Day 20 - Saturday, July 2

Linda

We got up early, got ready and started the day with a great blueberry pancake breakfast, compliments of our host Viola. Caught a ride and were back on the trail by 7:00. It was 9.2 miles to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to. The trail was fairly easy and we burned it up by noon and had lunch at the lean-to. The Van Auken bunch had just left there, so we figured we'd see them soon. There were three guys of questionable persuasion staying there. They were pleasant enough, but just a bit too giggly. They seemed to be having a great time, and found everything exceedingly funny. I was glad we weren't staying there for the night - the giggles and snickers would have driven me nuts. Can't be too critical, though, they did give us some nectarines before we went on.

After we left Sabbath Day Pond, we headed down toward Bemis Stream where we figured we would camp for the night. We didn't expect all the ups and downs in the trail this afternoon, so we were pretty tired by the time we arrived. Plus, the last .8 mile was straight down from the road, partly through a garbage dump. Ugh! There's a new bridge across the stream and a beautifully picturesque campsite. The Van Auken bunch and Bear the Wonder Dog were already camped there, so we moved some rocks to make a flat spot, pitched our tent and fought off the hoards of mosquitoes and black flies till bedtime. I got a picture of Ronald sitting on the bridge, trying to read with his mosquito net over his head. Set the alarm for 4:30 again. What are we thinking? This middle of the night rising nonsense has got to end soon.

Ron

A good breakfast a Viola's gave us the energy to get going this morning. We were on the trail hiking by 7:00 this morning, even after breakfast and a ride to the trail head. The first five miles were fairly easy and consisted mostly of dry ridge walking. After the Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to we had lots of tiring up and down hiking. By the time we reached Bemis Stream we were beat. When we reached Bemis we caught up with the group of hikers we met yesterday. I thought they would have made it to the next lean-to.

After a few days of good weather, the bugs have come out in the millions. It's so bad I almost wish it would start raining again. The trail conditions are continuing to improve as we continue south. The bogs are fewer and seem to be drying out. We've only a few more days left until we are out of Maine and into the White Mountains.

(13.8 Miles - 231.2 Total)