Bama➡️Baxter Day 159&160

Day 159: 20 miles

This morning we all slept in a bit at the room in Rangeley. Recently we have been discussing our plans for summiting Katahdin and when we think that we might finish. Sweet Pea and Boosted have been trying to coordinate rides from the terminus which are a bit time sensitive. So we have been tentatively saying that we plan to summit Katahdin on August 12th.

Because of the more slow going terrain that we’ve been dealing with in southern Maine we are cutting that date a bit close. And the guys really need to be finished no later than August 13th in order to assure that they can each get a ride home. This morning we whipped out the calculators and began doing some math. It seems like we are right on the edge of being able to achieve that date. So we decided to make a unique decision for today.

In order to summit Katahdin around the time that we want to we have to push some pretty big miles. The miles we would have to average would be a lot more attainable if we could get in one or two big days soon. So rather than hiking the Appalachian trail today we decided to take an alternate route to Stratton instead. It followed along some regular roads and some old dirt roads. But we would be able to get in bigger miles than we could on the AT. That meant we could be in Stratton tonight, rather than tomorrow night.

If we did that today then we could just follow the Appalachian trail the entire rest of the way to Katahdin. And we wouldn’t have to do crazy miles and kill ourselves trying to meet our goal summit date. The guys and I have been a bit stressed by us slowing down recently. Each day that we don’t hit bigger miles we are giving ourselves more and more to do in the days to come. I also would like to summit sooner rather than later because of the hiking restrictions up in Quebec on the IAT.

This seemed like the best way to ease our stresses about mileage and finishing the trail. I don’t want to stress the end of this hike. I want to enjoy every last minute! So if that means doing one last odd blue blaze/alternate route on this thru hike, then so be it. We had plenty of non-purist moments on this hike. Might as well do one final one for old time sake.

So once we got packed up we hit the road and began walking to Stratton. It was flat as hell and easy going. With all of the elevation gain that we’ve done in NH and ME I’ve come to love some good ole road walking. We were making fantastic time and all hanging out on the road. I was immediately happy with our decision once we got going.

After we had been going for about 2-3 hours we stopped off for our first break. We found a dirt road pull off where we could all safely sit down and take a breather. I stretched and ate something. Then we kept on going.

Once we had been walking for another few miles a car pulled over by my. The lady in the car flagged me down and I walked over. She addressed me as Peg Leg! It was so funny that she knew who I was. Apparently her and her husband have read my blogs. Her husband drove by the guys and I a few times along a route he drives for work. He called his wife and asked her if she would drive over and offer us a ride if we needed one. I declined the ride, but it was so cool to talk to someone who knew me off the blogs.

She was surprised that we were up in Maine already. I back log my blog posts so that I’m never posting about the area that I’m actually hiking through. That’s just a safety precaution as a female hiker who is sometimes hiking solo. So her and her husband didn’t expect to see us in Maine anytime soon. It was really nice to talk to her. I thanked her for the ride offer and then continued on my way. What a unique experience. I’ve never had anyone recognize me out in public from my blogs. People have passed me along trail before and recognized me, but that’s a different story.

I continued on after that. We followed the same road for a long while. Then our path veered us off onto an old dirt road in the woods for a bit. That was actually pretty fun. The road was over grown but passed by some off the grid cabins which were cool to see. It was much more exciting than the road itself. Though the road was surprisingly scenic, passing by numerous rivers and streams.

Every now and again we stopped off to take a much needed break. Pounding the pavement can be tiring for sure. Even though the walking is generally “easier”. It’s easier in some ways and harder in other ways.

When we were pretty far into our day we walked past the Maine Roadhouse Hostel. At this point I was actually on the phone talking to my dad. I had some service and figured that it was the perfect time to catch up with him. Though all the sudden I got a call from Boosted who was behind me. He just wanted to let me know that him and Sweet Pea stopped off at the hostel for sodas. I had passed right by while I was on the phone. So I told them that I’d stop off somewhere soon and wait for them to catch up. I talked to my dad on the phone for a while longer until the guys met back up with me. They brought me a soda which was super nice. Then we all took a quick break together before continuing along.

While we were walking again another car pulled over next to me and the driver waved me down. It was Ray, the husband of the nice lady who had pulled over earlier! He talked to me for a while and was asking about the road walking. I quickly explained generally what we’re doing and why. He also expressed that he was surprised to see us all in Maine so early. Because my blogs make it seem like I’m much further back on the AT. But I explained all that as well.

It was nice to talk to him for a bit. Him and his wife were both very kind. Then I continued along behind the guys. We were too far now from Stratton. After walking for another hour or so we arrived in town. It was around 6:30pm when we walked right into Stratton. Our first stop was a grocery store which closed at 7pm. We got all the food that we would need to make it to Shaw’s Hiker Hostel in Monson. That will be our final resupply stop along the Appalachian trail.

