Posts
Day 155: Monson and The Duke of Hurl
We’d been debating how to hike the 100 Mile Wilderness for weeks.
Day 154: The Glade
I’ll remember this peaceful glade forever, just like my lunchtime view from the glacially sculpted bald overlooking pristine forests and lakes. I’ll forget the pain, the heat and cold, being soaked to the skin with rain, walking ridges in wind so hard I could barely stand, the weeks of bad weather, the brutal climbs to viewless summits, painful blisters, the snobbery of purists, and the agism of younger hikers who wonder what I’m even doing out here.
Day 153: The Kennebec
Crossing Maine’s Kennebec River is one of those milestone moments on the AT, similar to climbing Georgia’s Blood Mountain, standing on Virginia’s McAfee Knob, or getting your picture taken at the ATC Headquarters in Harpers Ferry. It’s the biggest (~500 ft) unbridged river crossing on the entire AT.
Day 152: The Way Life Should Be
I love Maine. I’ve forgiven it for trying to kill me on its New Hampshire-like trail near their border. I’ve forgotten the rain and cloudy summits during the first two weeks of my visit. And I’ll overlook the mud, roots, rotting planks, and other idiosyncrasies because she’s so beautiful. It’s how Northstar must see me – difficult, but pretty.
Day 151: Tramily
Two thousand miles and we finally have a tramily (a trail family).
Day 150: After the Rain
A half mile later, I reached the 2,000-mile point. Two thousand miles. That’s a long walk, for sure, but it’s a hard number to comprehend. Most people have no basis of comparison in their personal lives. No one walks that far. Most people rarely walk a single mile, except cumulatively over time from the couch to the fridge. We rarely even drive that far.
Day 149: Rain and Big Water
Most of the trail flowed like a small mountain stream. At first, I tried stepping around and over the rushing water and puddles, but after a few slips and missteps my socks and shoes were soaked, so I gave up. Hikers call that “reaching the notch-it point,” when you say, “Aw, notch it, I’m just going straight through. I can’t get any wetter.”
Day 148 – Sick Leave
It was a rough night – chills, shivering, runny nose, and coughing. By morning I knew I wouldn’t be hiking today, especially with the big storm moving in. I turned off my alarm and went back to not sleeping for the rest of the morning.
Day 147 – Hikers Hike
I’ve got a full-blown, honest-to-goodness cold. But hikers hike, or so I’m told. Hey, that rhymed!
Day 146: The Hurricane Birthday Zero
I spent the day in Rangeley, Maine, sitting out the non-hurricane, nursing a cold and celebrating my birthday. And by celebrating, I mean sitting in a motel room doing nothing except my laundry and writing a blog post.