I managed to squeeze in a few extra days off from work, and headed north to Maine, where the 4Ks have been calling me of late. With four days in a row away from the computer screen, I figured a backpacking trip was just the medicine. The weather couldn't have been better for the first half, when I planned to head to the Bigelows. I decided if it were to be a true vacation, I wouldn't set my alarm. I had a leisurely breakfast in Massachusetts, then headed up I-95 for the long slog to Maine. I still hadn't decided if I would camp out at the Horns Pond Lean-To, Avery tentsite in the Bigelow col, or Moose Falls, the latter of which intrigued me because there was so little information out there about it.
My little VW Bug made it down the Stratton Pond dirt road without any problems, and I scored a spot at what I thought was the end. As I did some last minute packing of my backpack, I decided, "What the heck," I'll bring this incredible book by historian David McCullough on the American Revolution, specifically, the year 1776. I'd been fixated on it of late, and I couldn't put the book down. Well, there was a lot to write about that one little year apparently, and the book weighs a ton!
So ... off I go down this broad, flat dirt road toward Stratton Pond. The pack feels heavier and heavier with each step. Within minutes, I'm at another clearing for car parking, and I realize I could have driven even farther. Ahh, well. I pass by a small group of college kids out camping by the pond, and soon see an outdoor privy, and realize, there are a couple of spots here to camp.
Hmmm, I think. Why trek all the way up to the Bigelow range, when I can just stop here, set up camp and spend an afternoon reading this book? So that's what I did. I scored a spot just as the Fire Warden's trail begins, at the edge of Stratton Pond, and I find that there's a decent amount of foot (and mountain biking) traffic here. I get a chance to talk with some girls out mountain biking ahead of one of their friend's getting married at Sugarloaf the next day, a man out testing his new toy _ a GPS _ and a couple just meandering.
