Since I was obviously unnerved by all of this, and wouldn't have slept a wink at the lean-to, Ivan, offered to let us stay in one of the cabins by the lake. He was a salty little man, and tried to preserve his stoic New England demeanor, but he was really a pushover. I'm very glad we were surrounded by four walls and a heavy door, because our friend the bear sniffed around several times during the night. We could hear him circling the cabin, and pacing and snorting back and forth on the front porch in search of salmon.

This morning the bear trap was set up, using our remaining canned salmon as bait, but no bear yet. The bear trap looked like a giant steel drum on its side on a trailer. If they do manage to catch him, he will be driven up to a remote area of the forest and released. That was reassuring. We didn't wish him any harm, we just didn't want him eating all our food, or taking a swipe at us. We left at 7:00, after saying good-bye to the Roys.

Before long we met up with John Gimbel and Steve Peck, our friends from yesterday, and faced our first stream crossing together. I'm basically a chicken when it comes to crossing running water, so was the last one across, but made it without falling in. A little while later we had another crossing, this time on a long, wet, slippery log several feet above the water. Making it even worse was the fact that it was positioned at an upward angle across the water, and got narrower as it got higher, and the other side was a five or six foot jump to the ground. I was really dubious about crossing, but there wasn't much alternative. I unhooked my pack belt, so I wouldn't be pulled under the water if I did go in, and tried not to look down as Ronald, John and Steve coached me across, step by step. I finally made it to the other side, but my heart was beating a mile a minute, and felt like it was up in my throat. Maybe someday I'll get used to this water crossing stuff, but I have my doubts. I think I'd rather get wet wading, than walking across a log. Glad I wasn't born into the Flying Wallendas. I would definitely have been the black sheep of the family.

Nothing else eventful happened between there and Abol Bridge where we stopped to get a cold drink, and replenish the few supplies eaten or slobbered on by the bear. The damage hadn’t really been too bad, though, we only lost some powdered milk, cheese, grits and oatmeal. From there we walked on to Hurd Brook Lean-to. When we got there about 3:00, I was beat. We decided to fix our big meal there and rest a while so we could go on. It was nice, but by the time we left, there were 5 other people there. As we headed up toward Rainbow Ledges, the trail seemed like it was mostly bog, or right in the middle of a stream. We reached the Ledges at 6:00 and were afforded a great view, but awful blackflies. Just had enough energy to walk the last 1.6 miles to Rainbow Lake. I'm glad we did, because it's breathtaking, and so peaceful. The water is so clear and clean. We put the tent up right beside the lake. What a view to go to sleep by and to wake up to tomorrow.

Ron

The excitement of yesterday did not conclude at the writing of the diary. Last night around 8:30 we were interrupted by a two year old bear wandering into our camp. After repeated unsuccessful attempts to run it away, we tossed our food up on top of the next lean-to. Big mistake! Within a minute the bear was on top of the shelter eating our food. The last thing we needed was to lose our food the first night out. We ran up to the Ranger Station for help. Together with the ranger's wife, we managed to drive it far enough away to salvage our food. Fortunately it had only eaten some cheese and a few packets of instant grits.

When the ranger arrived from fishing on Daisy Pond, he decided it would be safer to place us in one of the cabins along the lake. I think Linda's look of fear did much to persuade him. A bear trap was brought in later that night, but the bear was still loose when we left this morning.

Hiking today was fairly pleasant and was mostly along old tote roads. It was quite hot this afternoon when we hit Abol bridge. We had two tricky fords this morning. I think Linda will need sometime to get used to fording streams. This afternoon we climbed up to Hurd Brook Lean-to. Linda was very tired so we stopped for and hour and ate our big meal for the day. We left around 4 o'clock and hiked four miles here to Rainbow lake. The place is beautiful with perfectly clear water. We drink straight from the lake.

Physically we are fine. Linda is suffering from mosquito bites and a few blisters. Slowly we are beginning to settle down to the hike. I am feeling very strong now. The trail has not been bad so far, except for numerous bogs. Flowers along the trail are beautiful, with scores of Lady Slippers on the top of Rainbow Ledges. Tonight we go to sleep with the sound of a loon far across the water and an occasional jumping fish.

(14.8 Miles - 21.9 Total)