Allen & Jodi's Adventures

Moving

2010-06-13T18:00:00.003-04:00

No, I'm not moving, but this blog is. It's not that there's anything wrong with Blogger. In fact, I like Blogger. But I decided that I wanted to have my blog hosted on my own domain, and blogger is not an option for doing that, so I have switched to Wordpress.

The biggest negative of doing this move is that there is no way for me to move the subscriptions of those of you who took the trouble to subscribe to my blog. That being the case, if you would like to continue receiving my blog posts in your email, you will need to re-subscribe to the new blog.

So where is the blog nowadays, you ask? Right here:

www.allenf.com/blog

I will not be updating the blog at this location anymore. If you are wishing you had never subscribed to my blog in the first place, you can breathe a sigh of relief. This is the last update you will receive. But if you still have some degree of interest in what Jodi and I are up to and what minor adventures we might undertake in the future that I deem fodder for the blog, you will need to go to the new blog and subscribe again. I apologize for the hassle!

Here's hoping I see you over at allenf.com/blog

Race To The Clouds

2010-04-01T22:23:00.001-04:00

I got a number for the Mount Washington Road Race -- the Race To The Clouds -- on June 19 this year! 7.6 miles with 4650 feet of vertical rise. I've been entering the lottery for this event every year for several years, and never got a number until now. The course description says the road has "an average grade of 11.5% with extended sections of 18%, and the last 50 yards is a 22% "wall" to the finish."

This is gonna be awesome!

Now I just have to get my lard ass in shape...

Spring!

2010-03-20T22:32:00.002-04:00

Spring arrived today, and a glorious spring day it was!

Last year I greeted spring while hiking in the Blood Mountain Wilderness in Georgia. Today I greeted it while cycling through the Blue Hills in Massachusetts with Jodi. It was a glorious spring day with sunshine and temps of 70 degrees, very unusual weather for March in New England.

Being awfully early in the season, and not having cycled at all last year since I spent the summer hiking, I labored on the hills today. But we are determined to whip ourselves back into cycling shape this year and are determined to do a challenging bike tour this summer. We aren't quite sure where yet and are still discussing options. The one we are currently exploring is to tour some of the parks in the Canadian Rockies.It always feels good to have a physically challenging adventure to work towards and look forward to.

Tomorrow our weather will be back to normal; gray and damp with temperatures in the 40s. But you can't fool me; spring is here and I know it!

Allen

One Year Ago Today

2010-03-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

Stover Creek Shelter
Wednesday 3/18
AT Miles = 2.8
Other Miles = 8.8
Total Miles = 11.6

Today was a perfect day to start a thru-hike. After days and days of rain, today was warm and sunny with a bit of haze. After a hearty breakfast at the Hikers Hostel in Dahlonega, six hikers piled into the truck to be shuttled to the trail. Only two of us had chosen to hike the Approach Trail from Amicalola Falls State Park. The trail starts at the stone arch behind the Visitors Center, then follows the paved trail up along the falls, which includes seven hundred and something stairs. Whew!

After I got out of the state park the trail turned quiet and lovely. It is quite different than New England, which I think of as mud, roots, and rocks. Here the trail was dry and smooth for easy walking. It was only the elevation gain that made the hiking hard.

I left Amicalola Falls at about 10:20 and arrived at the summit of Springer Mountrain at 1:50, much faster than I expected. I hadn't yet picked a final goal for the day. I could have stopped at the Springer Mountrain Shelter just 0.2 miles from the summit, but with about 6 hours of daylight left it seemed that pushing on a little further made sense, so I continued on the 2.8 miles to here, Stover Creek Shelter.

It's about 6:30 now. We've got blue skies and a gentle breeze, and the evening is starting to cool off. My hammock is hung out behind the shelter, and I think it is going to be wonderful sleeping weather tonight; fresh and chilly.

There is a fire going started by one of the3 other hikers. There are a half dozen hikers in the shelter, a few in tents 50 yards away, and me in my hammock.

