A Wild Week

A Wild Week – Video Link Click Here

Day 154: ME Rt 4 / Rangeley to Sluice Brook Logging Road (13.5 miles, marker 1,956.1)

Today began with a standard fried egg and cheese sandwich from The Hiker Hut, and then I began my hike. After a couple nice miles through the woods began my climb of Saddleback Mountain (4,116′).

I quickly broke treeline, and as the clouds parted I got to hike across the Saddleback Range with spectacular views. I met an overly friendly doggy at the top of Saddleback who scratched up on of my legs, but it was clearly innocent excitement. His owner was kind enough to snap my picture.

I then descended the saddle and climbed The Horn (4,041′), which was a perfect opportunity for some lunch and relaxation.

Then to tackle Saddleback Junior. This was by far the hardest part of the day. Unlike Saddleback and The Horn, which were both casual climbs, Junior was straight up and straight back down. At the top I was greeted by a nice snake.

By the time I finished though, I was exhausted. I considered stopping at the next shelter, but had heard how nice the campsite at the old road was, so I pushed on. I was definitely rewarded for my efforts. After fording a stream which showed off how intense the water has been the past month by the boat smashed against the rocks, I climbed to a lovely flat campsite where I could sit by a waterfall and enjoy my dinner.

Day 155: Sluice Brook Logging Road to Caribou Valley Road (10.4 miles, marker 1,966.5)

Woke up and had a wonderful breakfast by the falls. Continued to hike up and over Lone Mountain and then along bogs for a while. As I hiked, I passed the sign designating that this is the place where the AT was completed. A very cool moment, since it is also at mile 1,998, which is exactly 200 miles from the end.

I continued my hike until I got to the rocky descent of the northern side of Sugarloaf Mountain. As I descended, I slipped and fell about 20′ face first down the mountain. I got my shit together after the fall and headed the rest of the way down the mountain to the road and called The Maine Hostel for a ride. I mentioned that I might need an urgent care, but they informed me the closest one was almost ninety minutes away. Instead, I spoke to a doctor, assessed my condition as best as possible, and cleaned the hell out of my wounds back at the hostel in the most painful shower I’ve ever taken. I made a post dedicated to my fall. If you would like to see that post click here.

Day 156 & 157: Zero at The Maine Hostel

Took a couple days at The Maine Hostel to recover from my fall. This is by far the nicest hostel I’ve been to the entire trail. It is set up for both thru-hikers, section hikers, and wintertime skiers. I took the opportunity the first day to return to the scene of my fall. It consisted of a half mile road walk back to the trail and a 0.8 mile walk back to where I fell. This was pretty emotionally challenging. Every step scared the shit out of me as I climbed back up. But it was worth it overall. Halfway up I ran into Pigpen and Ronin who both expressed their desire to hike the rest of the trail with me. This was awesome since we have similar hiking speeds, and it gives me the comfort of walking partners. Then, about 100 feet shy of the scene of my fall, I ran into HolyShit. He walked back up with me and helped me find my glasses while I took some video and came to terms with what had happened. We climbed back down together and returned to the hostel. I took the next day off just to have a mental test day before continuing with my journey.

Day 158: East Flagstaff Road to Pierce Pond Lean-to (16.4 miles, marker 2043)

Today was a nice change of pace. The walk was very gentle, with mellow grades up and down. As Maine trends to be, there were plenty of roots and bogs to deal with, but no steep climbs. It was a great way to get back on trail and comfortable with hiking without having to do any steep climbs or descents.

Day 159: Pierce Pond Lean-to to US Rt. 201 / Caratunk and The Forks (4 miles, marker 2,047

Very short day today. After a good breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, I hiked to the south side of the Kennebec River. The Kennebec is too big a river to safely ford, so there is a canoe that shuttles hikers across from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day. I arrived a few minutes before 9:00 and waited a bit for the canoe to arrive in the rain. After getting across, I headed up to Rt. 201 where Pigpen and Ronin picked me up. We ran a couple errands and then landed at one of Pigpen’s friend’s homes, where we would spend the next couple nights.

Day 160: Whitewater Zero Day

Turns out Pigpen has a bunch of friends in the area that either are or have been whitewater river guides, and they took us on a great journey down the Kennebec. After our ride, we all went to The Marshall, a local rafter’s bar, for food and too many drinks.

We eventually made it back to their home with the ill-intentioned plan to hit the road by 7:00 a.m. and be on trail by 8:00 a.m.

Day 161: US Rt. 201 to Bald Mountain Pond Lean-to (18.8 miles, marker 2,065.8

Long day today. Started much later than expected, around 10:00 a.m., but made pretty good time along the way. Toward the end there was an option to take a bypass route around the summit of the mountain. Ronin and Pigpen were getting tired and thinking about camping at the summit. Since my tent would be hard to set up there, and I was a bit trepidatious about the steepness of the summit, I took the bypass and headed for the shelter. I got to the shelter right as the light was fading, but the view across the pond was gorgeous. I set up my tent so I could leave the fly open and enjoy the reflection of the moon on the pond for the evening as I drifted off to sleep.

Day 162: Bald Mountain Pond Lean-to to ME Rt. 15 / Monson ME (17.9 miles, marker 2,083.7)

Today was a long flat walk punctuated by a couple small hills and a bunch of thigh deep river crossings. I switched to my Tevas for the first crossing, but proceeded to step ankle deep in mud before the next crossing, so I just waded across in my shoes for the next few.

By late afternoon I made it to Shaw’s Hiker Hostel in Monson, ME where I got my last re-supply package, and was able to do all the research I needed for the last stretch of this journey, the 100 mile wilderness. The wilderness is where this insanity started thirty years ago when I hiked it with my father and decided to do the whole trail someday. He wrote a memoir of the trip which I compiled with some of his other writings into a Kindle book titled Adventures for his 80th birthday. So I’ve now hiked the rest of the trail, and it’s time to retrace the path that began this. In seven days, I should be done with this adventure, many years in the making.

Days 163 & 164: Zero at Shaw’s Hiker Hostel

Looked over the weather for the next couple days and it doesn’t look great. A ton of rain coming tomorrow, followed by a beautiful week. I spoke to Pigpen and Ronin and concluded that while we were all anxious to finish this hike, we also prefer to finish it well, and not soggy. So we are taking a couple days off to begin the 100 mile wilderness in the sun and well rested.