Katahdin? Not Today!

Saturday, 9/26

Yesterday when leaving Baxter State Park Jodi and I made it a point to
ask the ranger what time we would have to be at the gate in order to
be sure to be able to park at Katahdin Stream Campground (KSC). The
ranger told us that KSC would not fill up, that at this time of year
the only lot that filled up is Roaring Brook. Well, that was great
news, as I had been thinking we would have to be up at 4:00 at
soitting in line when the gate opened at 5:00. Instead I set the alarm
on my phone for 4:45, and we were in town at the diner when it opened
at 5:00 for breakfast. By 6:00 we were approaching the gate to Baxter
State Park when suddenly we had to stop because there was a huge line
of cars ahead of us. It was well past 7:00 when we finally got to the
gate, only to find that all of the trailheads for the various trails
up Katahdin were all full! So much for what we had been told yesterday
afternoon. We were also told that we could not park somewhere else and
walk to the Hunt Trail (that's the route the AT follows) trailhead, as
the purpose of limiting parking is to limit the number of hikers on
the mountain, and thus we could not climb Katahdin today.

Disappointed, but with no options, we turned around and drove back to
town. Our only choice is to go back tomorrow and try again. The
weather today is absolutely perfect, clear and dry and cool. Tomorrow
there is an 80% chance of rain, and it may very well be a miserable
day up on the mountain. In fact, there is a chance it may be a Class 4
day, which means all trails will be closed and we may not be allowed
to climb the mountain. I sure hope that is not the case, as we have to
leave here Monday morning. Jodi has work scheduled the rest f the
week.

This sure isn't how I envisioned my hike ending. If we end up not
being able to climb tomorrow I am still going to call this a
thru-hike. I have been up Katahdin twice before, the last time just
over a year ago, so it's not like I will have skipped climbing the
mountain, but I sure would prefer to get up there tomorrow.

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

Hurd Brook Lean-to to Katahdin Stream Campground

Friday, 9/25

AT Miles = 13.4 / 2173.1
Other Miles = 0 / 63.1
Total Miles = 13.4 / 2236.2

Miles to Katahdin = 5.2

See that? Only 5.2 miles left. Who would have thought I would ever be
this close?!

From the moment I woke up this morning, I was in a giddy mood. It
rained overnight and was still raining a bit when I got up, but that
didn't dampen my spirits a bit. It usually takes a bit longer to break
camp in the rain as I have to do everything underneath my little tarp,
but somehow this morning it didn't, and I was on the trail a few
minutes after 7:00. From the shelter the trail climbs a bit on the way
to meeting the Golden Road at Abol Bridge. After cresting the first
little rise I saw a bull moose in the trail ahead of me. He sauntered
off into the woods 30 or 40 feet, then stood and watched me for a bit
to make sure I wasn't any kind of threat. I pulled my camera out to
take a photo or two of him, and when I turned it on I was met with a
"Lens error!" message, and the lens refused to open. Damn! Well, I
figured that was just due to the battery getting low, and figured once
I charged up the battery when in town, everything would be fine.

I continued on, whistling and sauntering through the woods, until I
came out on the Golden Road about 8:30. A few minutes walking brought
me across the bridge over the Penobscot River and to the small camp
store there. I was still craving orange juice, and was disappointed to
find they did not have any. The best I could do was a bottle of orange
flavored Gatorade, which I accompanied with a packaged danish. I
watched a few logging trucks go barreling down the road while I stood
outside the store eating my snack. Boy, they stack 'em high!

By 9:00 I had crossed the boundary into Baxter State Park and had
reached the kiosk where the daily weather reports are posted, and
where thru-hikers can sign in for a spot at The Birches, which is a
small camping area set aside for hikers only. When I got there a
ranger was just finishing writing up today's weather report, and I
spent a half hour standing there chatting with him. I also enjoyed a
few minutes of minor celebrity when a group from a local school hiked
past and the ranger told them that I had hiked all the way from
Georgia. That was kind of fun.

