Friday, August 17, 2012

A bog in the fog ...

... makes a picture for my blog.

(But a vista in the mist ... uh ...
is like smoochin' wit' yo' sista'.)


Friday, August 10, 2012:

It rained all night and into the morning - a heavy tropical rain - humid and murky.  I had two options for today's hiking: get an early start and do the 3.6 mile leg south from ME 4 - all that remained of that 13.1 mile section after yesterday's hike, and then also do the 5 mile climb up to the summit of Saddleback.  Or I could make today a super-short, super-easy day and just do the 3.6.

The rain sealed the decision.  I slept late.  The rain tapered off for a while but there was another line on radar headed this way.  I did a little shopping and a little scouting around and then got on the trail at 11AM after the rain finally stopped.

But it remained cloudy, foggy, murky - truly tropical, with the temperature hovering around 70F.  So I hiked in the fog.

The fog does some great things.  It can give depth to a photograph of objects that are in view.  I think the big boreal bog at my turn around point at Chandler Mill Stream looked much more appealing today in the fog than it did yesterday without it.  That's the photo up top.

And the fog composed this nice 'green tunnel' view that might not otherwise be noteworthy:


But, of course, when you come to a grand vista, where you can peer across the Sandy River valley toward Piazza Rock and Saddleback Mountain ... well, the fog made a joke of that.  So I took the photo anyway ... and wrote the joke (such as it is ... my little rhyme up top).


I was done hiking after four hours, and finished in a light rain that continued on-and-off for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow doesn't promise much better conditions.  There seems to be something between me and Ski area summits.  I climbed Killington twice on consecutive days - both miserably foggy and rainy.  I summited Bromley in a fog so thick that it took me fifteen minutes to figure out where the trail went down the other side.  And now Saddleback.  I can only hope that the third time's the charm.  We shall see ...

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Here's the map of today's little hike, and a link to a few more photos:

AT Day 201 - South Pond at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Maine

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