Just Maine is left!!! On the 19 of August, I am finally able to meet up with my former coach. I hike 10 miles from 7:00 to 3:30. This is the day of the Mahoosucs. There is a mile-long rock jungle-gym called the Mahoosuc Notch that traditionally takes hikers at least one whole hour...however, when wet it can take up to 3 hours. Luckily for me, this challenge was taken on on a dry day and I had two fellow through-hikers with me, Head-shot and Chaco...yes he wore Chacos all the way through the trail but I heard he wasn't the only one. After this scramble, there is something called the Mahoosuc Arm, a steep 1.5 mile climb up more sheer rock. Thanks to their help, I safely get through with relative ease. It's said to be the most dangerous or the most fun part of the trail. Although it was challenging, it was much more straight forward than other previous sections. I handed my pack to them on at least 3 separate occasions in order to either prevent my pack from changing my intended trajectory or to fit through a tight space between the rocks.
When I meet my former coach at a parking lot on the 19th by the next road, we have a great reunion and I eat a tremendous amount of food and drink a Gatorade and a couple sodas. And thanks to his grand generosity, he was willing to help me slack-pack 3 more days. I do two 10 mile days, then a zero thanks to a pretty bad cold that at one point consisted of tremendous sinus pressure, and then a 13 or 14 mile day to the Height of Land. The day after reaching the Height of Land, I get dropped off around 11:30 intending to do some single digit day either 4 or 9 miles. But once I got to the campsite that was 9 miles in, I decided I had plenty of time to do 6 more since the terrain was finally incredibly easy so I hiked to Piazza Shelter.
The next day I put the entirety of the Saddlebacks behind me with a 17 mile day. The weather was beautiful and I had taken my time; I wasn't even sure how far I'd go and I knew it didn't matter. Just after reaching the shelter at the end of the day and just after having refilled my water bottles, it started to rain. I felt pretty lucky at that point that I was dry and warm, making my dinner. Two days later, on the 26th of August, I cross the 2,000 mile mark and complete a 13.5 mile day into Stratton! From here, there is the tiny town of Caratunk, then Monson, followed by the 100 mile Wilderness and Katahdin. It took me 5 days to get to Monson where I enjoyed my last zero day! At the shelter just before Caratunk, my friends Ranger, Pirate and I signed ourselves up for a breakfast at Harrison's. He made a hearty breakfast of fruity flapjacks, eggs, sausage and coffee for through-hikers. After eating 14 flapjacks each and finishing every last scrap (hiker hunger is real!), we leave the place fairly late enjoying the company of Harrison and his tiny toy-poodle puppy, Charlie. Ranger teaches me how to play Cribbage and I teach her how to play Rummy.
Ranger and I both pick up a package in Caratunk when the post office finally opens at 2 and then we do the last 6 miles of our 10 mile day. Luckily, the terrain here was a breeze compared to so many other parts of Maine. The day we hike into Monson, I get stung by a couple ground bees. Thankfully, Ranger had some Benadryl and I took a couple. Ironically, from here on out, I went faster and faster while she started feeling more and more tired. We had had a pretty big day of 19 miles just prior to this and now only had 12 more.
Ranger, Pirate and I stay at Shaws the nights of the 31st and 1st. This is another good place for a through-hiker to get a heaping breakfast! The three of us decide to split the price of a food drop and I organize when and where it's to take place. Our first night into the 100 mile Wilderness... my tent poles break...I haven't even been using my tent most of the time! I figure out an alternative set up using just the fly and the stakes. With my ground cloth underneath and the fly over me, I try to fall asleep. Surprisingly, the temperature drops alarmingly low, probably down to 40 degrees. I get up to pee 4 times and each time it's an absolute emergency. When I get up in the morning, I put all my layers on and my friends ask me how I slept and I honestly can't tell if I had.
The following day, Ranger and I do about 12 miles because I'm too tired to carry on and she didn't feel much like finishing the Chairbacks either. This means that the following day we needed to do close to 20 and the last 10 were going to be tough, 4 fairly steep peaks to go over. (Our food drop was going to come on the morning of our 4th day.) Toward the beginning of our trek on the third day, I slip and fall into a river we're trying to ford getting both my pack and my "waterproof" boots wet. Waterproof in this case really just means they take longer to dry when they do get wet. We weren't even crossing in the right place. Luckily, I pull my sleeping bag out soon enough and am able to wrap it in my ground cloth to keep my wet pack from getting my sleeping bag wet. Later in the day, I pull it out again to check on it and to dry the ground cloth. At 12:40, after having lunch at the next to last shelter, we still have 10 miles to go. We roll into camp separately between 5:40 and 6:00. By this time, my boots are nearly dry. I had changed into dry socks part way through the day and there was enough sunlight and low humidity.
Our food drop comes promptly at 10 and we only had to do 6 miles that morning in order to get there. We hang out for a while after it comes and then all of us decide to do the 11 miles to Antlers Campground; a beautiful place beside a huge pond. Although we all do the same miles, we hiked alone most of the day. I had hurried on sooner than Ranger and Pirate. This was our first flat section of the Wilderness and we flew! We knew everything but the last 5.5 miles was going to be pretty flat and were thrilled! The next day I put in close to 22 miles to get to Rainbow Stream Shelter and with the intention of giving myself 2 half days leading to the base of Katahdin; one 11.5 mile day and one 13.5 mile day. Ranger on the other hand, had decided on a "nearo" that day, close to zero miles; she wanted to enjoy the gorgeous campsite a while longer and not feel rushed. We had intended to meet at the shelter just before Abol but it didn't end up happening. I ended up getting overly eager the next day and decided to do the last 3.5 miles to Abol Bridge. I end up splitting the cost of a cabin there with another hiker. Only 9 or 10 miles to the base of Katahdin! I take a ZQuil pill to sleep.
At the base of Katahdin, the following day, I eat a huge 2.5 serving size of freeze-dried sweet and sour pork with rice. To me, it's to die for. I had saved it since Shaws just for this night. The next day, with a slack-pack, I start hiking my last mountain at 6:30. I reach the summit close to 11; this 5.5 mile climb is like no other, it's a hazardous rock scramble almost comparable to the Mahoosuc Notch but it lasts 3 miles and is almost entirely straight up. There are giant boulders, there are places with rebar, there were a few occasions when I hoisted myself up backwards onto the next boulder. I had almost lost track of the blazes by following a horizontal one the wrong way. I went right up and over it instead of turning and I wasn't the only one to make that mistake that day. It's foggy at the top and I wait a good hour before descending; 5 other through-hikers end up joining me and we get a group photo. Some of them had come with a family member or two. The fog stayed at the summit but it did start clearing up bit by bit after the table top. I got amazing views and they kept changing in their appearance thanks to the wind whipping the fog around.
When we all get down, I'm offered a ride into Millinocket where I met my Mom at a hiker lodge. It's now the 9 of September.
No comments:
Post a Comment