Exceptional Views & Epic Trail Magic in Maine

This morning, I woke up at my camp spot by the river while it was still dark out. Today I only have to go about 15.4 miles before I come to the highway. Where a Trail Angel named Mike is going to come and pick me up. But lately the terrain has been very slow going. So I wanted to get a nice early start to enable me to get out to the highway by 1 PM.

I had to use my headlamp for the first 10–15 minutes this morning. By 4:30 AM, the sun has come up, but the forest is still fairly dark. My body was moving pretty slow this morning and the rocky terrain was not making things easier. But I just took my time and went as quickly as I could. I had about 2 miles downhill trail before I would begin the next climb. I wound up going past the campsite which I originally intended to get to yesterday. And of course, the miles leading up to it were actually fairly easy. I definitely could have made it there last night. But I also don’t have any regrets about calling it a little bit early.

This morning the trail was surprisingly gradual and easy.

The trail dropped me down to a river before I began climbing up the other side. This morning, I have a lot of elevation gain to do. But I’m actually pretty excited about it. I find that the miles in which I’m going uphill pass a lot quicker than the miles when I’m going downhill. Once I began climbing, I had a prettiest steep ascent making my way toward the saddleback. A lot of the climbs in Maine and New Hampshire follow a similar structure. Typically the climb will start very long and steep. That just brings you up to a base elevation. From there, you’ll make your way up whichever 4000 foot mountain you happen to be climbing. I really like this style of climbing because it usually gets the majority of the elevation gain out of the way initially.

It didn’t take long for the climbing to start back up this morning.

That was definitely the case today. As I made my way up saddleback Junior, I ran into a couple older women. They had a bag of Trail magic that they were giving out. And are currently doing a long section hike of the trail. Around the same time I actually saw a pine martin! I think that this is probably the fourth one I’ve ever seen. They are definitely a fairly elusive animal, and it always feels like such an honor to witness one in the wild. Similar to my previous experiences, when I got the animals attention, it became pretty curious of me. I got a really great video of the little guy staring at me. And was even able to get the attention of to northbound hiker’s to show them that pine martin as well.

The first high point of the day was Poplar ridge, prior to saddleback junior.

The climb of Saddleback Junior was very steep initially. But like I said before, I’ve really been enjoying the climbs out here. They’re truly one of the only moments when I’m not stressed about making time. My body feels strong and I never have to stop on the ascents. My body just exactly what I needed to do. I wound up passing by a shelter and grabbed some water before I continued up to the top. There wouldn’t be another water source until I got up and over the saddlebacks and the horn.

Amazing views bright and early this morning.

After climbing Saddleback junior, I had a pretty steep descent. But luckily it didn’t go on for very long. Then I began climbing up the horn. And from here on out, the day got really good. The views on the saddlebacks between the horn and saddleback are incredible. Once you pop out above tree line, you generally stay above tree line for almost 2 miles. There are short instances where you do drop down toward small trees again. But you don’t stay there for long.

Nothing beats starting bright and early.

Somewhere around the horn, I ran into a bunch of northbound hikers. I probably wound up seeing about 10 of them over the course of an hour. And one of the hikers I actually met at a trailhead near Franklin! Right at the start of the Appalachian Trail. She was really surprised to see me because she thought I had finished the trail already. People have been a bit confused by my post about summiting Mount Katahdin.

The saddlebacks off in the distance.

For the first time in ages, I actually felt like I was making a pretty good time. The trail between the horn and saddleback wasn’t particularly technical. It was just a relatively steep rock face. But the rock had a lot of grip to it, so I could navigate up and down with ease. Sometimes the trail is just too steep or the rocks are too slick. And I don’t have a lot of confidence bearing all of my weight on the surface of the rocks.

How kind of the AT to provide ladders!

As I was making my way up toward Saddleback, I got in touch with Mike to confirm our meet up time. I’m so incredibly excited to do a slightly shorter day today. The last few days I’ve been a really hard. I think it took a few days for me to fully come to terms with the terrain here in southern Maine. Personally, I love to be in control of everything, especially when it comes to hiking. I realize I don’t have a lot of control over the weather or the terrain. But typically, I have complete control over how many miles I do in a day. But when you’re in southern Maine, it’s Maine that has control. Ever since I came to terms with that I felt a lot less stressed. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself to do big miles if it isn’t always possible.

Follow that blaze. Southern Maine has been way harder than I remembered.

After a few very long and hard days though it’s going to be wonderful to head into town tonight. Mike sent me a message saying that he had everything arranged. He even booked a motel for me in town. That meant I could just show up and didn’t have to plan anything or think about anything. Which is definitely the gift that keeps on giving. The last thing I want to do right now is use my brain.

