29 June Long Pond Shelter, ME to Chairback Gap Lean-to, ME - 10.9 miles

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The night was quiet until the rain started in around 2:30. The wind blew hard, the trees swayed with a noise like ocean waves on the beach. We were up by 6 and cooking breakfast praying the rain would stop. Packing up we opted for full rain gear. 7:30 we rolled out and up the trail. The rain and wind were so bad this morning the camera was packed inside my pack. There were a few times when we wanted to get pictures, but not today. The morning was nothing but wind, rain, roots and rocks. The first three miles were all up, from 1,000' to almost 2,700'. The rock work was almost technical in places and the water just made travel slower. We both took a slip and spill or two along the way.
In the afternoon we came to West Chairback stream. There were no fords scheduled for today. With all the rain this stream was running full bore. The rocks used to cross under normal conditions were under about 4" of fast moving water. We scouted up stream to no avail. Back to the original crossing spot. After a recon I thought we could make the crossing safely if we took our time. I made the crossing first while CC watched. After I was across CC started out. This is the second time on the AT I have seen true fear on her face. The moving water had her doubting herself. She looked up stream and down, she looked across trying to find a way to cross and not have to step in moving water. I tried to help and she ran me back. I encouraged her and she took the first step in tears. Now she was standing on a large rock midstream that was out of the water. Her next two stepping stones were completely submerged by fast roaring water. Eyes filled with tears of terror; she made her move. Three steps later I was giving her a big hug and telling her what a great job she had done. One of the things she said she wanted to do on this trip was do things she never thought she could do. Today she overcame a great obstacle and crossed the stream. We made the shelter by 4:30.
There were six guys already stuffed in and there was no room for us. We put the tent up in the only flat area we could find. Supper is done and we are in the tent listening to the water hit the fly. We pray the rain will stop and tomorrow will be a better day. We have a tough 10 miles ahead of us. The southbounders say after tomorrow we mainly have to deal with bogs and a few smaller mountains.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

For Photos and Video: http://odandccslongwalk.shutterfly.com/

OD and CC have been marking their path with a GPS using SPOT Satellite Messenger and can be tracked at the following link. It keeps track of their last 7 days: http://tinyurl.com/o2g53z

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