Winterlude 

Winterlude is a great Bob Dylan song from the underappreciated 1970 album, New Morning. And, if I remember correctly, this album is one that my sister Lucie gifted our family along with a turntable (our first) back in the 1970s! While Bob Dylan sings in this song about an interlude in the winter, I am ‘appropriating’ this fun song for my interlude between my northern and southern treks on the Appalachian Trail. As Bob sings: 

Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy

Winterlude by the telephone wire

Winterlude, it’s makin’ me lazy

Come on, sit by the logs in the fire

I’ve done lots of sitting and lazing around by logs in the fire, beers at breweries, lobsters by the sea, hot tubs in the Pennsylvania woods, and so much more. And it’s been fun, and enjoyable, and necessary, and hopefully recuperative as well. Onto my interlude…..

Knife’s Edge Brewing is about 30 minutes from the base of Katadhin and our first stop after leaving the park – get on with the relaxing! 

The next morning after Katadhin, Laura and I retraced my steps into the 100 Mile Wilderness for a beautiful and relaxing morning walk. 

A visit to the Maine coast was our next step and just what was needed! 

Funny story: Last Memorial Day weekend, Laura and I used the three-day weekend for one last scouting trip for my upcoming AT hike. We decided three days was enough time to check out Maine and the northern terminus of the AT, Mt Katahdin. It was a great and very helpful trip – we got to see and understand places I have now been and feel so special towards. Places like Shaw’s Hiker Hostel, Baxter State Park, Rangley and Andover, Maine, and so much more. 

We were driving home from the trip and I asked Laura to put in directions for the most direct route from Katadhin to Hoyt Rd in Connecituct where I would start my southern flip to see what the route was like. We realized the most direct route would take me 20 minutes from home!! No way I said would I risk going anywhere near home – I would not chance being tempted of the comforts of home to not resume my hike. We needed a new route. 

Relaxing at home with a fine beer from The Alchemist in Stowe, VT. This beer is a remnant of the ‘lost weekend’ while waiting for a replacement phone when we took a quick weekend trip to Stowe to ‘waste’ some time! 

Well, 11 days later after summitting Katadhin, 2 of which were spent in Maine, 5 at home in Massachusetts, and 4 at an AirBnb in Pennsylvania and hotel in Connecticut, I am about to get back on the trail and, so far, have not succumbed to the temptations of home, and comfort, and showers, and hot tubs, and warm and dry clothes, and lots to eat and drink, and friends, and family. Honest, after about 2 or 3 days of luxury, I started looking forward to getting back on the trail, which I will do this Tuesday! 

It’s not only been about the beer and breweries – honest! But Tilted Barn in Exeter, RI, is one of our favorites and a great old haunt to visit while at home. 

So, what have I been up to you ask? Lots! We spent a fun afternoon and evening in Millinocket, ME, about an hour from Baxter State Park, kind of doing a quick decompressing from the trail. I did some preliminary cleaning and sorting of gear while we stayed a night at the Baxter Park Inn. For a change of pace, we booked a room for the next night in Belfast Bay on the Maine coast to enjoy some coastal experiences and together time before heading home – despite the temptations of home! Somewhere in or after the Whites of New Hampshire, I decided I could handle pretty much anything, including going home, and not succumbing to the temptations of home, leisure, and comfort! 

See, there’s more than beer. Can’t leave Maine without some Lobster! Fortunately, we stayed in Belfast Bay which is right next to Young’s Lobster Pound, a favorite place of ours for coastal Maine seafood! 

And, a decadent Rhode Island treat – New York-style weiners from the famous Olneyville New York System! 

At home I did a deep cleaning, repairing, and repacking of all my gear for the next stretch of the trial. Note – it is still too early in the season to switch into my cold weather gear so I will still have my summer quilt and baselayer with me. I will switch these up probably around Virginia via mail in late September/early October. We visited lots of favorite haunts, enjoyed hanging out, and I even booked a massage as a reward! I also did a deep dive on my resupplies. I had bought lots of food and such prior to the trip that Laura was bringing me, or in one case, mailed to me. I took the time to organize what was left into 6 mail/car drops. Here is a new twist, two of the resupply boxes and my next pair of shoes will go home with my son Dylan to DC where he lives which will shortly be closer to me on the trail than home in Massachusetts! 