After we got groceries we began looking to see what our lodging options were in town. Most places were closed and you couldn’t really call them after hours. But a woman that we met in the grocery store parking lot mentioned that one of the restaurants in town sometimes rented out rooms upstairs.

Boosted went over to the place and asked the guy if we could stay the night. And he gave us a good deal on a room for tonight. That was a pleasant surprise. I had figured we would wind up stealthing somewhere in town for sure. We got situated in our room and then walked down the street to the nearby gas station. It apparently had really good hot food so that was our plan for dinner.

I got a steak and cheese sandwich and poutine fries. Then I grabbed some goodies from the gas station. After we all got food we walked back to the room to lounge and eat. We watched some TV for a bit and then called it a night.

Day 160: 18 miles

This morning we all slept in a bit at the room. Then packed up and set out around 9am. We headed to the gas station nearby for some breakfast. Then got a hitch to the trailhead to get back on the AT. Fortunately it didn’t take long to get a ride so we were back to walking around 10am.

The day started off with a lot of elevation gain but it was just regular old walking. Not technical rocky terrain like it had been in New Hampshire and southern Maine. We were back to making good time and cruising along on climbs like we used to. I could not complain one bit.

Right off the bat we pushed out 8 miles. We climbed up to Horn Pond and then the North and South Horn. We passed by a shelter because we wanted to go a bit further before breaking. At one point I walked by a really big group of kids hiking with one chaperone. I announced that I was coming up behind them from a long ways out. Then let them know again as I got closer that I was coming up behind them. Then again I said that I was coming up behind them and was going to be passing by if I could. None of them ever budged or made any attempt to move out of the way.

Finally after it became clear that none of them had any interest in moving out of the way I just had to navigate off the trail to go around them. Doing a long steep climb and then coming up on a large group that behaved like that was a bit irritating. That rarely happens on the trail. But I got around them eventually and continued on.

From there I continued to Bigelow West Peak. The trail was really exposed and it was super windy. I was getting blown around a bit on the rocky ascent. But up top the views were epic and exposed. It was such a beautiful day as well. Then the trail dropped down to the Bigelow Col Campsite. There was a warden cabin there and the guys were stopped off taking a break. I sat down and joined them. It was pretty cold but much less windy than the exposed peak had been. I ate some snacks and did my stretching.

After sitting there for a bit we continued on to Bigelow Avery Peak. The views up there were even better than the West Peak. You got incredible views of a gorgeous lake down below. I think it was one of my favorite climbs that we had done recently. All day today we have been blessed with beautiful views.

From there we had a really long descent to Safford Notch. It was a lot more gradual than I had expected it to be as well. So we continued to make good time like we had been all day. One of the guys got service up at the top and had seen that it might rain briefly around 3pm. So we when we got down toward Safford Notch we decided to take a quick break under a large boulder with an over hang. We figured we would get some cover just in case it did rain.

It wound up drizzling lightly while we sat there under the rock. We all chilled out for a bit and then continued along after it became clear that it wasn’t going to rain any heavier than that. We were making such great time for a change which was a wonderful feeling. It was truly such a relief. I was happy to not be stressing about the miles. We were just walking and enjoying ourselves.

There was a small but gradual climb leaving the notch. But it was really easy going. We got to the top of Little Bigelow Mountain and the surrounding ledges. Then began to descend once again. The terrain from there on for the rest of the day was nice and cruisy. The Bigelows were apparently the last notable mountains that we would climb before Katahdin. The thought of that was such a weird thing. It’s so hard to believe how close we are to the finish line.

Around 6pm we arrived at the Little Bigelow Lean-to. The guys and I decided to take a nice long break there before we continued on. We were about 16 miles in for the day at this point. But it was still early enough that we wanted to make it a bit further. At our break I feasted on hummus and naan bread. It was such a delicious snack to have on trail. Lately I’ve only really had an appetite for “real” food, so that really hit the spot.

We hung around the shelter for a while and then pushed on to Flagstaff Lake. It was only about 3 more miles and super easy terrain. The time literally flew by. The lake was unbelievably beautiful and the trail went around it for a while. I stopped off to go out onto the sandy shore of the lake at one point. From there you had the most amazing view of the massive lake. I was so glad that we decided to camp around there for the night.

Then around 8:15pm we arrived at the tent site just before it began to get dark. There was a privy nearby and some pretty good sites. Plenty of room for the three of us to set up our tents. I began setting up my tent but the mosquitos were insane. So I put my rain gear on so that I could get situated without suffering the whole time. After I did that I was much happier.

Once my tent was set up I sat inside to eat more hummus and naan bread. Then I stretched and hung out with the guys before calling it a night. Later on it began to rain heavily but my pitch seemed just right to keep me perfectly dry.