IN CARATUNK

AT Day 108: Monday,  July 24, 2023

SOBO Mile 2064.5 – 2047

Distance Hiked – 17.5 miles/ km

Total Distance Hiked: 1812 miles /2915.5 km

A: 2582 ft /787m D:  4460 ft /1360m

The day dawned warm and without a cloud in the sky. It felt amazing to see the sunrise and clear skies above. The view from the top of Moxie Bald Mountain was fantastic. Green carpeted valleys in all directions punctuated by numerous lakes. Fog hung over the edge of the  lakes. To the south the intimidating summits of the Bigelow Mountain Range where we are headed in a few days. 

We reluctantly started the descent off Moxie Bald which was slow going. Once the steepest part was behind us it was a cruisy couple of miles to the ford of Moxie Pond. We asked a northbound hiker what the crossing was like – depth and strength of flow. He proceeded to give us a lesson on how to ford a stream without telling us what we wanted to know. The crossing was about knee deep, stepping on very slippery rocks and gentle flow as there hasn’t been much rain in the preceding few days. 

From Moxie Pond the hiking got a bit harder. We were climbing over several peaks,  it was mid-morning when we started the climb and it was getting hot and very humid. For some reason we both felt lethargic and had absolutely no energy. We had almost gone through all our snacks for the whole day before lunch. We had even contemplated lunch at 10am but had to get to water first. The map profile did not match how hard climbing these very steep but relatively small mountains felt.  

We finally stopped for lunch by a stream at the bottom of Pleasant Pond Mountain. It was almost 1pm. We were in no rush since we knew we were going to miss the last boat crossing of the Kennebec River at 2pm. So we have to stay in the small town of Caratunk overnight. The first boat out tomorrow is at 9am. A bit of bad planning on our part, we could have left Monson a bit later on Saturday and arrived at the river on Tuesday between 9 and 2.

The last six miles to Route 201 followed Holly Brook for part of the way. A few undulations and long muddy slippery sections made for slow going. Relieved to make it to Route 201 right on 5pm. We got picked up by a shuttle driver from Sterling Inn where we are staying tonight. An unplanned but much appreciated stop. We are both feeling thoroughly exhausted.