The weather forecast I saw this morning before leaving the hostel called for a 30% chance of rain tomorrow, then sunny and warm for the rest of the week.

While hiking today I was thinking that so far this feels like just another weekend hiking trip. I wonder how long it will be before it starts transitioning from a hiking trip into a life-style.

New Years (+1)

2010-01-02T21:49:00.001-05:00

I started to write this yesterday, ut never finished it, thus the strange title.

Wow, it's New Years Day already! I remember last year on this day I woke up and the first thing I said to Jodi was something like "This is the year of my thru-hike."

Since I finished my hike I have tried to write about it a bunch of times, but I have a terrible time trying to find the words. As I think I said before, it seems to be the kind of thing that reveals itself slowly, over time. One not so great effect of my hike seems to be much less patience with the daily annoyances of life in a large metropolitan area. Aggressive drivers on the road really get under my skin. I don't deserve to be treated badly by someone who doesn't even know me. And I seem to have even less patience than I ever had for large crowds of people.

On the plus side, a lot of things just don't bother me the way they used to. I don't fret quite as much about a lot of the kind of stuff we all seem to spend too much energy fretting about; money, jobs, the future. I don't mean that I don't think about these things, and plan, and work to make those plans come about. But I don't fear them like I used to. I know just how much stuff I don't need to be comfortable and happy. That is really quite empowering.

Well, I said I have trouble putting these thoughts into words, and I still am. I don't seem to be expressing what I want to very well at all, so I think I am going to give up for now. I will mention one thing I remember someone asking about; how the hike affected me physically.

When I finished my hike, 6 months and 9 days after I started, I was the fittest I have ever been in my life. At the same time, I could barely walk. The ridiculously steep trail in New Hampshire and southern Maine destryed my knees. Jodi joined me on the final day to climb Katahdin, and when she saw how much I suffered descending, she told me that if she knew how bad my knees were she never would have let me get back on the trail after I had almost quit back in New Hampshire.

But my cardiovascular fitness was awesome. I could hike 20 miles per day, day after day, carrying a 35 - 40 pound backpack. It had been my plan to try to hold onto that fitness, and quickly transition from hiking to running after I returned home. Unfortunately, my knees prevented me from running at all for quite a few weeks; in fact, I could barely walk. Meanwhile, I continued to eat like I had on the trail. Many of my breakfasts included a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I quickly gained back every one of the 20+ pounds I lost during the hike. By the time my knees would allow me to start runnign again, I had lost most of my conditioning. I have always had a hard time dealing with the cold and dark of winter, and just maintaining fitness is a huge challenge. I find it pretty much impossible to build fitness over the winter. So, the longest run I've done since my hike was about 6 1.2 miles, and most of my runs are 3 - 4.5 miles. Not very impressive for a marathoner. The good news is that my knees seem to be back to normal, I am running a few times a week, and once spring rolls around I plan to start training for another marathon. My feet actually got bigger during my hike, and they have stayed bigger. I have a closet full of running shoes that are a bit too small for me now. I think I can make them work by switching socks to something that takes up a bit less volume.

I think the basic thing I want to say is that the hike has made me a better person. I feel a bit more confident, and a bit less intimidated by life. I feel even closer to my wife, Jodi. I think -- but maybe I should ask Jodi -- that I am a bit calmer. And I have a lifetime of wonderful memories stored away in my head.

Happy New Year, and the best to all the aspiring thru-hikers in the class of 2010!

Monkeywrench

Statistics

2009-10-19T15:18:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'm a bit of a geek, and as such I just love spreadsheets full
of numbers. Along my hike I kept track of my daily mileage and other
info, and it is all here. I imagine this holds absolutely no interest
for most of you, and that's cool. But it might be of interest to a
minority, and so my spreadsheet is included here. There are three
files here, but they are all the same spreadsheet, saved in different
formats, including Open Document Format, to try to accommodate the
different spreadsheet programs people may be using.

http://www.allenf.com/AT_Hike_Stats/Cumulative Data.ods

http://www.allenf.com/AT_Hike_Stats/Cumulative Data.xls

http://www.allenf.com/AT_Hike_Stats/Cumulative Data.xlsx

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

2,000 Miler Certificate

2009-10-17T08:52:00.001-04:00

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

Summing It All Up (NOT!)

