Sept 22

Crockers

Woke up this morning in a cloudy mist.  Everything was wet.  After breakfast in my tent, I started to quickly pack up all my gear trying to beat the rain.  All the items that needed to stay dry got shoved down in the bottom of my trash bag lined pack, then I rolled the liner closed.  I packed up my tent, and stuffed the soaking wet fly down inside the tent bag.  The water laden tent bag went inside my pack, resting on top of the securely lined gear.  I headed out down the foggy trail as a light rain started.  It was nothing but climbing early on, up to the summit of South Crocker Mountain.  Any potential views along the way were shrouded in grey.  On the final mile to the top, I was sweating hard, despite the cold temperature.  I knew I should keep my rain jacket on, if only for warmth.  Unzipping the front fully, and opening the pit zippers, helped marginally.  I passed up and over North Crocker, climbing to over 4000 feet.  It would be 6 more miles from here to get to another road crossing that would lead into Stratton, Maine.  We needed to head into town for another resupply.  The down hill hike to the road seemed to take forever.  I wasn't going to make it to town in time for lunch, so I just stopped on the side of the trail along the way.  While I was taking my break, the sun finally decided to come out and burn through the mist.  We all met up in the parking area at the road crossing.  I laid out my tent, ground sheet, and fly in to sun to dry out.  We were able to get a hitch into town before too long.  Stratton was another one-street town.  The general store had great resupply, and an amazing deli counter with moderately priced gourmet sandwiches.  I polished off a sandwich, a side of potato salad, a pint of ice cream and several snacks.  There was a motel across the street, and rather than hitch back to the trail, we decided to check in for the night.

Summit sign on North Crocker.