Hiking southbound. From Monson, ME to Gorham, NH
Day 89
It rained heavily all night last night, about 2 inches, we woke up and it was still raining. We had breakfast and decided we would hang around the hostel until we saw a break in the weather. It was forecasted to stop at 2pm so we decided we would leave then and that would give us enough daylight to hike to the first shelter, 9 miles in.
Throughout the day we talked to hikers coming in off the trail who said the river fords that we have ahead of us have gotten deeper and a little more intense from all the rain. It kind of put us on our toes.
We hung out on the couch in the commons room, went down to the bakery and got lunch, and checked out the Monson museum. The museum was closed but one of the employees was there and gave us a private tour. All the citizens of Monson we met were very friendly and inviting.
We got back to the hostel the rain hadnt quit but we had to get on the trail to beat the sun so we got a shuttle to the trailhead. We only walked in a drizzle for about an hour before it finally let up. The trail was pretty much a river and all the streams we had to cross were raging.
We had one big ford today. Normally it's ankle deep but now it's moving pretty quick and came up to our waists. We crossed fine. Made it 9 miles to Horseshoe Canyon Lean to at about 6pm. It's just us and 2 section hikers staying here tonight. We're in the tent as usual.
Looking at my trail guide book it looks like we have to ford the Piscataquis River within 3 miles of starting tomorrow. It says it normally waist deep and can be dangerous in heavy rain periods, hopefully it's something we can handle. One of the section hikers is a "water rescue volunteer" so we're gonna stick with them tomorrow and see how it goes.
Day 90
The fords today were not as bad as we anticipated but they were still deep and the current was strong. It was a wet day, the trail is pretty much a river still. Through the whole day, about 75% of it was spent with our feet ankle deep in either water of thick, quicksand like mud.
We walked 13 miles to Bald Mountain Brook lean to and got here at 3:30ish.
Hiking through Caratunk, ME tomorrow to pick up our resupply package. We're going to try and get an early start so we can catch the afternoon hiker ferry across the Kennebec River right after Caratunk. If we dont make it in time for the ferry we'll have to stay the night in Caratunk at one of the overpriced hostels. 14ish miles to Caratunk.
Day 91
Another rough day, I think I got another stomach bug, I have felt awful since this morning. It was a hard hike but we made it to US201, right outside of Caratunk, ME at about 3:30 just before it began to rain. We called a shuttle and they dropped us off at Northern Outdoors, a resort type place where our packages were waiting on us. More food...and 3lds of gummy bears..
We got a tent site at Northern Outdoors and regretted it immediately. It is infested with mosquitoes and poured rain non stop all night.
Day 92
We woke up this morning and it was still pouring rain. We checked the weather and that's the forecast for the whole day. We gave the Sterling Inn Bed and Breakfast down the road a call and the owner was there shortly to pick us up.
We should have come here in the first place- its clean and they are very accommodating. 5 stars. Lots of other hikers are here.
Looks like the sun is making its way back out for the first time in days. Cathrine and I sat out on the porch and drank hot chocolate while our tent dried out. The air is quickly getting chillier up here.
We want to stay here forever, but we must hike on..14 miles tomorrow...(if it's not raining)
Day 93
Today was a great day! Finally no rain! It feels a bit like autumn nut it's nice hiking weather and the locals tell us that these temperatures are abnormal for August and it will heat up again.
We left the hostel at 9 this morning, got dropped off at the post office and mailed some things to ourselves in Rangeley, ME. The packages my mom sent had about an extra weeks worth of food so we decided we could use it later on and save some money down the road. Also, we don't want any gummy bears going to waste.
The trail was good to us today, the easiest terrain we've had in Maine. My boots were dry and not covered in mud for the first time in a week, I had forgotten what color they are. We ran into a hiker we had met in Virginia, right outside of Waynesboro, Big Ups, he made his way up here pretty fast. We figured we would start seeing other hikers from our "bubble" that we knew when we were hiking northbound in the next few weeks.
We got to the West Carry Pond lean to at about 4:30, I realized we forgot to buy stove fuel in town so that was a good enough excuse to make a fire. Also it's pretty chilly, in the mid 50's, I think I will need to have my sleeping bag sent out soon. The nights are getting cold and as we move closer to The White Mountains I feel like the weather becomes only more unpredictable.
We are going to start beefing up our mileage to try and pick up the pace to get out of the north before the real cold hits.
Today marks 3 months on the trail.
Day 94
Another day of awesome weather. We knocked out 17.9 miles and hit our 1000 mile mark.
