Dates ........ Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Miles ........ 13.7 miles (Plus 2.5 miles blue-blaze trip to W.H Landing)
From ........ Cooper Brook Falls lean-to
To ............. Whitehouse Landing Wilderness Camp, NE shore Pemadumcook Lake
Weather ... HOT - TOO HOT - 92 degrees in the shade. Unbelievable heat. Sunny.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Mud Pond, Lower Jo-Mary Lake, Potaywadjo Ridge, Pemadumcook Lake, Whitehouse Landing Wilderness Camp.

About 3 A.M. I awoke, smelling smoke. I could not believe someone was fool enough to build a fire in these drought-parched woods. I dressed and went to the shelter, but there was no fire in the fire pit - or anywhere else that I could see. Everyone was sleeping soundly.

As long as I was up, rested and wide awake, I tore down my camp. I attended my early morning chores, seated in the privy next to a BIG spider. He had a "spider face" on his abdomen. I left him alone - he sat on his web as I sat on my throne. I started hiking about 4 AM, determined not to hike in the worst of the day's heat. My lightweight 3-LED headlamp was more than adequate for illuminating the trail. I could see the white blazes a long way off. Even at that hour, it was still warm and humid. I was surprised when a southbound hiker came out of the darkness, just before 5 AM. He too had the same idea - beat the heat. The smell of smoke was still in the air. We both feared the possibility of a forest fire - a real possibility with conditions being as dry as they have been. My escape plan: head for the nearest water.

I was hiking by Church Pond just as the sun was coming up. I took pictures of a couple of beavers going about their business as I walked quietly by.

Beaver swims next to AT in Church Pond

At Antler's Camp on Lower Jo-Mary Lake I had a neat experience. Hearing the sound of a very low-flying plane, I went to the shore just in time to see a float plane land. It taxied right up to shore where I was. I watched as it pulled into shore and dropped off a passenger. I chatted with the pilot and passenger. The pilot, upon learning of my destination (the next lake over the ridge) offered to fly me over as he was waiting for his client. Boy, did that sound like fun. But I decided to hike - and follow the white blazes. Reluctantly, I declined his offer. He took off. His passenger was an environmental engineer doing a survey of old hunting and logging camps, looking for old dumps.

Southwestern shore of Pemadumcook lake - a very hazy view of Mount Katahdin in the background. Low water levels expose shoreline rock.

I used the unique privy at Antlers Camp, sharing it again with another big, but different spider. Then I headed around the eastern end of Jo-Mary Lake and up over the Potaywadjo Ridge that would take me to Pemadumcook Lake and Whitehouse Landing Wilderness Camp - my final resupply point. At Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to I met a young redhead named Isaac. He was trying to make up his mind whether to continue his southbound hike or go back to Whitehouse Landing, and then home. He had just started at Abol Bridge a couple of days ago. He decided to accompany me to Whitehouse Landing and make up his mind there. He was a very interesting young man, well educated and very polite. He was, as so many others on the trail are, trying to sort out his life and figure where he was headed next. He had learned one thing: He did not enjoy backpacking. He loved the wilderness and camping in it, but long distance backpacking was not his thing.

Whitehouse Landing was not easy to find. First, we had to take a logging road off the AT to a point at the very eastern end of Pemadumcook Lake. Then, because of the low water, we had to hike another mile through the woods, through an area just timbered, to a dock. There we had to blast an air horn and wait for a boat to take us across the lake. We were at Whitehouse Landing by 11:30 - in time for a great big burger lunch. Their burgers were over one half pound, nearly an inch thick and big. Just what a hungry hiker needed. After lunch I did my laundry in their hand-operated washtub and wringer and hung it on the line to dry. I took a swim and then alternated my time lying in a hammock or on the dock and swimming when I got hot - it was a scorching 92degF. I would swim, get cooled off and wet, dry off, get dry and hot, and dive in again. Bill and Linda Ware, operators of the camp could never recall the water being this warm or the air being this hot so late in the season. It was a most enjoyable afternoon - one of the best ways to spend a hot afternoon that I could think of. It was most definitely too hot to hike.

Whitehouse Landing Wilderness Camp at Pemadumcook Lake.

Free Spirit (in hammock) and Ben relaxing lakeside between refreshing dips on a very hot day.

The camp's electricity was supplied by a windmill and solar generating station, which charged a bank of batteries. They had a 110V gas generator to run certain appliances, like their personal wash machine, when needed. Refrigeration, cooking and heat were done with propane. There were no fans or air conditioners. Access to the year-round camp was by the AT - foot, boat, float plane or dirt road (45 mile drive) or snowmobile in winter. Power companies control the lake's water levels. At times their huge dock, over 50 feet long and built to accommodate differences in water levels up to 20 feet was completely out of the water. When the lake is that low, fish and marine life suffer tremendously and harm is done to the environment. Isaac, Ben (their son) and I had a nice dinner, and then spent more time lounging lakeside. I showered before bed and reorganized my pack with my last resupply. I made sandwiches with bagels I purchased. It was so hot in my cabin, even with every window open and a nice breeze, that I could not stand to be in bed. I took a sheet and slept on the floor, where it was a little cooler.

The Ware's really treated me well. They had a truly unique and beautiful place and I really enjoyed my stay there. If I ever get into the area again, I'll be sure to go back there. The showers forecast as a strong possibility overnight, did not materialize.

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