I was getting chilled standing still, so I soon left and continued on.
The trail follows the left bank of the Penobscot River upstream for a
number of miles before finally turning northeast to make its way to
Daicey Pond. On the way it crosses a couple of tributary streams, and
while crossing one of these my foot slipped off a wet rock and I got a
bootful of water. I hiked the last 4 or 5 miles with one wet, cold
foot and one dry, warm foot.

I reached the parking area at Katahdin Stream Campground a few minutes
before 1:00. I knew Jodi wouldn't be getting there until about 2:00,
so I put on some warm clothes, changed my boots for my sandals, and
settled down on a picnic table to wait. A couple of minutes later I
saw Gator and Tiger walking towards me. What a great surprise! I had
been expecting to catch up with them ever since I saw them back in
Andover, but had finally figured it was not to be. It turns out they
were only about 3 1/2 miles ahead of me when I camped last night, as
they stayed at the commercial campground at Abol Bridge. We had a
great visit while I was waiting for Jodi, and I told them we would
bring them some hot breakfast sandwiches from town tomorrow morning,
since they will be camping in the Park tonight.

Once Jodi showed up we were off to town for a hot lunch, a shower, and
a nice meal out. It will be early to bed tonight so we an be up and in
town at the diner when it opens at 5:00, then off to Baxter to climb
Katahdin!

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

Nahmakanta Lake to Hurd Brook Lean-to

Thursday, 9/24

AT Miles = 19.9 / 2159.7
Other Miles = 0 / 63.1
Total Miles = 19.9 / 2222.8

Miles to Katahdin = 18.6

Orange juice. I have been craving orange juice for days now. Tomorrow morning I will come out of the Hundred Mile Wilderness at Abol Bridge on the Golden Road. The Golden Road is a private road owned by the timber companies, and Abol Bridge is where the road crosses the Penobscot River. At Abol Bridge there is a commercial campground and a small camp store. I sure do hope that store has orange juice!

Today was a gorgeous day. Last night's storm was caused by a cool high pressure system moving in, so today has been breezy, clear, and cool. I had another 20 miles to hike, and you don;t, or at least I don't, cover 20 miles by lollygagging, so most of the day I had my head down hiking, but once in a while I'd get a chance to look around and appreciate what a beautiful day it was. And when I was up on Rainbow Ledges I had a wondrous view of Katahdin, standing resplendant with bits of clouds stuck to its peak. The mountain was 20 trail miles away, but probably about half that as the crow flies.

It is going to be a cold night tonight, so I am getting my hammock rigged with extra under insulation, i.e. my down jacket.

Tomorrow morning I expect to be at the store at Abol Bridge around 8:30 or 9:00, chugging a quart of orange juice and eating something fatty and delicious. Then I will be off into Baxter State Park where if all goes to plan I will meet Jodi around 2:00PM. Then we're off to Millinocket for a shower, a real meal, and a night in a soft bed. The forecast for Saturday looks good, so we will probably climb Katahdin that day. We do, however, have Sunday in reserve if need be.

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

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

Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to to Campsite on Beach of Nahmakanta Lake

Wednesday, 9/23

AT Miles = 21.2 / 2139.8
Other Miles = 0.1 / 63.1
Total Miles = 21.3 / 2202.9

Miles to Katahdin = 38.5

For the first time I can remember, I was the last one out of the campsite this morning. Not because I slept late or anything, but because the three people that slept in the shelter were all up and out early. I was up at 6:15, which is about as early as one can see in the morning nowadays, and on my way at 7:15.

It was a long day, but mostly smooth, more or less flat trail made the going easy. It was almost like hiking in Virginia.

I stopped at Antlers Campsite, on Lower Jo-Mary Lake. This campsite is at the site of an old sporting camp, and is a beautiful spot on a peninsula jutting into the lake and is in a grove of large red pine trees. I very briefly toyed wsith the idea of hanging my hammock and spending the day there reading and napping. I could do that and still make it to Baxter Park on Saturday, but I knew that come Friday night when I am sleeping in the woods instead of in a hotel room in Millinocket with Jodi, I would regret thje decision. So, I pushed on.