An unsung hero of my 33-mile day, including 3+ hours hiking in the dark, was my Petzyl headlamp and its rechargeable battery. I didn’t have a backup battery at the time and hoped the charge would be enough to get me to camp – which it did! But, I took time this interlude to get to REI and get a backup battery for the trail ahead as the days will be getting shorter and more night hiking is in my future. 

There was some more intense work done as I sorted my remaining supplies into 4 boxes to be mailed and 2 bags for the next two times Laura meets me on the trail. 

Let the shoe stories continue! Before the trail, I took a size 9.5 or 10 shoe. I now take a size 11.5 hiking shoe (thru-hikers feet expand!). I have no size 11 or 11.5 shoes at home. One of our first stops at home was to buy a bigger pair of shoes for my time off trail.  I hope my feet shrink once I am done or I will need a lot more shoes! 

This was also a new one – I had to change the setting on the FarOut app from ‘northbound’ to ‘southbound’ on the AT! I wasn’t sure how to do that and had to google how to – turns out it was a quick setting change. I also needed to download the next set of maps for the mid-Atlantic! I also did some quick reading of FarOut comments to see what the issues are on these parts of the trail. Two thing stand out, both expected – water sources are an issue as it has been a warm and dry summer, and that there are less people on the trail, mostly southbounders (SOBO’s) as NOBOs are well past and on their way to Maine. 

Here’s an interesting one, and one I have experienced before and read others commenting on. After the initial recovery from the trial, my body has generally felt worse off trail than on trail. My ankles, particularly the left one, swells from not hiking. My knees have intermittent bouts of throbbing pain. Sleep has been erratic. And I get random stiff joints or muscles. None of this is major or constant. My sense is when hiking my body knows better than to complain as it does not do any good. Around all this comfort and softness the body gets a bit uppity. This will take care of itself in a couple of days back on the trail as I hike myself back into machine mode! 

Accidentally, or coincidentally, our Pennsylvania AirBnb was 30 minutes from the town of Delaware Water Gap, the AT, and this great Sake distillery/restaurant. Nick, Kelly, Dylan, Vicki, Laura, and I enjoyed lunch after a mandatory stop at the Apple Pie Bakery next door! 

And yes, we had to take the short stroll to the AT where it runs through town just before heading over the Delaware River vis the RT 80 bridge and into New Jersey. Also yes, all this relaxing and consuming has put some of the pre-trail weight back on me! Sure to come back off shortly. 

So, what’s ahead you ask? When I get back on the trail, I will officially be at southbound mile 736.1 – according to FarOut. This means I have around 1460 miles to go. In other words, my odyssey from the Connecticut/New York state line was just about one-third of the AT. I still have two-thirds of the way to go. I better get moving!!! Don’t worry, I will. My timeline to complete, even before starting, was mid to late August to get to Katadhin and mid to late November to get to the southern terminus, Springer Mountain, in Georgia. I am still on track. My expectation is that one thing that will make this happen is that the next several hundred miles, certainly to southern Virginia, should be ‘cruisey’ terrain allowing for lots of long mileage days. Plus, my northern trek has gotten me some pretty good hiker legs to get me down the road, despite whatever is in front of me.  

Both before starting the trail and once on it, I saw the northern trek to Maine as a drama-filled, rollercoaster ride, high-demand, high-reward journey. It lived up to and filled and exceeded these expectations. All along I have viewed the southern trek to Georgia as a more calm, straightforward, walk in the woods. Twenty years ago, in 2003, I hiked the first two states (New York and New Jersey) with my sons Dylan and Nick and have already experienced this section. There are the rocks of northern Pennsylvania to contend with. (I am sure you will be hearing me complain about them in the near future!) Virginia is long – the AT is 525 in this state! I understand the Smokies in Tennessee and North Carolina are something to contend with. And, it will be getting colder the further I get into the fall. And, the trail should get lots quieter as there are way less SOBOs than NOBOs. I am ready and excited for this challenge! 

I am looking forward to walking into the known and unknown as I continue this amazing journey! Thank you for supporting and joining me on this trek and I look forward to sharing tales of my southbound journey! Stay tuned………………………..