Maine in November – Beautiful and Challenging

I got what I wanted, and then some!

Well, I did it – I retired on the last day of October and traveled back North to Maine to hike SoBo. I chose Maine in November for my start because I wanted the isolation and solitude. I wanted a strong demarcation from a lifetime of schedule to an existence where there is none.

Katahdin was beautiful as I departed Abol Bridge…

The terrain was relatively easy and the weather was forecast to be dry and on the warm side. My 1st 15.5 miles went by quickly as I entered the 100 Mile Wilderness and the shelter area was empty when I arrived. The trail was so inviting and peaceful. I had all the space I needed to clear my head space.

There was no escaping the constant alert of the squirrels – it was clear I was in “Their Space”

I set up in the shelters, ate dinner, and went to sleep by 6PM. The daylight is short this time of year, so it’s important to make best use of the daylight hiking.

As the days went on, the views of Katahdin faded

With everything being so dry, water levels were very low. I had been concerned about fording the streams and rivers – this fear was unfounded, as most of the crossings were so dry you could rock hop them. I only had two real fords, Big Wilson Stream and West Branch Pleasant River. Wilson was knee deep while Pleasant was only shin deep.

Both crossings were icy cold!

Ahead, the terrain got more difficult and the elevation increased – it became windy and cold. The night spent between the Bigelows was miserable. I misjudged the difficulty and ended up night hiking over Avery Peak in cold windy conditions. It was 25F and the wind was blowing 40. It was beautiful in its own way, with the moonlight lighting the mountains all around. 

The mountains were bold, and cold, they were beautiful

Time seemed to stand still over these last three weeks. Everything blended together in a way that just left a feeling, a good feeling. Nowhere to be, nowhere to go, except forward. 

Maine is amazing! It’s mountains, and waterfalls, and ponds, and deep green moss

I could tell my time during this SoBo portion of my hike was drawing to a close and it would be time to flop down South. This became very clear over the Saddlebacks. The weather had turned aggressively cold and icy, above tree line I had difficulty finding the trail and the wind would toss me around.

I got what I asked for on this part of my hike – isolation and solitude, and with that came greatly increased risk!

I had a planned pause over the holidays between the flip and flop. It’s time I make the pause and get set up for my NoBo wraparound. I’ll be traveling down to Springer in GA after the holidays to complete my journey, this time, experiencing the social side of the trail.