We had some rough climbs- The Bigelow Mountains, doing 18 miles over this range was a feat for us. We caught some great views!
We are in good spirits and plan for a 18.6 mile day tomorrow.
Day 95
More great weather! We hiked 18.6 miles, another day of high miles over very rough and steep terrain. We climbed up and over 3 mountains over 4000 feet. Some times the views are more dangerous than the terrain because you just cant look away from all the scenery, you find yourself tripping over rocks.
Early on in the day we passed over ME27 and debated hitching into Stratton for a quick meal but knew we'd be cutting it close for daylight to get in the miles we wanted if we took any detours. (Plus we have all the spam we could ever need right there on our backs). Our friend and fellow flipflopper, Fusion, who we again crossed paths with at The Sterling Inn stayed in Stratton last night. (He is about done with his flipflop in Massachusetts and says the only thing keeping him going is the towns) He is hilarious. A limo drives up by us as we're crossing ME27 to the trailhead on the otherside and Fusion climbs out, dapping the limo driver up. A limo ride into town was even more tempting but we're staying focused on getting miles done and spending less money.
We're pretty sore from the day. Tenting at Spaulding Mountain Lean to. We'll find out how we're feeling tomorrow to decide how far we'll go. We would like to get as close to Rangeley tomorrow so we can have a more enjoyable/longer time in town.
Day 96
16.9 miles today, the weather keeps getting better and better, it was almost hot today. We climbed over some more massive mountains and caught some more excellent views. Saddleback Mountain has been one our favorites so far.
Staying at Piazza Rock Lean to tonight the three days of high mileage over the straight ups and downs has worn us out. We soaked our feet in the ice cold river for a while before making dinner. We are 2 miles outside of Rangeley, we're gonna take a near-o tomorrow at the Hiker Hut hostel where we forwarded our resupply package.
As we look forward and plan the weeks ahead of us, it gets more and more difficult. We are on the verge of finishing up southern Maine and entering into New Hampshire. The climbs up the mountains are much bigger and the terrain is said to be more difficult. We don't really know what to expect except from what we see in the elevation changes and what other hikers coming north tell us.
On the last mile stretch to the shelter today I saw a redfox just hanging out on the side of the trail. He seemed to be curiously checking us out. I quietly pointed him out to Cathrine and we were both able to get a good look at him before he took off into the woods. you dont see many of them. Still no mose sightings. Still plenty of poop...but no moose.
Day 97
We had a smooth 1.9 mile walk to ME4 where the trail crossed, about 9 miles from Rangeley. We walked the .3 miles down the highway to the Hiker Hut- An off the grid hiker hostel where we planned on spending the night. We got here at about 9am.
Upon arriving the owner, Catherine, asked us if we wanted to take baths and get cleaned up and of course we did. What we weren't expecting was for the bathing area to be a stream. Just a deep section in the stream. It took a minute or 2 to work up the courage to completely submerge ourselves but the cold water was nice on the muscles.
After cleaning up, the owner took us and fusion and wetdog into Rangeley so we could do laundry, resupply, and whatnot.
Once our clothes were in the wash we had our sights set on food so we had 2 lunches.. One at a Thai place where we got our pad thai fix and a second lunch at a bar type place. We kept running into Fusion everywhere in town and ended up having second lunch with him.
Once all our town chores were done we waited at the grocery store for Catherine to pick us up and bring us back to the Hiker Hut.
Here she had made dinner and we all dug in, we shared some of my mothers brownies she had sent for desert. They were gone quickly. Fusion played guitar all evening and we all sat around outside talking until the sun went down.
Day 98
Cathrine and I ended up sleeping in the bunk room last night. We usually opt for the private room, but since the Hiker Hut's "private room" was actually just a 2 person tent with carpet and sleeping pads in it, and we would rather not pay $40 for something we sleep in every night, we paid for 2 bunks in the bunk room. We ended up sharing a bunk.
Cathrine and I and Fusion, Brandon (a southbounder who started the same day we hiked Katahdin) and one of the hostel workers went into town and got breakfast at the diner.
While we were at breakfast the hotel owner made me a temporary wedding band. Since we didnt want to scuff up our expensive rings, we've been looking for rings to wear on the trail. I got lucky that the hostel owner makes jewelry onsite. She did well and it wasnt outrageously expensive.
We hiked 9.4 miles to the first shelter, Sabbath Day Pond Lean to, and could have definitely done more but we felt the need to relax and catch up on our strength from the grueling last few days.
