Day 145: Collapsed Tent

Hiked 13.8 miles, staying at Pine Ellis Lodge.

I had placed my tent in the open last night in an attempt to get a great sunrise from my sleeping bag.  The wind came up a great deal over the course of night though and by early morning it was whipping my tent around.  Due to thin, rocky soil which did not allow me to get the stakes in very far and the high winds, around 3 in the morning two stakes popped out and my tent collapsed.  I had to get up find a more sheltered area to set up my tent.  As much of a pain as it was to do this, it did get me out of my tent at a great time to stargaze.

Morning view on the way down Old Speck

Left of the above photo

Passing through Grafton Notch, I'd say this is the most obvious blaze I've seen so far

With my early morning ordeal I ended up sleeping in and getting a late start.  From the top of the mountain it was a long descent down to Grafton Notch, then a long ascent up Baldpate Mountain.  I am starting to understand why southern Maine is so difficult.  The mountains are a little steeper than the Whites, but not horribly so.  One big difference is that the climbs and descents are one long slippery slab instead of big boulders.  This requires very careful foot placement the entire way, especially downhill, and is mentally and physically exhausting.  The other big difference is that unlike New Hampshire where you hike way up and then climb a bunch of peaks on a ridge line, here you descend back down to the bottom after every peak.

Standing on Baldpate West, looking at Baldpate East

Left of the above photo

Standing on Baldpate East, looking back at Baldpate West

The nice thing about this terrain is that trees have a tough time growing on these peaks and although we are below 4000 feet, most of the peaks are rocky balds and provide great views.  At the top of Baldpate West peak I stopped to take a break, admire the view and talk to some day hikers.  Ahead of me was the slightly higher east peak.  It was a quick hike across and up and then a long walk down to Dunn Notch.  Along the way I stopped at a shelter to take a break and ran into Shadow Wolf and Crazy Legs, who started north on January 1st.  They are going a little slower than me...

On top of Baldpate East

To the right of the above photo

Starting my descent down Baldpate

The trail passes through Dunn Notch right at the top of a huge waterfall.  Although it would have been spectacular to see the falls from the front I was glad to not have to climb all the way to the bottom of the ravine.  Route 2 is shortly after and here is where I wanted to get into town.  It was a tough hitch mainly because there are almost no cars that drive along it.  I waited almost twenty minutes before the first car passed.  I would have probably been waiting a very long time but luckily some day hikers came down the mountain and I yogied a ride from them.

Descending down Baldpate

Starting to get back into the trees on the way down Baldpate

This lichen grew in a cool pattern

I got a spot at the Pine Ellis Lodge along with Chainsaw and Speed.  Nova, Snow, Beyonce and Slip are also in town but are tenting in the woods.  Andover is the smallest town I think we've been to on the trail.  The downtown consists of about four buildings total including the gas station.  I had a great meal at the diner, which is also the general store, liquor store, deli, ice cream stand and video rental store.  The people at the hostel here are very nice though and I decided to take a zero here to try to kick this cold.