There is a spot on Pemadumcook Lake where you are supposed to be able to see Katahdin, but it is overcast today and I couldn't see anything.

Right now I am camped on the shore of Nahmakanta Lake, just inside the trees overlooking a sand beach. It is ridiculously warm today -- in the mid-70's -- so I took a swim in the lake. It is so warm that there are even some mosquitoes about! It has showered a couple of times today, and I just checked the weather forecast. 90% chance of rain tonight, with thunder showers after midnight! I hope the rain stops before I have to break camp and leave in thew morning.

It is supposed to cool off tomorrow, with overnight lows in tje 30s tomorrow night. It looks like the best weather day for the weekend will be Saturday, so it is good that I will be reaching Baxter on Friday and we can climb Katahdin on Saturday instead of Sunday, when there is a good chance of rain.

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

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

Nahmakanta Lake As Seen From My Hammock

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

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

Lower Jo-Mary Lake

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

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

Carl A. Newhall Shelter to Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to

Tuesday, b9/22

AT Miles = 18.9 / 2118.6
Other Miles = 0 / 63.0
Total Miles = 18.9 / 2181.6

Miles to Katahdin = 59.7

Man, oh man. I was tired when I woke up this morning! I pushed hard again today. I climbed the series of four peaks, each higher than the last, that culminate with Whitecap. From the summit of Whitecap you are supposed to be able to see Katahdin, and I tried to guess which blurry lump on the horizon that might be.

From Whitecap I descended down to West Branch Pond Rd, then continued north another ten miles to reach this shelter. This is the same shelter my brother Dana and I stayed at on the first night of our northbound section hike to Katahdin back in '96.

In the last couple of miles, after passing Crawford Pond, I saw 5 dead mice or voles or some such lying right in the trail. Not all in one place but rather scattered along the two miles. Very weird. It was almost as if someone were dropping dead mice along the trail. Vaguely disturbing.

If I can pull off 21.5 miles tomorrow, I will be exactly one day ahead of schedule, which will put me in Baxter Park on Friday instead of Saturday.

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

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

Long Pond Stream Lean-to to Carl A. Newhall Lean-to

Monday, 9/21

AT Miles = 20.8 / 2099.7
Other Miles = 0 / 63.0
Total Miles = 20.8 / 2162.7

Miles to Katahdin = 78.6

I put in a hard day's work today, hiking from 7:15 in the morning until 6:45 in the evening. I started the day by climbing 1750' up Barren Mountain, then I traversed the entire Barren-Chairback Range: Barren Mountain, Fourth Mountain, Third Mountain, Columbus Mountain, and Chairback Mountain. From Chairback Mountain I made the long descent to the Pleasant River, fordede the Pleasant River, and hiked another five miles up past the cut-off for the Gulf Hagas Trail.

While coming down towards the Pleasant River I ran out of water. Hiking along, tired and dehydrated, I took the sixthe fall of this hike. It was really stupid; I caught the toe of my boot on a root and down I went.

I reached the shelter about 15 minutes before it got too dark to see the trail. I set up camp, fetched water (had to use my headlamp), washed up a bit, cooked and ate dinner, and went to bed, exhausted.

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

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

Monson to Long Pond Stream Lean-to

Sunday, 9/20

AT Miles = 15.1 / 2078.9
Other Miles = 0 / 63.0
Total Miles = 15.1 / 2141.9

Miles to Katahdin = 99.4

Hey folks, look at that! Less than 100 miles to go! I can remember how thrilled I was when I reached the first 100 miles of this trek, and now here I am at the last 100 miles. It's all starting to feel a bit surreal.

Today was a great day; just perfect hiking weather. Clear skies, cool temps, a mild breeze. And instead of labring under my ridiculously heavy pack (43 pounds with 7 days of food aboard), I semi-slackpacked most of today. A former threu-hiker named Paddyo has been in the area ofering hikers shuttles and providing trail magic. I hadn't mat Paddyo before last night, but Rookie, who I've been hiking with the last couple of days, knew him and arranged to have Paddy shuttle us to the trailhead this morning, then we put a bunch of our heavier gear -- hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, most of my food -- in Paddyo's truck and hiked with a very light pack. Paddyo met us at a dirt road at mile 14. When I got there he pulled out the gas grill and fired it up to cook hamburgers and hotdogs. So after hiking 14 miles I had two cheeseburgers, two hot dogs, two cans of root beer, some potatoe chips, and three brownies. Paddyo is a big Johnny Cash fan and he showede us a DVD he has that includes some foot
age of a very young and very nervous Bob Dylan recording with Johnny Cash. It was awesome.

