Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Pondering

So, I am home again. I walked out from Carter Notch Hut along the
easiest route, which was down the 19 Mile Brook Trail. Boy, what a joy
that was! Apparently, there are 'normal' hiking trails in the Whites.
Instead of scrambling up and down rock ledges and giant boulders, the
trail simply followed along beside the brook for 4 miles until it
reached the trailhead at Rt 16. There were a couple of rocky places,
and I did feel my knee when stepping down from rock to rock, but all
in all it was a comfortable walk.

It is getting close to the end of August now. There is probably 7
weeks left in the thru-hiking season; that is, there are about 7 weeks
left before snow and ice descend on Katahdin and the Baxter Park
rangers will no longer allow hikers to make the climb. I am trying to
figure out if it is worth making one more attempt to finish this hike.
I could take as much as another two weeks off to rest up my knees, and
assuming my knees are back in hiking shape should still have enough
time to finish the hike well before October 15.

Pushing my hike into the end of the season does present some
challenges. It gets cold in northern Maine in October, so I will have
to carry my heavier sleeping bag, and warmer clothes. And the days get
shorter, whivh means less hours and thus fewer miles in a given day.
But cold weather also means fewer bugs, and fall in New England is
glorious; at least, it is if it doesn't bring day after day of cold
rain.

It also means breaking my promise to Jodi to be finished hiking by the
middle of September. She says she is willing to make that sacrifice
for me. She's a pretty great wife, isn't she?! And I have promised to
be somewhere with my daughter Anju on September 21, so that would
necessitate another break from the trail.

Nothing has been decided yet, but these are the things I am thinking
about today. These last weeks sure have been frustrating. This is not
at all how I envisioned my hike ending. All this starting and
stalling! I keep thinking back to Virginia, when I could get up in the
morning, walk for 8 hours, and chalk up another 20 miles. It was all
so easy then!

--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Pinkham Notch to Carter Notch Hut

Sunday, 8/23

AT Miles = 5.9 / 1865.2
Other Miles = 0 / 58.9
Total Miles = 5.9 / 1924.1

Miles to Katahdin = 313.1


Good grief, Charlie Brown! It took me 5 hours to hike less than 6 miles today, and that was carrying a pack barely heavier than a day pack. My knees hurt just as much as they did when I hobbled in to Pinkham Notch last Monday. Six days of rest seem to hqave dome absolutely nothing for them. I can barely walk now.

My plan for tomorrow was to hike 15 miles from here to Rt 2. There is no way that is going to happen. I've got to find the easiest way out of here and take that tomorrow.

Unless some miracle happens while I sleep tonight, and I wake up with healed knees, this is it. My thru-hike is over. I can't believe I even typed those words. I just sat and looked at them for a few minutes. I'm so damned close! But my knees have betrayed me; or maybe it's that I have betrayed them. But whichever it is, there is no way I am going to hike the last 313.1 miles to Katahdin this year. 5+ months of effort down the toilet...

I know that in the great scheme of things this is no big deal, but it sure feels like it is right now. Not a good day today.

--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

The Backpacks

See that big backpack? Well, that one is not coming on this next leg
of the hike. The big pack will be spending the next couple of days in
the trunk of my car here in Gorham. Instead, I will only be carrying
that little backpack, with just some warm clothes for the evening, and
some snacks for lunch today and tomorrow. Yee-haw!

--
~~~~~
Monkeywrench
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com