Hiking in Maine

(Note: this is part seven of a multi-part series on the summer 2017 attempt at the 100 Mile Wilderness by dad, 40, and daughter, 11)

After the previous night’s mosquito armageddon, we woke up to fewer bugs on July 6, but still started cautiously, vaguely shell-shocked, with headnets.  We saw a bull moose across from us at Cooper Pond at 7:30 in the morning, and took a few photos.

A southbound hiker we met about fifteen minutes later was ecstatic when we told him about the moose, and he started running to see it.  Many fallen trees, a remnant of the thunderstorms from the other night, diverted us around the trail at the Antlers Campsite, which looked like a spectacular place to camp.  We stopped to swim at the sand beach on Lower Jo-Mary Lake, and cooled off.

A 15-foot diameter spring next to the Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To was also one of the highlights of our day, and we enjoyed the cold water.  We got our first view of Katahdin through the clouds across Pemadumcook Lake.

We saw a business card tacked to a tree for a lodge on the river where we could get picked up by boat and eat burgers/pizza, and sleep in a bed.  We were tempted, but after brief consideration, we decided to stay the course.  We spent the night at Nahmakanta Stream Campsite, where the mosquitoes moved in again quickly.  Dad smoked a cigar that Grandfather had given him for the trails’ end, which shooed away the mosquitoes long enough to build a campfire.

Dad made daughter a grilled cheese for dinner using our mozzarella and flatbread, and a green birch branch to hold it over the fire.

It was a nice change of pace from the freeze-dried meals, and we also shared some chili mac later.  12.1 miles today.