Day 59. Variety

Mile 2036 – Pierce Pond To Mile 2045 – Pleasant Pond

This was a busy day mostly not hiking. We were camped a few miles from the ferry which is not available until mid-morning so we took advantage of the extra time in the morning to hike a half-mile off the trail to a sporting camp that offers a pancake breakfast for hikers.

Misty morning

Sporting camp

Rocket got a plate of 12 pancakes (and ate 10 of them!). It was so wonderful to sit by the wood stove and enjoy a yummy breakfast on a cold morning.

12 pancakes

The Kennebec river is fairly wide and deep, but looks fordable. It is really dangerous, however because of a strong current and rapidly changing water levels due to hydroelectric operations upstream. Because of this, the official route of the AT uses a canoe ferry for the crossing. We just has to wait about 10 minutes and then we were on our way.

Ferry

Blaze on the canoe floor

Finally, we had a package waiting for us at a post office after the crossing which did not open until 2:00. The box contained food to top off our supply for the next two days into Monson. Fortunately, there was a hostel where we could wait and eat lunch.