The past few days have been wonderfully relaxing, full of easy miles, loads of swimming opportunities and a great group of friends. Coming out of Rangeley we had our last difficult day ahead of us - heading over the Bigelow mountains. The initial climb out of Rangeley was much less intense than we had envisioned and we were able to have a good long break before heading up to the peak of South Horn from which we had a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Bigelow Range. Approximately halfway through the peaks we ran into Chupacabra who was slackpacking south back to Rangeley for another night in the hostel. He let us know that the night before, OB (Old & Busted) had lost his father and had to take an unexpected trip back home for the funeral. He would be returning to Monson to complete the trail in a few days. It seems as though so many hikers have been met with tragedy at home which has hampered their attempts at completing the trail. As we continued to walk I said a silent prayer of thanks that my friends and family back home were all safe and healthy.
Once we descended out of the mountains and came to the road we contemplated going back into town to the hostel that Chupacabra would be staying at. Fortuitously, I received a text from Chupacabra letting us know that the hostel was at capacity so we decided to hike on another mile or so to a campsite along Flagstaff Lake and it was well worth it. The tentsites weren't ideal but, with the sun setting over the lake we decided to set up along the beach. We spent the evening cooking, jumping in the water and sitting by the fire.
At around 4:00am I was violently awakened by the sounds of Chaos and Whistler hurrying to put their rain flies on their tents for what I can only imagine was the rain that was not falling from the sky. In a sleepy haze I joined the club and affixed mine as well, falling back asleep almost instantly. Of course, it didn't rain that evening.
Once we descended out of the mountains and came to the road we contemplated going back into town to the hostel that Chupacabra would be staying at. Fortuitously, I received a text from Chupacabra letting us know that the hostel was at capacity so we decided to hike on another mile or so to a campsite along Flagstaff Lake and it was well worth it. The tentsites weren't ideal but, with the sun setting over the lake we decided to set up along the beach. We spent the evening cooking, jumping in the water and sitting by the fire.
At around 4:00am I was violently awakened by the sounds of Chaos and Whistler hurrying to put their rain flies on their tents for what I can only imagine was the rain that was not falling from the sky. In a sleepy haze I joined the club and affixed mine as well, falling back asleep almost instantly. Of course, it didn't rain that evening.
The next day we finally were greeted with the prospect of no more substantial mountains and we relished the simple terrain. We planned only to go 15 miles and after every 5 we stopped for at least an hour to relax by a lake or river and spend time with our hiking companions. The beach we stopped at 9 miles into the day had clear water and fine sand so we all took the opportunity to strip down and enjoy the cool water. Chaos and Timex got out a frisbee while Red Knees and myself enjoyed the sunshine and read our books. Of course, relaxing can't go on forever, so after a strange altercation between Timex and Chaos we decided to continue walking the final 6 miles to the Lean-To. After setting up our tents (there was a dead mouse smack in the center of the shelter floor and, as we learned later, a very alive one scampering over our food bags), Chaos, Red Knees and myself walked a little ways up the trail to Harrison's Pierce Pond Cabins to reserve a spot for ourselves at his "Red White and Blue" pancake breakfast.
The shelter we were staying at that night, Pierce Pond Lean-To, was the sight of the drowning of a thru-hiker from 2012, Parkside. Like all of us, he was lured by the temptation of the beautiful water after a warm day but was stricken with cramps when he got out into the water and panicked. Not wanting to tempt fate, I stayed far from the leech-infested waters. Instead, we built a roaring fire and all 15 of us sat around telling stories and wondering aloud what it would be like when this adventure came to an end.
The next morning we walked just up the trail to Harrison's Pierce Pond Campsites for the pancake breakfast (the pancakes have strawberries, apples and blueberries in them to earn them the name). Everything tasted divine and a hot breakfast gave us the energy that we needed to take on the rest of our day.
