On the AT
Piazza Rock (Moose and Squirrel)
2 seater with a cribbage board in between...boredom on the trail!
Sunday July 27, 2008

Today was our hiking day. There are so many hikes to choose from in this area, but we chose to go to Piazza Rock which is about 1.8 miles (3.6 round trip) on the Appalacian Trail. This satisfied our lust for the trail (something we always wanted to do). We parked in the trail head parking lot and watched lots of hikers coming out and meeting the mail truck…these are serious hikers. Our hike was strenuous in some parts, mucky in others and ended in an area with a rock that was precariously perched high over our heads. We also met a caretaker who lives in the wilderness and keeps track of the people who come by…what a life. Our stop also coincided with an AT lean to and tent platforms. I could just imagine how welcome these places would be at the end of a day of hiking. There is an out house and in the lean to is a journal where hikers write notes about their journeys along with a deck of cards and a few other comforts. The out house was a 2 seater with a cribbage board screwed into the wood between the seats (better than a tv). We ate lunch on one of the tent platforms and then met a guy (trail name: Whiplash, as in Snidley Whiplash). He was hiking the entire trail and had started in Georgia on February 7th…he was getting close to the end. When I asked his trail name and he told me “Whiplash” I told him that Greg and I were “Moose and Squirrel”. To which he replied, “Really!?” and then of course I had to say, “No, just kidding”, but the Moose and Squirrel thing has stuck and we are now traveling under those names. I could have easily said, “Boris and Natasha”, “Dudley and Nell” or “Peabody and Sherman…wait, that doesn’t work” but Moose and Squirrel it is. After our 5 hour hike (I swear, I do NOT know where that time went) we went to a place called Smalls Falls. Lots of people go there (especially on Sunday afternoon) to swim in the pools down from the falls and jump off the cliffs…pretty scary. We found a rock in the stream and got out our “crazy creek chairs” (stadium seats to you non-Mainers) and read with our feet in the stream. What a nice afternoon. We ended the day with steaks on the grill and another fire and more reading (we have chosen some really good books!)