Today's Miles: 15.5
Total Miles: 225.2
Today was by far the best day after Katahdin on the trail. After an obnoxious night at the lean-to with some unnecessarily loud NOBOs, I thought I would be the ultimate grump today. I was VERY wrong.
It started off a very cold morning. I could even see my breath. But if a cold morning means I get a nice cool day for hiking, I have no complaints. Since I stopped early yesterday, I had 3 summits today - Saddleback Junior, The Horn, and Saddleback Mountain. The views couldn't have been more beautiful. As I reached the summit of Saddleback Junior, I was able to look out and see clouds passing by the mountains below me. It was an incredible feeling being above the clouds. The descent and ascent back up The Horn was long and below the tree line, but manageable. It was nothing that I haven't come to expect from a climb on the AT thus far. After the Horn, it was all above tree line with incredible views to Saddleback. It could not have been more perfect. The wind was cold, but I was thankful for such a beautiful day. I stayed on top on Saddleback Mountain for close to an hour and a half making a few calls and talking to a few NOBOs. I always enjoy getting other perspectives on the trail ahead. There were also a lot of day hikers on the trail today as well. It seems like a very popular ridge to hike. I had to head down because I was getting too chilled on the top, so I continued to a stream for lunch. I made it down a little bit quicker in some parts by using the butt-slide trick. It's just the easiest way to get down some of the steep rocks. I wanted to eat everything in my food bag today for some reason, but I was able to restrain myself. The rest of the trail was very nice today. I was able to make up some good time. I stopped at the Piazza Rock Lean-to to sign the register and seriously considered staying. It was a beautiful shelter and had some great tentsites. I decided to continue on. I crossed the highway and was able to resist the draw of the trail town, which was surprisingly satisfying. A lot of other hikers kept saying we needed to stop in Rangely because it's a great little town, but I really had no need to. I know a lot of the hikers at the lean-to last night headed into town. I made it the last 5 miles into the campsite in about 2 hours. I'm ready to sleep in my tent again after 2 nights in lean-tos. MDot, Live Simply, Uno, Hal, Kelty, Flicker, and some other NOBOs are here. Everyone was pretty much already in their tents when I got in. I also have to add that I'm thankful for the higher elevations and cooler weather. The bugs have been so much better the last few days. I'm hoping we'll see a moose by the pond in the morning. I saw a lot of tracks in the mud on my way in.
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