Too bad we didn't use that energy. As soon as we had forded the Kennebeck River (there is a canoe\ferry that shuttles hikers across) we came to a road and on that road was a van, offering to drive us the 2 miles into town to spend the day at the brewery and outdoor center. Microbrews, pool volleyball, hot tub, corn hole, free showers and laundry? No question, we were going.
We spent 5 hours relaxing, eating, drinking and playing games to our hearts content. But we really needed to walk more than 3.7 miles for the day so at 3pm we headed back to the trail where we all but sprinted the first 6 miles and decided - at 5:30pm - to push on another 5. Maybe not our wisest option. We had to don our headlamps by 7:45pm as we stumbled our way down the trail looking for a good stealth campsite. Thankfully we found one and were able to squeeze all 6 of us in.
Yesterday was all about the miles and avoiding the rain. We got in the miles but definitely did not miss the rain. Ah well. Red Knees and I completed 16 miles by 3:30pm but decided to wait at the shelter for the rain to pass. It stopped briefly, so at just before 6:00pm we decided to push on, far too fast, to put in some more miles before nightfall. We were moving so quickly that we sped through the river ford, not realizing it was our only water source until, of course, we had made it up our one "climb" of the day. Neither one of us were thinking straight and got into a spat, me not wanting to hike backwards, sure that there would be an unmarked stream ahead and Red Knees wanting to go back. We both knew that we were being foolish but with dark approaching quickly and the rain beginning to come down harder emotions escalated quickly. There were a few moments of tense hiking but we got over it and were thankfully able to find a decent stealth spot about 5 miles out of the road to Monson.
We were so stealthy, in fact, that there were moose stomping around, shaking the ground beneath our tents. Terrified that I would meet an untimely end by moose trampling, I laid completely still and looked up information on moose on Wikipedia (really, what else was I supposed to do?) only to learn that if a moose was charging I was a goner. I remained paralyzed with terror until I finally drifted to sleep by the sound of moose hooves.
This morning we made our final push into Monson where we are relaxing, cleaning up and resupplying before we enter the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Once we enter we have 100 miles until we arrive in Baxter State Park. From there we have 9 miles to the base of Katahdin and a 5 mile climb to the end. How is it that we have come this far? Have we truly walked this far? Is this actually my final resupply? I need a beer.
Tomorrow we set out and I will not post again - due to lack of ability and need to detach - until I have summitted that glorious final mountain. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support and love as I have pushed along on this crazy adventure. I might have made it this far but it sure wouldn't have been quite this much fun. Here we go.
We were so stealthy, in fact, that there were moose stomping around, shaking the ground beneath our tents. Terrified that I would meet an untimely end by moose trampling, I laid completely still and looked up information on moose on Wikipedia (really, what else was I supposed to do?) only to learn that if a moose was charging I was a goner. I remained paralyzed with terror until I finally drifted to sleep by the sound of moose hooves.
This morning we made our final push into Monson where we are relaxing, cleaning up and resupplying before we enter the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Once we enter we have 100 miles until we arrive in Baxter State Park. From there we have 9 miles to the base of Katahdin and a 5 mile climb to the end. How is it that we have come this far? Have we truly walked this far? Is this actually my final resupply? I need a beer.
Tomorrow we set out and I will not post again - due to lack of ability and need to detach - until I have summitted that glorious final mountain. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support and love as I have pushed along on this crazy adventure. I might have made it this far but it sure wouldn't have been quite this much fun. Here we go.
Dear Tobie,
ReplyDeleteSo this is it. I've read about the 100 Mile Wilderness. So close but yet so far. I can't wait until I see your name in the AT Consevancy magazine when they publish this year's thru hiker list. Obviously, where we live we meet a lot of hikers each year at the Boiling Springs Tavern and Allenberry, but you are the 1st one I really got to know and who shared the adventure with me. I am incredibly proud of you. In a few short days you will have completed an odyssey few even dare think about. Into that wilderness...come out safe! As I said before THE END IS NEAR.
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