Photo Album #1 | Photo Album #2
Sat 24
⁃ Hike 18 miles
⁃ Camp Bald Mountain Pond Lean-To
Today was pretty much just a travel day rather than a sightseeing day. Based on the threat of several days of rainfall and the upcoming stream crossings, I, along with several others staying at Shaw’s, decided to push a far as we could to hit the crossings before they swelled with rain and possibly became impassable (again). So, with a reasonably early start after getting dropped at the trailhead, and a late finish, this was my longest day thus far.
Sun 25
⁃ Hike 4 miles
⁃ Camp Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To
I didn’t sleep well last night, yesterday’s big miles took a lot out of me, and I just wasn’t really feeling very motivated today. As a result, rather than possibly making it to Stratton, ME (~20 miles south), I ended up just crossing a single small mountain and doing a small side trail before deciding to call it for the day, since I wasn’t feeling like walking much further, and the next campsite or shelter was about 9 miles away.
I’m starting to get a bit tired of walking on the trail’s terrain, with the never ending rocks, roots, and mud. Oh, I also ended up with my leg literally a foot deep in mud while on the side trail to the north peak.
As I was descending from Moxie Bald Mountain, I decided to put my poles away and see how trail running felt with the terrain and my pack, since I was getting pretty tired of carefully planning every single step out to keep my balance. Turns out, trail running works pretty great for this type of terrain. Because I don’t need to maintain a stable balance through every step, I can be far less exact with my footing and don’t have to fight against forward momentum after every step (actually decreasing the stress on my knees). Perhaps my favorite part, though, is how much more fun it is compared to walking. After a few minutes, I had a wide smile across my face, where earlier in the day, I was fighting the urge to sit down and just take a break. However, It’s not without its downsides like the increased concentration required, the increased risk of falling (though not necessarily an increased risk of injury), and the additional stress put on my ankles (though not significantly more than traditional running, as my pack is relatively light). I think, going forward, I’ll use it to get through moderate difficulty descents and for long flat sections I’m otherwise already powering through.
Mon 26
⁃ Hike 14.7 mi
⁃ Stay at The Sterling Inn (Caratunk)
I’m still learning the right balance of how much food I need per section of trail. Thus far, I’ve been significantly overestimating, meaning I’m carrying more than I need, having too much sent to me, and not finishing everything I’m getting. So much so, I somehow was able to almost perfectly split my leftovers and my most recent resupply box to make another resupply box in addition to the stuff I’m carrying for the next section. I’m mailing this box forward to a future hostel, rather dumping it all in a hiker box (which I’d do if it was just a little extra), or carrying it until I need it (which would be ~7 lbs for ~6 days, which is worth the $9 in postage imo).
I think there are two main mistakes I made in estimating. First, assuming the typical usage rate was the equal to the average usage rate. For example, while I’d typically use 1-2 Liquid IV packets per day, there’s days I don’t use any, which I didn’t adequately account for. Secondly, not accounting for meals while in town. For example, while a section may take 3 days to hike, I’ll have breakfast at the hostel the day I leave, then dinner somewhere in town after I arrive. That’s two meals I don’t need to pack, which is ~1/3 of the meals I’d otherwise pack (I typically pack the following per day: 2 meals, 3 clif/granola/protein bars, and 1-2 chocolates/candies).
Tue 27
⁃ Hike 14 mi
⁃ Camp West Carry Pond Lean-To
It feels irresponsible to go splashing down the trail like a todler playing in the mud, but so much fun to do! It’s also way faster than rock hopping in a vain attempt to avoid getting your feet wet. So yeah, today was more of the mud/puddle/creek splashing. It felt like there was more stream than there was trail today.
On the plus side though, the recent rainfall has resulted in numerous beautiful waterfalls all along Pierce Pond Stream.
On the subject of that stream, I yet again almost fell for the FUD (which I’m starting to think stands for *Ford* Uncertainty and Doubt) in listening to other people’s reports on the condition of that ford. Yet again, it was an easy ford, with a low thigh depth and a slow current. I actually forded it twice, since I initially took a blue blaze detour around and over a bridge, but once it met up with the main trail again, I decided to see just how bad it was. Upon seeing it was easily passable, I crossed and backtracked the 0.3 mile to where I’d turned earlier, then came back to ford it again (going the “correct”, ie southbound direction this time).
—
Just a few days ago, I was thinking to myself how well my the Altra Lone Peak 7’s I have been holding up to my abuse. Or at least they were until I realized I tore a hole in the side of my shoe. I think I scraped it on a sharp rock while ascending a hill about half a mile after the Kennebec River Ferry. Tomorrow, I’ll probably try to see it back together, or at least prevent it from tearing further up the shoe. Credit where credit’s due, I didn’t realize until I took them off at the end of the day, and put a good 10 miles in since I likely initially tore them.
