Day 104: Stealth Site

Start:Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To (AT mi 2056.6). Stop: Stealth Site (AT mi 2069.3). Today’s miles: 12.7 miles. Total AT mileage: 1044.6 miles

I got up just after 7:15 and TweetyBird and Starburst were still snoozing. I felt bad making the racket packing up causes, but it had to be done. I changed, packed, ate breakfast and then got on trail at exactly 8am. I was going to go up the side trail to see if TieDye was up, but because of all the noise I had already made I felt guilty. Plus, I’m slow on uphills, and first thing this morning was a climb to Moxie Bald Mountain. I hatched a plan then to get to the top, and if he hadn’t passed me before then, to hangout up top in the sunshine until he came along.

The climb was a kind one, gently sloping upwards.. it had chunks of steep climbing, but they were all short lived and it was easy to catch your breath again. When I got to the top, it was a little after 9am. The sun was shining, the views were nice with lakes off into the distance. I was hoping for enough service to post yesterday’s blog, but that didn’t happen. I took my pack off on a big rock slab just north of the summit marker.

I walked around and ate blueberries, there were fat, juicy ones everywhere. I stretched some, and then laid down and closed my eyes for a bit. I never fully fell asleep, but I was loving every second of feeling the sun on my skin and the breeze blowing past my face. It felt beyond refreshing to not feel like I needed to rush off the top to make it somewhere else. I could just lay there and enjoy the moment I was in.

While up there, I heard several men’s voices chatting each other up. I’d peek an eye open and just make sure it wasn’t TieDye. The last time this happened, it was him! He was talking with another hiker, 3rd degree, so I popped up and headed in their direction by the summit sign. We all chatted a few, ate more blueberries, and then TieDye and I headed down off the mountain.

The downhill was the same as the up-gently sloping down with chunks of knee screaming large drops.. which were also short lived. It worked out well. Once the mountain itself was over.. it was mostly level ground for the rest of the day. Just after 1130, TieDye stopped for a snack and said he’d catch up to me. I carried on.. only to spot A MOOSE!

I caught a female moose on video!! ON TRAIL! During the middle of the day!! Usually people spot them at dawn or dusk by ponds, or by the road.. hardly ever during the middle of the day, far from water!! I recorded her for over 3 minutes.. at first she didn’t notice me, she was just walking along and I froze when I heard the weight of steps crunching branches and brush. Then, you can see on the video the moment she notices me.. she sticks her nose up and sniffs, then turns her head toward me.

We both freeze now. I don’t want to disturb her or scare her. I hoped she’d trot across the trail but she slowly turns away, slowly walks back, and when I put my phone down-she tore off running the way she had come. It was PHENOMENAL! I was so excited, I told every person I saw for like 4 hours! Lol TieDye came up shortly after and was sad he missed the moose of course, but happy I caught it on video.

We crossed a stream and ate lunch and relaxed with a few other hikers doing the same. One man is finishing up his last section of his AT this year and he’s been at section hiking this thing since 1973. Talk about commitment! I showed them the moose, and then anyone with eyes as well.. haha

After lunch we started off together again. We were chatting about any and everything: wildlife, hostels, veteran outreach programs, volunteer programs, the show “Naked and Afraid.” And then.. we spot the bare end of a black bear!! We rounded the corner with the creek off to our left, just a chattering away, when the bear noticed us and full on high tailed it to the woods on the other side of the creek! It was smaller than the female moose, but still a big animal. It happened so fast and there was no way to get a picture, but I kind of think it was a younger bear as it didn’t look as large as I’d think a full grown bear would be.

So then, that turned into me telling anyone passing with ears that I saw a moose AND a bear today. What a wonderful day!! The rest of the trail followed along a creek to the right, and for an elevation profile that looked flat, it did a lot of rolling. Ups and downs, ups and downs, but it felt like a real hiking trail-not a jungle gym of obstacle courses. So even with the ups and downs, I was happy.

I was hiking along ahead of TieDye who decided to listen to his audiobook for a while, when I came across a perfect tent site for 2 on the left. When I looked at the creek to see if getting water from here would be easy, I spotted a huge swimming hole! The creek cascaded into a pool of deep, deep rocks, and then became shallow again just down a little ways. And, the best part: there was an easy access point to get to it all!

I pulled up the app on my phone and realized we were only 0.3 miles from the shelter, and the recent comments mentioned water from the stream by the shelter was dry, AND the shelter looked to be uphill on the profile. I took my pack off to claim the space behind me (just in case someone else got ahead of TieDye and wanted to camp here), and sat down to wait for him.

I decided I’d let him decide. My feet were achy, but if he wanted to push on to the shelter or even to the river crossing a couple more miles down, I’d be game. It was only 3:30 now anyway. BUT, if he mentioned he’d like to stay and swim, I’d be perfectly happy with that option! Which, shortly there after when he arrived and looked around, is exactly what happened!

We rested a bit first, laying back in the flat space we’d set our tents up in. We were going to go swim and come back to set up, but when other hikers passed and mentioned how great the spot was, I wanted to make it clear to anyone else passing while we were swimming that this spot was spoken for. So, I laid out my ground cloth and we spread our stuff out a bit before heading down to get water to filter and to swim.

The water was warm on top and ice cold below! I took my time getting in, not because of the cold, but because of the slick rocks on bare feet. I didn’t want to get cut or anything. TieDye beat me in, and then Starburst appeared. He put his poles out for TweetyBird to see when she caught up, and then he got in too! We all three swam and soaked a while. My feet enjoyed the icy cold of the bottom even though it was making the rest of me cold too. It just helps take the ache away.

We were getting out when TweetyBird appeared. She was only going to put her feet in, so I didn’t feel bad for not staying in any longer. I wanted to start drying out some before it was time to eat dinner.. lol. They ended up putting their tent up right by the water! It just barely fits on the little flat space between the rock ledges, but they made it work! It’s a pretty sweet spot, for sure.

We came up and set up our tents, got in dry clothes, unpacked, filtered water.. all the camp chores. Then we had our dinner, along with great conversation, which I always seem to enjoy with TieDye. It’s now just after 8pm and I’m sleepy. I’ve got one side of the tent vestibules open, and I’m going to see how I like that tonight. It makes me nervous, because I don’t feel “secure” with the fabric not blocking the mesh material.. like anyone could just stare in at me-but either way, I want some airflow so I’m leaving it open. Haha.

We have just a bit over 9 miles tomorrow to knock out before getting into Monson. The plan is to get there by 12, get a shower and do some laundry at the hostel, and be done by the time mom gets there! That way I’ll be clean and we won’t have to worry with laundry on our trip together. I feel awful that I don’t have service tonight, and probably won’t in the morning either.. at least for a few hours until I get closer to town. Her flight leaves very early, and I want to be able to check on her and whatnot.. make sure she’s good and everything is going well.

Hopefully I’ll have service by the time her flight lands! That’s the prayer anyway. I cannot WAIT to see her! We’re about to have some fun and good food 🙂 that’s what I plan to go to sleep tonight thinking about. The best company and good food coming our way lol.. Goodnight y’all