Tomorrow we hit more of the hard stuff.
Day 99
We ended up hiking 17 miles today. We decided halfway through the day that we would try and aim for South Arm Rd. where we could get a ride to Andover, ME and spend the night at a hostel.
While we were having lunch I called "The Cabin" hostel to see if they had room for us. We had been hearing great things from other hikers about The Cabin since we got to Maine so we were happy to hear that they had room for us. We ran into Fusion where we had lunch and he'd had the same plan as us in mind so we decided to all hike together.
We barely made it off the last mountain before the sun went completely down to find Earl from The Cabin patiently waiting on us. Fusion fell behind us at some point, he was having a hard go at things mentally and physically. We waited for half an hour at the top of Old Blue for him and Earl was ok with waiting another 20 at the bottom of the hill. Fusion never showed up, we figured he found a nice spot to set up his tent somewhere on the mountain before it got too dark.
Earl brought us back to The Cabin where his wife Marge had a dinner waiting on us that was comparable to a Thanksgiving dinner. By far the best meal we've had on the trail. They kept the food coming, we were way past the point of being stuffed. It was amazing. We plan to take a zero tomorrow. It feels like we're at our own grandparent's house.
Day 100
I got a text from Fusion letting us know he is alive and well and was planning on getting back to the trail this morning.
Cathrine and I got up to eat breakfast and planned on going back to bed, but decided it would be worth it to suck it up and go out and hike a quick 10 miles and then get picked back up by Earl at another road crossing further down the trail. Earl and Marge have been running the hostel for over 20 years and know a hikers every need. They provided us with some day packs so I sucked it up and agreed to slackpack the 10 miles. We both felt like our bodies needed the break from our heavy packs.
After eating the greatest breakfast Ive had in a long long time Cathrine and I are getting ready to go and Earl drives up from dropping another hiker off at the trailhead and while he was out, he found Fusion. Fusion ended up making his way down the mountain last night and hitched a ride into Andover and found his way to another hostel. The other hostel had just dropped him off at the trailhead before Earl drove up. So he got a ride back to The Cabin so that he could join us on our slackpack.
We hiked a quick 10 miles today. It's amazing how much easier hiking is without carrying a 30 lb pack all day. We had beautiful weather and knocked out the miles in about 5 hours.
We got picked up and made it back to the cabin at 3:30ish. Upon arriving Earl told us he had a deal for us. He would let us all (Me, Cathrine, Fusion, and Walk Into Trees) stay a free night at the hostel if we stacked his firewood for him. We were all happy to help and between the 4 of us we had it done in about an hour. At this point we're planning on staying 3 nights, so one night of work-for-stay helps out alot.
Tomorrow we plan on another 10 mile slackpack. Tonight Marge made another amazingly delicious dinner, the hospitality here is unbelievable.
Day 101
We were on the trail by 9:30 to slack another 10.3 from Grafton Notch back north to East B Hill Rd where the hostel shuttle would pick us up again.
We hiked over Baldpate Mountain and caught some great views. We passed by a group of trail maintainers in the process f building a stone staircase, it was very cool to see. We've walked up and down tons of these stone steps along our journey of the trail and they make the climbing so much easier. I'm always amazed at the amount of labor that must go into these steps that take you straight up the mountain side. They were hard at work.
We got back to the hostel around 4 and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and eating more delicious food. Tomorrow we throw our heavy packs back on and set back on the trail to tackle the last stretch of southern Maine. We have 14.6 miles left to the New Hampshire border, they are considered to be the hardest miles of the entire trail. We plan to take it nice and easy.
Day 102
We had a tough climb today. We only hiked 4.6 miles. I think we needed the break. Tomorrow we plan to take on the Mahoosuc Arm and Mahoosuc Notch, two of the hardest sections of the trail in one day. The Mahoosuc Notch is THE most difficult (or fun) mile of the whole trail. It takes most people 1-2 hours to make their way through the mile long field of huge boulders where they climb and crawl to make it to the end.
We are staying at the Speck Pond shelter tonight. This section of the trail is maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the shelters and huts have fees to use them. (unlike all the other shelters along the trail). It cost $8 per person to stay here. Many of the huts allow you to work for stay if you get lucky and I asked the caretaker here if there was anything I could do to help. She had me take a 5 gallon bucket full of humus (composted poop from the privy) 200ft into the woods and dump it.
Day 103
We woke up in a cloud this morning. It got pretty chilly last night, one of the coldest yet.
