I have good news and bad news, but the bad news isn’t even that bad, so I guess I have good news and ok news.
The good news is that Mica and I are both getting our trail legs under us, and the hiking felt so good this week that our very conservative five day plan to get from Monson to Caratunk turned into a quick and enjoyable three days when we decided not to finish hiking at lunchtime every day. I swam alone in an alpine lake, Mica picked wild blueberries on top of a mountain, the weather was clear and warm by day and clear and cool at night. Our food supplies were ample and our packs weren’t too heavy. You can’t reasonably ask for much more.
You specifically, however, could ask for a Sunday post. And the less good (but still ok) news is I don’t really have one for you. Or rather I do but I was too sleepy to write it last night. Today we cross the Kennebec in a canoe ferry and head into the Bigelow range on our way toward Stratton, so instead of an essay that will make you cry, please enjoy this brief mostly good-news update and some pictures from the last few days. We have a very short day ahead today (what hikers call a “near-o” or “near zero” mile day) and another easy day tomorrow, so I plan to use the extra time to write the real Sunday post that’s been percolating in my head the last couple days.
We should be in Stratton and back online by Wednesday, but if you see us on the trail before then, Mica needs apples.
Back on the trail at Rt. 15 near Monson, clean, fed, rested, and headed south again.
We actually saw some level ground in this section!
One of the very few pictures of me hiking.
Mica said “I took more pictures this time!” and every picture he sends me is like: “This is a cool caterpillar I saw.”
Mica admiring the view from Middle Mountain. A+ for Middle Mountain and Pleasant Pond Mountain on their effort to view ratio. Well worth the climb.
I went swimming here. Had the whole lake to myself, as far as I can tell.
And finally, I have a hiking meme for you. Many of the privies at the campsites in the Northern Maine part of the trail have recently been upgraded from pit privies (small, dark, stinky) to the glorious palaces known as “moldering privies,” which despite the name are large, airy, good smelling and generally very appealing places to attend the call of nature when you’re out enjoying nature.
This is not even one of the bigger or nicer ones! They even have bundles of pine shavings inside for you to sprinkle into the pit when you’re done.
They seem too nice to be called “privies,” so I’ve been mentally calling them “privileges,” which is what I assume privy is short for. That led to this meme, and now it’s your problem too.
Thanks for reading! This post was free because I didn’t put very much effort into it, but if you want to read all the good posts too, it’s a beautiful day to upgrade. Just $45 for the whole run of the newsletter. Can’t get a more straightforward deal than that.
