Taking Flight

My original plan for this hike had me continuing into the White Mountains for the next ten days, but plans change. After I got to the Rattle River Hostel, I realized that the last few days had taken a lot out of me. The relentless heat and humidity had make hiking unpleasant, and then the rain had exacerbated the developing blisters on my feet. Could I have continued? Probably. Would it have been enjoyable? Definitely not. Hiking is hard, but ultimately it is recreation, meaning that it should be at least some amount of fun. I consulted with several people who I trust, and I laid my situation out for them, and I asked them for their thoughts. Everyone was unanimous. If you're not enjoying yourself anymore, then you shouldn't be doing it. That made my mind up for me. I decided that I was going to end my hike, and save the White Mountains for a future hike. Of course, there were some logistical details that had to be taken care of. I had a reservation at the Joe Dodge Lodge that ...

Carlo Col Shelter to Gorham 16.8 Miles Today was the day that I finally finished Maine! I have to be honest, even though it’s my home state, I wasn’t sad to leave Maine behind. The southern Maine part of the trail was brutal and draining. Carlo Col shelter did not have flowing water, just puddles. As a result, getting water from there required using a scoop. I carry a Craisins bag that I cut the top off of, and I use that to scoop water when there isn’t much water available. Not long into the day, I crossed the Maine/NH State Line. I was excited to finally finish southern Maine. I also had accomplished the original goal of my hike, which was to make it into New Hampshire. This got me thinking about whether I wanted to keep going or stop. A lot would depend on the weather going forward. The early day featured climbing Mt. Success. The climb was difficult, with a lot of rocks, some of which were smooth slab. I remember looking up at one particular slab and thinking, “They can’t expect me...

Grafton Notch to Carlo Col Shelter  14.1 Miles I know that it says just above this that it was a 14 mile day, but I can assure you that it felt a lot tougher than that. In fact, I think it was the toughest day since the Bigelows. Probably not coincidentally, this was the first day since the Bigelows with 6000 feet of elevation gain. Mark from West Bethel Motel was once again awesome, being flexible with my drop off time and getting me on trail by 8 AM. My first task was to climb the last remaining four thousand footer in Maine, Old Speck. That was a tough climb, and I took it slow. Unfortunately, there was no reward, as the mountain was in the clouds. I wasn’t upset, though. I had hiked Old Speck with my friend Sylvia a few years back to finish my New England 67, and that was an amazing day. I figured that I have seen Old Speck at its best, so it had nothing left to prove to me. The descent from Old Speck was very steep, and I had to take it slow again. I knew that today was not go...

East B Road to Grafton Notch 10.3 Miles Today was the day for all of us to leave The Cabin and hike on. Gazelle, Medicine Man, Ali, and I were going back to East B Road, while the others were going to South Arm Road. That meant that the four of us who hiked together yesterday were in front by about nine miles. However, before we could leave The Cabin, there was a problem. We had to pay. The Cabin apparently doesn’t take credit cards, so we had to pay cash, and very few of us had enough cash on hand. This meant that Swan had to drive us to the ATM at The Store first. As expected, we ran the ATM out of cash. Thankfully, all of us going to East B were able to get cash, so we were on our way.  Once we got hiking, we immediately split up into two groups. Gazelle and Medicine Man ran out front, while Ali and I lingered behind. However, Ali wanted to hike alone, so I put on my headphones and pushed up East Baldpate Mountain by myself. About halfway up the mountain, there was a shelter cal...

South Arm Road (Andover) to East B Road (Andover) 8.6 Miles Today was all about four hikers: Gazelle, Medicine Man, Ali, and I. Everyone else (Bear and Hard Goods) was zeroing, and Captain is done. The four of us who were hiking today were doing a slackpack over Moody Mountain and Wyman Mountain. Before we started, we had a big breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs, and potatoes. It was delicious, and gave us good fuel for the day. Our driver for the day was Honey. I admit that I was a little nervous about an 89 year old driver, but it went okay. There was only one scary incident, when Honey swerved to avoid a bird in the road, but all’s well that ends well. On the way to the trailhead, I learned about a northbounder that I passed yesterday. His name is Wardrobe, and he is notable because he hikes in a dress. As I have said before, you meet all kinds of unique people out here. We got dropped off at the trailhead on South Arm Road, and immediately had to climb Moody Mountain. That climb...

Bemis Mountain Lean To to Andover 8.6 Miles I awoke this morning to a crowded shelter. Everyone was awake, but no one wanted to get up. They were waiting for Captain to give the word, but I finally declared that it was time to get up and released the air from my sleeping pad. Ironically, that got everyone going except Captain. However, it takes me forever to get everything together in the morning, and so only Bear and Hard Goods rolled out after me. The morning began with a hard but pretty climb up Bemis Mountain. The days are getting hotter, and I was quickly sweating profusely. The climb up Bemis may have been pretty, but the summit was just a sign in the woods, so I quickly moved on. I passed Loco not long into the day, and then I found Magic and Vortex at a water source. That water source wasn’t fantastic, but boy was it welcome. It was the first reliable water we had seen for miles. I filled up both my bottles before continuing on. This hike today was hard on my right leg. First I...

Rangeley to Bemis Mountain Lean To  17.7 Miles I know I start every entry this way recently, but it was another cold night. You would think that staying in a hostel would help, but that seems to make it worse. The Hiker Hut gave me a big blanket, but even that didn’t help. I did the best I could to pull it around me tightly, and I made it through the rest of the night. In the morning, Steve, the owner, made egg and cheese sandwiches, which of course I eagerly consumed. Then we started to have a reunion. First Gazelle, Mack, and Medicine Man showed up. I learned that Mack now has a trail name - Captain. As I got to hiking out, I ran into Bear and Hard Goods as they wandered up. Talking to everyone, I realized that we were going to have a lot of people at the shelter tonight. As I passed through the parking lot to get back on trail, I saw a bunch of Connecticut license plates. I realized that the group of 17 I saw yesterday must be from Connecticut.  There was a lot of wildlife ...