.August 13, 2006 It was cold this morning when I woke up. Jason's tiny thermometer read 40 degrees. I imagine it had already warmed up a few degrees, so it was definitely in the 30's last night. Jason, Brent, and I packed up and started the day. It was nice to be right on the trail and not have to drive to the trail head. We filled up on water and made the 4/10's of a mile hike up to Avery Peak. It was extremely windy as I neared the top. It was hard to believe this was August.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Brent and Jason on Avery Peak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We headed down the other side and took a short detour to catch the view at Old Man's head. We could see north to Flagstaff Lake...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ...and east to Little Bigelow. ('Little Bigelow' is that an oxymoron.)
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We got back on the AT and continued down the steep trail. From another viewpoint, we got a look back up at Old Man's Head.
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We reached the bottom of Bigelow where the trail went around several huge boulders like this one that Jason and Brent are pretending to push over.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This boulder would have been possible to crawl under.
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After the boulders we reached the junction with the Safford Brook Trail. Jason and Brent decided they wanted to take this way out. It was about 2.2 miles to Flagstaff Road and then a long walk along Flagstaff Road to get to Brent's truck. Since this way was a little easier and shorter, Brent offered to carry my tent out. Who am I to argue? I gratefully accepted his offer. What a difference 3 or 4 pounds makes. This was where I had left off on the AT a month ago so I was ready to roll. We said 'Good bye' for now and planned to meet at the truck later. I headed up to Little Bigelow.
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The views on West Peak and Avery Peak were better, but there was still some incredible views. Here's another view of Sugarloaf.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a view of the two peaks of Bigelow and the Carrabassett Valley. I joined two photos together for this one. If you look close you can still see the seem.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Flagstaff Lake from Little Bigelow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It's time to climb down Little Bigelow. On the way I noticed '5 m. -->' spray painted on a rock. I knew the 2,000 mile mark was a few miles up. My guess was that this was some type of countdown and that I must be 5 miles from the 2,000 mile mark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's some creative cairns.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Time for a short side trip to the Little Bigelow Lean-to.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I stopped in the lean-to for a few minutes to read the trail register. Many of the entries referred to the cool refreshing tubs. I looked around and found a sign for the tubs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I followed the short side trail until I came to a small brook. In a couple places there were pools of water like the one below. Nothing to write home about, but a great find for a hiker at the end of a long, hot day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I got back on the AT and found probably the smoothest section of trail through the Bigelow Range. The trail was slightly downhill and so smooth that I couldn't resist the urge to run. I'm not much of a runner but I really enjoyed this.
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After a mile or so, I came across this sign.
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The arrows pointed to every place where I had already been and not where I was going. This was a clue to me that the road should be just ahead. Another minute and I could see Jason at the trail head reading a sign.
"Hey, Jason" I said.
"Wow, you're out already," he said. "I've probably only been here for about 10 minutes. Brent drove back to get our packs that we ditched in the woods."
I left my pack with Jason. I had another 2.4 miles that I wanted to get done. They were going to pick me up at Long Falls Dam Road. The trail follows East Flagstaff Road for about a tenth of a mile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now that I no longer had my pack, I really wanted to run. So I ran up the road, turned into the woods, and up this stone staircase.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I passed a sign on Bog Brook Road.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I crossed over a small creek. This bridge seemed overkill for such a small creek. Maine doesn't build many bridges on the AT. I guess the few they build aren't going anywhere.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail comes to within a couple yards of the southeast corner of Flagstaff Lake that I had been admiring from above the last two days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a view looking back up at Little Bigelow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After the lake, the trail went back to the typical rocky, rooty trail. It also started to climb up so I was forced to stop running. I had about a mile of hiking left when I came across this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This confirmed what I had found 4 miles earlier. This was definitely a countdown to the 2,000 mile mark. The trail started to go down again so I decided to run some more. In a few minutes I came across another sign. The road must be just ahead.
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I knew I had just another minute to go so I decided to go back to walking rather than running. I figure I probably ran 3 of the last 4 miles and really had fun. Who knows, if I keep reading 'Runtrails' adventures, I may just turn into a trail runner. Here's the 2,000 mile mark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The actual 2,000 mile mark changes from year to year as sections of the trail get relocated, but this must be a great feeling for those who have hiked all the way from Springer Mountain. I wish that I had completed 2,000 miles but I currently have completed a little over 600. Brent and Jason were waiting for me, so I hopped in the truck and we headed back.
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