After a little while, I continued along and made my way up to saddleback. And from there, the trail went primarily downhill all the way to the next road. Which hasn’t been my favorite thing recently. I was just hopeful that it wasn’t too ridiculously steep. Because the steep portions of downhill has been costing me the most time recently. Though of course, it was.

The good ole trail.

There were some sections where the trail wasn’t super steep. But there were many areas which required me to use my hands and move very slowly. Which once again, will not the end of the world. I just wanted to try and get to the road by 1 PM so I didn’t make Mike wait for me. I had to go for a mile or two on some pretty technical rocky terrain. When the trail is covered in boulders, it can be super time consuming. A lot of the rocks are very slick so you aren’t able to step onto them unless you make a very centered contact. Sometimes when you step too far off to the left or right, your foot will just slip right off of the rock. And right now I’m doing everything I can not to jar or irritate my hip.

After navigating through some slow going terrain for an hour or so, I finally got out onto some well graded trail. For a few miles, I swear I was on the best trail that I’ve seen since the middle of the Appalachian Trail. It was just a beautiful dirt and pine. I was able to walk 3 mph which was the best feeling in the world. And that not only would I be on time for my ride, I would likely be early. I can’t even remember the last time that I made an estimate of my pace and was ahead of schedule. Definitely not on this trail recently.

I wound up getting out to the road around at 12:30 PM. Mike was there with his truck waiting for me and had drinks and snack snacks. I sat on the tailgate of his truck and had a Dr Pepper and some cheese and crackers. We just hung out there chatting for a while, which was really nice. Then headed into town so I could get checked into my room. Mike actually already grabbed the key, which was great. And he chose a room that was right next to the laundry room.

Crossing the road where Mike aka No Miles was waiting for me!

Once I got situated inside, Mike brought in a bunch of plastic bins to show me. He has a full resupply loaded into his truck at all times. We’re talking dehydrated meals, coffee, hot chocolate, electrolytes, contact solution, snacks, candy, and everything else you could possibly need. It was so incredibly convenient to be able to do a full resupply without even leaving my motel room. Talk about full service. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.

I picked everything out that I needed for the next few days. Mike even gave me some mileage advice for the snack section. He had mapped out a few different 25 mile days to give me some options. And once again, it just felt so nice not to have to think for once. Then I got my electronics charging, cleaned some stuff up, and took a shower. It felt so good to shower after how hot and sweaty I’ve been lately. Plus, I’m absolutely covered in mud. And all of the humidity caused my back to chafe like crazy. Fortunately, it hasn’t been too painful, but it looks really bad.

Mike had the GOODS! It was so cool being able to resupply from my motel room.

After I showered, I did my laundry. Then just hung out at the room and got some work done. I got a bit of planning done as well and organized my resupply. Then later on in the evening, Mike and I went out to dinner. He drove us down the street to a place that did steak and seafood. When we were back at the room, he had asked me when the last time I had a steak was. And honestly, I couldn’t remember for the life of me. So steak it was!

One of the best meals of my life.

I got one of the most delicious steaks that I’ve ever had. It had this delicious peppercorn au joux on it, which was so flavorful and salty. It was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables too. That had to have been one of the best meals that I had in as long as I can remember. And after I finish the entire thing, Mike insisted that I ordered dessert. So I had a crème brûlée to finish things off. After that, I was so sleepy and so content.

I don’t think I’d ever tried crème brûlée before, and it was delicious.

Once we finished up eating, we headed back to the motel. Mike and I hung out and talked for a while before he eventually headed out. And I have so much writing and video work to get done. It’s not even funny. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to finish everything tonight, but hoped to get as much done as I could. So I just laid up in bed and started making some videos and editing some of my writing. The funny thing is that doing those things often makes my eyes so sleepy. Even if I’m not tired initially, something about staring at the screen makes me so tired.

A hikers dream! Tons of outlets and USB plugs so you can charge everything at once.

I didn’t have the energy to do very much. Just a few blogs and a few videos to get myself slightly caught up. In reality, though, it’s going to take a full day if not more for me to get completely caught up. This is why I cared so much about staying up-to-date over the course of the year. Because once I fall behind, it’s really hard to make the time and get caught up again. And in addition, the rough terrain has made it much more difficult to get work done in the evenings. I’ve just been so exhausted at the end of the day because I’m hiking slightly longer hours to do even less miles than usual. I’m hopeful though that I’ll be able to make the time to catch up on everything eventually in the next week or two.

If you enjoyed this blog and would like to support my hike by buying me a soda or a snack along the way, there is a “Tip the Author” button below! It links directly to my Venmo. Any and all support is incredibly appreciated!