We are camped in the motorhome at the summer home of friends on Wilson Pond. Their one-acre woodlot is similar to ours and provides a wonderful view of the lake and the mountains beyond. Loons call at night. We arrived the evening before last and took two days to tour the area and prepare gear for backpacking that begins tomorrow. The weather has been damp and the high temperatures in the low 70’s. Thus it is a bit cooler here even than on South Mountain. Unfortunately the forecast for the next five days is the same – 60-90% chance of rain. There will be lots of “sauce” along the trail and sooner than later our feet will be more than damp. So it goes on the trail. Only two significant climbs on this first hike. Pleasant Pond Mountain on day one and Moxie Bald Mountain on day two or three. These are small but sharp 2500 and 2600 foot peaks above a 500 foot plain. There should be lots of blueberries, some moose, and more than a few mosquitoes. We look forward to it. Our only new bird for the year so far has been the red crossbill. We’re hopping for boreal chickadees on the peaks. Our drive here was uneventful. We camped at a state park in northern Massachusetts. The streams there were in flood. All of New England seems to be saturated. We stopped to visit friends in New Hampshire and then drove here. The frost heaves on the roads, the spruce and fir trees, and even scattered fireweed remind us of Alaska. Today we made a three-mile walk on the AT near Monson in order to shorten the last day of our first backpack – the one beginning tomorrow – by three miles. This expedition served to give us a taste of the trail and judge its conditions before loading our packs this afternoon. Now we are ready.