Week 16
Tuesday- Sunday If you jumped into a hot air balloon and took a ride from the top of Springer Mountain to Mount Khatadin (in a straight line), the trip would be 1,300M long. So far, I have walked that 1,300M straight line, plus another 186M to boot. Of course the trails winds and zig zags add another 889.8M to the trek, so it seems I have a bit more walking to do. I'll be honest. I have seen better weeks on the trail than this past one, but even the worst of times out here have their silver linings. As you might remember from last week, Wolfdog and I escaped the horrific weather of the Whites, and a rather unsafe hike on Mount Washington, by taking a shuttle off of the mountain after our summit. Weather forecasters predicted the fierce winds and rains would continue for the next two days in the Whites, so we opted to skip the final above tree line mountain range.
Yes, I finally lost my "purest card", but for my safety and my sanity, I decided to forego the Wildcat Range. I am already conjuring up a Summer trip back to New Hampshire to do those 25M, simply because I'd like to say my feet have touched every mile of the AT, but for now, the decision to skip this 1% of the trail was best for me. Remember, as stated on my homepage, it is not my number one objective to complete the entire trail. My number one objective is to have fun and enjoy every breath, every, step, and every moment of this crazy ride. So my journey took me to Portland, ME for two days instead.
The trip was amazing and much needed. We slept in, explored the port city, bought some new rain gear, and ate our weight in blueberry pie, chowder, lobster rolls, and ice cream. I found a new favorite food while I was there as well. It is a locally made herbal popcorn called Little Lads. Wolfdog had been talking about this stuff for months as we walked toward Maine, and finally I got to try it. He was right. The delicious fluffy pieces of corn are addictive. I couldn't stop eating it!
The trip was heavenly, but we couldn't escape the Whites wrath forever. On Tuesday, we headed back to Gorham, New Hampshire to finally finish those white bastards, and the dreary weather was just a waitin' for us when we got there. Flash flood warnings and a delayed UPS package kept us held up at a hostel for the first evening, but by Wednesday we were back on trail. We did 16.5M and at the very end of the day, we finished Mount Success and crossed the border into Maine. We made it to Maine! We made it to Maine!
We ended up crossing the border right after dark, which by the way is at 7:00PM in the mountains of Maine. In classic AT fashion, strong winds and light rain started up the second we crossed into the state. We ended up finishing our hike trying to navigate the cliffs of Mount Carlo in pitch black wet darkness. The jagged rocks and boulders were so steep, we spent most of the last half mile of our hike sliding down rocks on our keesters. It was from this moment on, that I knew Maine was going to be epic and hard. The next three days were grueling.
The terrain in this state is absolutely the most rugged and steep terrain I have had to hike thus far, and the weather was nothing but wet fog, chilled winds, and cloudy overcast. This trail is also not maintained very well in this region. It looks like hurricane Irma came through about ten ago, destroyed the trail, and then the MATC just repainted some fresh white blazes over the rubble. Most of the bog boards are fully submerged in muddy water, which are usually surrounded by mud pits that the are at least hip deep. (I met two different hikers who met a muddy fate after a misstep) There are more roots and muddy rock slabs than ever before and absolutely zero switchbacks. When you go up a mountain, you are going straight up, usually following the path of a small waterfall as it erodes the mountain side enough for some crazy hiker to be able to crawl up it.
By Friday, the terrain of Southern Maine had completely frizzle fried our bodies and our minds. It wasn't until mile 5 of our 10.5M day that I even realized it was my birthday. Wolfdog and I were both in a bit of a dreary mood on account of the terrain, and weather, but news of my birth anniversary perked us up and we hiked with a little more pep in our step for the remainder of the day. The day of my 29th was the day we got to hike the Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm. The Notch is notoriously known as the most difficult mile of the AT, and the Arm is the steepest mile of the entire trail (a 1,500ft. elevation gain in one mile). We busted it out like champs, of course, and the sun even came out for the last few hours of the day.
When we got to the shelter that evening, Wolfdog told the four other hikers who where there it was my birthday. They shouted out a big "Happy Birthday" in unison and gave me some big goofy smiles. After we cooked dinner, Wolfdog surprisingly pulled out a half eaten bag of Little Lads that were wrapped in a ball of masking tape with his name on it and put it in my hand. "Happy birthday Mona", he said. And that was it. The 29th has come and gone. It was the best day and best gift this hiker could ask for. Simple and sweet. By Saturday we had made it to Andover, ME. We had seen a hiker's entry in one of the log books at a shelter we had passed on the way to town that had some info about a new hostel that was just barely open called Human Nature Hostel. We called them up and got two beds for a couple of nights so we could slack pack the next grueling section of Southern Maine. We stayed in the main cabin because the actual hostel wasn't quite ready. You could sleep there, but you had to come up to main house to shower, cook, etc. When it is finished though, the hostel will be an amazing stop on the trail. It is a geodesic dome built from the ground up by the owner who's name is Yukon. It overlooks the range the AT follows from Spec Mountain all the way to Old Blue Mountain. The view is incredible and dome, a masterpiece. Everything inside and out was custom built by Yukon.
He was a petty interesting dude. Ex-military, he hiked the trail in 2008, and when he finished, he decided he wants to open a hostel. Fun fact, he was also on that show Naked and Afraid a couple of times. If you have ever seen the episode where the guy and girl are dropped off in the Everglades and the guy captures an alligator, cuts its head off, and sautés it on his machete with lime juice... that's Yukon. I enjoyed meeting him and the rest of the Human Nature Hostel crew, and I wish them the best of luck as they open the dome up for full service in the next few weeks. Tomorrow, Wolfdog and I will be starting the trail at ME Route 17. We will have four days of hard hiking before we reach the town of Stratton. After that it's onto Monson, which is the last town before the 100 Mile Wilderness and Mount Khatadin. We're gettin' there!