Once I tore myself away from all the food, I repacked my backpack with all the gear that Paddyo had shuttled for me and hefted my now very heavy pack to hike the one remaining mile up here to Long Pond Stream Lean-to.

As I am sure I mentioned before, my brother Dana and I hiked this section soiuthbound years ago. It was great fun reminiscing about that trip along the way today. I forded Big Wilson Stream today and remembered that when we forded it on that previous trip, Dana stepped in a big hole and went in nearly to his waist. And just north of Big Wilson Stream the trail crosses the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railroad tracks. When Dana and I hiked through here a small work car with two men aboard came down the tracks, and if I remnember correctly, Dana had a short, shouted conversation with the two men as they went by.

I had entertained vague hopes of pushing 4 more miles today to reach Cloud Pond Lean-to, but that four miles includes a 2000 foot climb, and there just weren't enough daylight hours left to make it. I hope to be able to get through most of the Barren-Chairback Range tomorrow. It all depends on how my knees hold up to all the climbing and descending. I would really like to get over White Cap by Tuesday evening. That's the last significant climb until Katahdin. From where I am tonight it is 29 miles to Logan Brook Lean-to, on the north side of White Cap. The mileage is certainly doable, it's just the climbing that has me worried. Also, the forecast calls for a 40% chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon, and 50% Tuesday night. Rain up on the bald peaks would make for dicey going on the rocks. Well, we'll see what happens.

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

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

Zero Day in Monson

Saturday, 9/19

I didn't do much today, which is exactly what a zero day is all about.

I, along with Dioko and Rookie, went over to Shaw's for breakfast. We
had called yesterday to let them know we would be coming. Shaw's
serves an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $7.00. It starts with you
telling them whether you want 2, 3, or 4. This means 2 pancakes, 2
sausage links, 2 strips of bacon, 2 eggs, and homefries, or 3 of each,
etc... And that is just round one. After everyone gets served, they
start taking second orders. If one were a real glutton. one could have
8 pancakes, 9 eggs, etc. And the food was really excellent. I ended up
having 3 bluebery paancakes, 4 bacon, 2 sausage, 2 scrambled eggs, a
pile of homefries, and 2 glasses of orange juice.

After breakfast I went through the box of food Jodi had sent me and
combining it with what little I had left in my bag when I got here,
discovered all I needed to buy for the next and last leg of my hike
was some kind of snack to eat with my lunches. I also had a couple of
maps I am finished wwith so I took them to the post office and mailed
them home, then I went to the general store and bought a box of
"Chicken in a Biskit" crackers. I'm not sure I spelled that right. I
haven't eaten those since I was a kid!

That was all the chores for the day. I spent the afternoon hanging out
in the pun behind the laundromat, eating, drinking martinis, and
chatting with other hikers. I spent quite a bit off time chatting with
Banjo and her boyfriend. Banjo thru-hiked last year and they were at
Katahdin climbing the mountain to commemorate the one year anniversary
of her completing her thru-hike.

Later when I was back at the pub for dinner I chatted with Bison for
quite a while. It's kind of strange because everyone is starting to
reminisce about their hike. Bison and I spent a long time comparing
notes on who we had hiked with previously that had gotten off the
trail for one reason or another. There are so many! The attrition rate
for thru-hikers is about 75%. we talked about how amazing it is that
we are actually still here. When I started this hike I knew the odds
were against me actually completing it, yet here I still am, after
many ups and downs (both literal and figurative). Of course, the hike
isn't over yet. I still have over a hundred miles to walk, and
anything could happen.

Well, it's off into the Hundred Mile Wilderness tomorrow.

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