, I headed back to the shelter, which I ended up sharing with two section hikers -- Photon and his brother, Viewfinder.
Photon was heading out Katahdin on his final section hike of AT -- he’s been section hiking for 15 years. He is the inventor of the Photon stove and had an amazing kit -- all of his gear was custom designed and extremely light weight. Both Photon and Viewfinder were extremely interesting and tolerant of my questions pestering them about their gear. Also talked with a thru-hiking couple from Michigan, they are SOBO now after flipping at Harper’s Ferry because of the heat.
My night ended fairly early as I was pretty tired from the long but very enjoyable day!
MONDAY:
Woke up at 5 a.m. initially but I fell back asleep until 6, whoops! It was weird last night to hear trucks driving down the dirt road, mixed in with the music of the loons and the calls of the morning doves. I ate breakfast and packed up quickly, saying goodbye to Photon and Viewfinder and heading up Pleasant Pond Mtn. at 6:30 a.m.
Someone forgot to tell Maine that 2Ks are supposed to be easy! The mile-long hike up Pleasant Pond Mountain had 1,000-feet of elevation gain and plenty of steep ledges to haul myself up Okay, it was no Moody Mountain, but it sure was a tough way to start the day. Adding to the difficulty -- I had to carry all of the day’s water since there isn’t any between the lean-to and Moxie Pond and it was incredibly hot, especially with the sun bouncing off the ledges.
It took me an hour and a half to reach the summit, which has fantastic views of the Bigelow range to the south and Moxie Bald to the north. It was a little hazy but I’m glad it was sunny out… those ledges would be tricky in the rain! After a short break on the summit (and some blueberry foraging just off it) I headed on, looking forward to heading downhill for the rest of the hike.
Except that I didn’t really head downhill! It seemed like every inch of downhill was countered by an uphill grind over bumps and knolls. I have to say I didn’t really enjoy this section of the trail-- more because I was rushing through to get home in time for work than anything else. The trail did pass through a nice old-growth forest that I did enjoy seeing, but otherwise I just wanted to get down to the road. I reached Moxie Pond at 10:30 a.m. -- a little later than I expected. I took a very quick dip in Moxie Pond to cool off and then headed on back home, managing to make it to work at 4:30.
I have three more sections, including the big one -- 100-Mile Wilderness -- to go before I finish the AT in New England.
- Ivy
Armed with a new backpack, (a Gregory Tega, since the airline broke a clip off my long-suffering Reality on a recent trip to California) I headed off along the trail. I knew the six-miles up to Pleasant Pond were pretty much a gentle uphill the entire way -- the real difficulty for the day was the heat, which almost immediately had my head pounding. Fortunately, much of the trail meandered along Holly Brook, so I stopped several times to dip my head and sit in small pools around the brook to cool off.
For the most part, the hike was just a stroll through the woods, giving me lots of opportunity for wild flower spotting. It took just three and a half hours to reach Pleasant Pond Lean-to, where I set up for the night. The shelter was pretty grimy and had a cooler filled with trash in it-- there is a road just a tenth of a mile away. Someone had also dumped glitter all over the shelter and wrote in the log that it was fairy dust. I wasn’t too happy to find “fairy dust” in my oatmeal the next morning! There was a nice raspberry bush right near the shelter so I had a few berries to gorge myself on too.
After setting up, I headed right down to Pleasant Pond, which is just a short way from the shelter and spent the next few hours swimming and lounging. The pond is very pretty and a flock of loons floated right on by me… of course they fled once I reached my camera. Once I had enough lounging, I headed back to the shelter, which I ended up sharing with two section hikers -- Photon and his brother, Viewfinder.
Photon was heading out Katahdin on his final section hike of AT -- he’s been section hiking for 15 years. He is the inventor of the Photon stove and had an amazing kit -- all of his gear was custom designed and extremely light weight. Both Photon and Viewfinder were extremely interesting and tolerant of my questions pestering them about their gear. Also talked with a thru-hiking couple from Michigan, they are SOBO now after flipping at Harper’s Ferry because of the heat.
My night ended fairly early as I was pretty tired from the long but very enjoyable day!
MONDAY:
Woke up at 5 a.m. initially but I fell back asleep until 6, whoops! It was weird last night to hear trucks driving down the dirt road, mixed in with the music of the loons and the calls of the morning doves. I ate breakfast and packed up quickly, saying goodbye to Photon and Viewfinder and heading up Pleasant Pond Mtn. at 6:30 a.m.
Someone forgot to tell Maine that 2Ks are supposed to be easy! The mile-long hike up Pleasant Pond Mountain had 1,000-feet of elevation gain and plenty of steep ledges to haul myself up Okay, it was no Moody Mountain, but it sure was a tough way to start the day. Adding to the difficulty -- I had to carry all of the day’s water since there isn’t any between the lean-to and Moxie Pond and it was incredibly hot, especially with the sun bouncing off the ledges.
It took me an hour and a half to reach the summit, which has fantastic views of the Bigelow range to the south and Moxie Bald to the north. It was a little hazy but I’m glad it was sunny out… those ledges would be tricky in the rain! After a short break on the summit (and some blueberry foraging just off it) I headed on, looking forward to heading downhill for the rest of the hike.
Except that I didn’t really head downhill! It seemed like every inch of downhill was countered by an uphill grind over bumps and knolls. I have to say I didn’t really enjoy this section of the trail-- more because I was rushing through to get home in time for work than anything else. The trail did pass through a nice old-growth forest that I did enjoy seeing, but otherwise I just wanted to get down to the road. I reached Moxie Pond at 10:30 a.m. -- a little later than I expected. I took a very quick dip in Moxie Pond to cool off and then headed on back home, managing to make it to work at 4:30.
I have three more sections, including the big one -- 100-Mile Wilderness -- to go before I finish the AT in New England.
- Ivy
![Grand Canyon, North and South Rims [Grand Canyon National Park] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419Y-ycyVUL._SL500_.jpg)
![Grand Teton Day Hikes and National Park Map [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DB0jvRnbL._SL500_.jpg)
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