Aside from durability, they’ve been all around a pretty great shoe thus far. Before using them on trail, I used them as running shoes to break the shoes in and aclimate my legs to the zero-drop heel (ie, heel and toe are at the same height unlike a typical shoe with a thicker heel), and found them pretty comfortable for running. On trail, they dry impressively fast while you walk (at least combined with the Darn Tough socks I’ve been using), which is great for how frequently my feet have been wet on trail. Likewise, they breathe really well, but that’s expected for a non-waterproof shoe anyway. Also, I’ve yet to have any blisters with them, even with them frequently being soaking wet. Perhaps my biggest complaint is the lack of an aggressive tread pattern, which can lead to a loss of traction when ascending or descending slick rocks. However, this has become less of an issue once I looked at the tread pattern in greater detail and noticed it’s directional. Ideally, you should ascend on your toes and descend on your heels, to engage the grippier treads for a given direction (this isn’t always possible though, and depends on balance, shin and calf strength (for descending and ascending respectively), and the location of footholds on the trail).
Wed 28
⁃ Hike 15 mi
⁃ Camp Bigelow Col Campground
Note to self: campgrounds that only have wooden tent platforms are a bad idea if you have a non-freestanding tent. Doubly so if it’s rainy and windy. Luckily, there was a small (likely unofficial) dirt tent pad in the campsite that was still open. Otherwise, I’d have had to get creative with rocks, rope, and tent stakes to stretch out my tent on a platform.
—
Today was definitely a Type 2 Fun kind of day (not fun in the moment, but fun in hindsight). It was another “hiking through the pouring rain” kind of day. And as soon as I got to camp, I set up my tent on the first piece of flat ground I could find, dove inside, and pulled all my wet clothes off as fast as possible.
So today, I was originally planning to stay at the Safford Notch Campground. But, because I got an early start, I was making good time, I was already soaking wet with rain, and my legs weren’t especially tired, I decided to push on to the Bigelow Col Campground, which, while only 2.2 miles away, adds 1800 feet of elevation to my already 3300 feet of elevation gain just today. I guess I’m starting to get my trail legs, since neither of the 1800 ft climbs today felt especially challenging (Little Bigelow and Avery Peak were each ~1800 ft; the other ~1800 ft of elevation were spread across mostly flat sections and a small hill early in the day)
Oh, did I mention it started pouring rain midday today? Yeah, well, it did that. About as hard as it did last week in the 100 MW, but for not nearly as long (it’s dramatically slowed down now that I’m in settling in for the night). After walking through several more miles of stream-trail, I chuckled when I recalled the sign I passed this morning that said water is scarce throughout the section I hiked through today. Nope, it typically was harder to find a place where there wasn’t water nearby (to be able to pee) than it was to find water on or near the trail.
Needless to say, aside from a quick trip down the Safford Notch trail (highly recommend, super cool cave halfway thru), I skipped the viewpoints, since there would be an identical view from each: a whiteout from fog and rain.
When I finally got into camp, my phone had informed me I set a new move record of 2659 calories, smashing my record of 2003 I’d set just two days ago. So, uh, oops?
I also finally killed my first fuel canister while warming up water for dinner tonight (I’ve been carrying an extra since halfway thru the 100 mile wilderness). In total it lasted 180 miles/17 days. So it’s safe to say I can easily get by on one fuel canister that I’ll just partially refill occasionally.
Thurs 29
⁃ Hike 8 mi
⁃ Stay at The Main Roadhouse (Stratton, 188)
There’s a phrase I hear constantly whenever I mention I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail, “[that is] an adventure of a lifetime.” While I get what they’re trying to convey, but I can’t imagine being content with my entire life being defined by just a single event. I’d much rather think of this hike as part of “a lifetime of adventure.”
—
Today’s privy reading material was a newspaper article/obituary of a longtime maintainer of the Bigelows section who’d passed away. For much of his life, he’d been involved in various outdoor and environmental organizations and shared his passion for nature with everyone around him.
The thing that stood out to me the most, though was the section where his daughter reflected on his death due to a heart attack while cross country skiing.
> “He always said, ‘When I go, I hope I go while hiking a mountain. I hope I go just like that’” she said, snapping her fingers. “If he were looking down right now I’m sure he would be saying, ‘I left just the way I wanted to leave.’”
Thinking long into the future to when I eventually die, I think I’d like to go the same way as he did, finishing out a long, prosperous, and meaningful “lifetime of adventure.”
Leave a Reply