I got up at 5 am and
left just after 6 am to Washington General Store. I had a nice breakfast &
coffee and I set out before 7 am. The
trail was going through the town at first and at some point I noticed plastic
piping spread between trees. At first I
wondered if this was some kind of fencing but ten I realized that these were
maple trees and the pipes were going into the trunks, so I guessed that this is
a modern way to collect maple syrup.
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| Maple syrup collection? |
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| Who is watching you? |
Once I left town I
turned on a woods road going up Lovewell Mountain. I noticed lots of coyote paw
prints along the road and further on the trail as well. I also saw what I believe was coyote scat. I was a little surprised that over first few days I saw only one garter snake, but now I saw three on the way up to the top.
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| One of several garter snakes I saw going up Lovewell Mountain |
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| Snow in June? Oh, wait! Is just a lichen patch... |
There was a nice
view to the East just before Lovewell Mountain.
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| Lookout near top of Lovewell Mountain |
The source that was marked on
the map and had a trail sign pointing to it was not flowing. I still had water
from town, so I did not care. I found a geocache
at the top and moved on, only stopping by Max Israel Shelter for a snack.
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| Max Israel Shelter |
It was downhill from there and after crossing
the road I began ascending Kittredge Hill.
According to the map the water source at Steve Galpin Shelter were
seasonal, so I decided to fill up at a stream coming out of a bog. It was
flowing fast but the water had yellowish/reddish color to it.
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| Water had yellowish/reddish tint to it |
After crossing the stream
it was just an ascent and hike up through extremely quiet woods. At one point I came across a pile of quills and I was really puzzled as to what happened -did something attack a porcupine?
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| Porcupine quills right on the trail |
I also saw what I think was coyote scat - rich in animal hair.
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| Coyote scat? |
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| Recharging batteries :) |
Entrenched in my own thoughts I reached Steve Galpin Shelter and there was no one there. I settled down and ate dinner.
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| Steve Galpin Shelter at Moose Lookout |
I then went to check out a stream north of
the shelter and the water was cold & clear. I dumped out the water I
already had and sterilized 3 liters of fresh water. I was a bit skeptical of notes prior hikers
were leaving in trail register at the shelter complaining about bugs as I
didn't see them yet, however, black flies struck me with force here and I had
to pull out my head net for the first time. Since no one else came I decided to
pitch a tent inside the shelter to survive the bugs overnight.
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