We hit the trail at 9ish and the climb down the Mahoosuc Arm was our first obstacle of the day. We found it to be not as hard as everyone had explained to us, maybe it's harder to climb up than down. Cathrine and I though it was no harder than alot of the other mountains we've climbed in Maine, it just has a reputation of being big and bad.
After that, we were on our way to take on the Mahoosuc Notch, THE hardest mile on the whole trail. Although it was time intensive and took alot of climbing and crawling, we had alot of fun with it. It was a good challenge, something different. It took us and hour and a half to make it through the hardest mile.
We ended up hiking 9.5 miles total for the day. The temperature barely made it over 55 degrees, if even that. It was by far the windiest day yet we've had on the trail. I'd guess 25-30 mph gusts all day, which makes things alot chillier. The second half of the day was spent in the open above the tree line, we were getting blown around pretty good.
I look forward to my sleeping bag waiting for me in Gorham. The caretaker at the last shelter said it is supposed to get down to 30 degrees tonight, 20 with the wind chill. I'm putting on every article of clothing I have.
We are camping half a mile from the New Hampshire border tonight so first thing tomorrow we enter a new state. Goodbye Maine!
Day 104
We had another awesome day! We hiked 10 miles to set ourselves up for a good productive day in Gorham tomorrow. The first bit of New Hampshire has been great, the easiest terrain we've seen since we flipped up north. We are enjoying it while we can because we know that all of that is going to change when we leave Gorham and make our way to take on The Whites. Maine was good to us, we are gonna miss it.
It's crazy how quickly the leaves are changing, the turn started this past week and everyday we see a little more orange and yellow. We spend so much of our time under the tree cover, it's hard not to notice. An interesting way to experience the change of seasons.
We've also been running into a ton of northbound hikers we know from before we flipflopped. Almost every thruhiker we see at this point we can either name, or atleast recognize their face, it's exciting to see all this people we knew from before and to see them on the final stretch of their journey.
6.8 miles into Gorham tomorrow, hopefully we'll get to the post office to pick up my sleeping bag before they close at 12.
Day 105
A smooth 6.8 into town. The terrain reminded me of Virginia. Its amazing what crossing into the New Hampshire border will do to the neverending rocks, roots, and mud pits.
We caught one of best views yet this morning coming down from Cascade Mountain, the valley was filled with clouds. New Hampshire has my attention.
We made it to the White Mountain Lodge and Hostel at about 11:30 and they had us at the post office by noon. I sent a bunch of random things home that I didnt absolutely need and were just taking up space in my pack. I asked if they had a package for me and the employee checked and said there was nothing. It's labor day weekend and the post office was slammed and he was the only one working, about to close up. I called my mom, got the tracking number and found that the package had indeed arrived yesterday. So I went back in and we hunted it down in the back room. Now that I have a sleeping bag, hopefully my quality of sleep improves.
While ll this was going on, Cathrine went with the other hikers in the shuttle to get so food. She got us Burger King, of course, becasue our mantra all morning into town was "Burger King! Burger King!" I had 4 cheesebugers and a large fry, with room to spare.
We lazied around the hostel for the rest og the day. Tomorrow's weather will determine if we hike on or zero. Right now it's looking like it'll be a zero day
Day 106
We ended up zeroing. There was a rowdy group staying at the hostel last night ad they were really loud and kept alot of us from sleeping. So the lack of sleep and crappy weather are what made the zero easier for us. We decided we would make the most of our zero day and realized sunday, so we made an effort to make it to church. We were fortunate enough to have a member pick us up and take us, it was about a 15 mintue drive. We had to search through piles of clothes that the hostel provides for hikers while our trail clothes are in the washer. It was not an easy feat but we pieced together a couple of outfits so we didnt look completely grimey.
After church, to our suprise there was a potluck lunch. It was awesome, we grubbed out on some really good food and met with alot of the members. Everyone was so nice and inviting. We met one cool couple in particular- they have 3 kids and offered to squeeze us in their van and give us a ride back to the hostel. It was very much appreciated.
We got back tothe hostel, took the best naps of our lives, attempted to watch Little Rascals (but everyone was too loud, so we gave up on that), and just laid around for the rest of the day.
One of the hikers there, "Left Field", made dinner for everyone, pork chops, they were gone quickly. Left Field is "yo-yo" ing the trail which means you start in Georgia, hike to Maine, and back down to Georgia, all in one go. He is on his way back down to Georgia. A really nice guy. Thats an insane amount of hiking, he's one of a couple of guys we've met doing the yo-yo
