Dates ........ Sunday, August 25, 2002
Miles ........ 10.1 miles
From ........ East B hill Road Andover ME Pine Ellis B&B
To ............. Tent Camp - South Arm Road Black Brook
Weather ... Brief shower overnight, then sunny, upper 70's to low 80's, humid,

Sunday, August 25, 2002

Surplus Pond, Wyman Mt. 2945', Sawyer Notch ~1320', Moody Mt. 2430',

Sly and I had a hearty breakfast at Pine Ellis B&B and really enjoyed the Trainor's warm, friendly treatment - we both felt right at home. After breakfast we shot some memento photographs and Ilene gave us a ride to the trailhead. They offered to shuttle us and allow us to slackpack, but Sly was determined to carry his full pack the entire distance and in the same direction. Reluctantly, I declined their offer. It was a steady but easy climb from East B Hill Road to Surplus Pond and from there to Wyman Mountain. Then a short descent took us to Hall Mt. and the Hall Mt. Shelter where we met Woodstock and Semi Pro having a quick lunch. They were a very nice young couple headed north as we were. A long, sometimes steep and rocky descent took us to the Sawyer Brook valley. There, we took a break and got some water.

Paul and Ilene Trainor and Sly on the porch at Pine Ellis B&B

Woodstock and Semi-Pro break for lunch at Hall Mt. shelter

Moody mountain is a little round bump on the profile map about 1/3 the size of Wyman Mt. which was no challenge at all. But the south face of Moody Mt. showed a nearly 1380 foot vertical climb out of the valley, spread over just about a mile. It was rocky, steep and nasty. In places it had laid-in rock steps and steel climbing rungs embedded in the bigger vertical rock faces. In the heat, it was an exhausting little climb. To make matters worse, I sat on a big rock and a ground wasp buried his venom-laden stinger in my exposed thigh. I moved on rather quickly, away from that spot. Once on top, the view of the valley below was phenomenal. We observed some large white dishes in the distance, apparently some sort of antenna installation.

The descent from Moody Mountain's summit was gentler. At the bottom we found a couple nice campsites, the one we settled on being right next to Black Brook on the brook's sandy bank. The stream had sluggish, brackish weed-infested water so we set out for a roadside spring some distance down the road. It was marked by a large coil spring welded to a signpost and painted orange. A spring for a spring. Cute. Crystal clear great-tasting water gushed from the rocky mountainside.

Woodstock and Semi Pro set up their tent next to ours. They were delightful company, radiating the enthusiasm and exuberance of youth, and just a bit of the inexperience. Woodstock experimented with some cocoa flavored oatmeal for dinner - it was awful. We doubted the bears would eat it. Uncertain about the direction and location of their mail drop (right or left at the road), they got lucky when a camper came by and directed them to a nearby drive-in campsite. There, they found their mail drop, literally. They hoped it was somewhere around (here). They had met on the trail and were keeping each other close company. They were a lovely, cute couple and we hoped things worked out for them. At the moment, they appeared to be enjoying each other's company very intensely. Perhaps a bit more than the usual "trail partnership." (Subsequent trail register entries showed they stayed together and hiked at a very strong pace, given the rough terrain.)

The flat, sandy soil was a nice base for our camp. The short pine trees, however, proved difficult when trying establish a line for hanging food from a tree away from bears (bear bag).

I want to bed as Sly and Semi Pro engaged in a spirited discussion of cross-country biking, with Sly leading the chorus.

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