July 26th, 2018, Maine
As expected it rained most of the night. After the long hike yesterday I was in no hurry to get up. Several of the others had already departed by the time I started packing. After breakfast I finished packing and got started around 10am. It was still raining and continued through the morning.
On rain days like this, many sections of the trail become long mud puddles. If your shoes aren’t too wet it’s usually possible to hop along partially submerged rocks, or look for the muddy sections that seem firm enough. But after a while, the shoes and socks are already wet so it’s not much use wasting time. Just head through it and do the best you can.
At 1:30pm I arrived at Little Bigelow Lean-to and stopped for lunch. Because I skipped a hot dinner yesterday I decided to make a hot lunch. In the meantime I went down to the stream for water and a quick dip in the pool below the cascade. The water was chilly but I was able to get in up to my waist and rinse out some clothes.
After lunch I planned to continue another 5 miles to a camp site. I sat ready to go for about twenty minutes, hopeful the rain would slow or stop. But it only got stronger so I decided to stay in place for the night. I took the open corner of the lean-to and watched the rain fall.
There was a group of girls and two counselors in tents at the site. They are backpacking 200 miles in 22 days. Despite the soggy day they seemed to be having a great time.