2009-10-09T16:28:00.001-04:00

So, It's been 12 days since I summited Katahdin and brought my
thru-hike to a close. I think some folks are expecting -- and maybe I
have been expecting myself -- to see a nice, neat summing up here of
what this whole trip was all about; what meaning and insight have I
gained from my hike.

Sorry to disappoint, but I have no idea. Certainly, I think about the
hike a lot; every day in fact. But what I think about is mostly simple
memories of moments along the trail. I find I miss the simplicity of
trail life. I think about those days in southern Virginia when I was
gliding over the trail effortlessly, day after day (okay, okay, but
that's how I remember it). I think about how lost I felt when I got
off the trail in Waynesboro and was home for the first time. I yearned
for the trail so badly then.

But I have no idea what this all is supposed to mean. A smart friend
told me that I will be assimilating thing experience into my life for
years to come. I think she's right.

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

Photos

2009-10-03T12:12:00.001-04:00

I finally got the last set of photos, those from Rangeley Maine to
Katahdin, up on my website, They can be found here:
http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/RangeleyToKatahdin/

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

Katahdin Stream Campground to Mt Katahdin

2009-09-29T07:34:00.002-04:00

Sunday, 9/27

AT Miles = 5.2 / 2178.3
Other Miles = 5.2 / 68.3
Total Miles = 10.4 / 2246.6

Miles to Katahdin = 0.0

Jodi and I were up at 4:45, hit the drive-thru at McDonalds (I know, I
know) at 5:00 when it opened, and were at the gate of Baxter State
Park by about 5:40. It was much warmer outside than it had been on
Saturday, but the sky was grey and threatening and the air was full of
moisture. There was no line today, and in fact we were only the second
car headed for Katahdin Stream Campground.

It was not quite light enough to hike when we arrived, so we parked
the car and ate or McDonalds breakfast. I went off to use the privy,
then we started to get our gear together to hike. Just then I heard a
familiar voice say "Is that Monkeywrench?" Well damn, it was Slagline.
I had last seen Slagline at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon PA. At that
time he took some time off to spend with his fiancee. While I was home
letting my knees recover from the pounding they had taken in the
Whites, Slagline had gotten ahead of me and I had been seeing his name
in shelter registers which showed him 4 or 5 days ahead of me. I
figured he had already summited, but it turns out he had been hanging
out in Millinocket waiting for his fiance and another hiking friend to
come up and met him. He and his friend Gray were climbing Katahdin
today too.

After chatting for a few minutes we set off up the Hunt Trail, which
is the route the AT uses to get to the summit of Katahdin. We signed
in at the trailhead at 6:25. Jodi and I were moving a bit faster than
Slagline and Gray, so we soon left them behind. I let Jodi set the
pace, since she did not have six months of hiking to get her into
shape. We were trying not to push too hard, but at the same time did
not want to dawdle as we wanted to get up and down at least past the
worst of the rock scrambles before the rain came in. Jodi did an
awesome job, and we made steady progress up the rocks of the Hunt Spur
and finally over The Gateway until we were on the Table Land.
Amazingly it hadn't yet started raining. We took a short break and
pushed on the last mile and a half across the Table Land and up to
Baxter Peak. Just as we arrived at the peak the wind picked up and a
huge bank of fog poured over the ridge and enveloped us.

Jodi was very cold and we lingered only long enough to take a few
photos and then turned around and headed back down. As we got back
down to the Table Land the wind eased and before dropping over The
Gateway and starting the downclimb of all the rocks, we took another
short break for snacks and water. Climbing down the rocks is always
harder than climbing up, especially for me with my gimpy knees. For
most of the climb down Jodi was actually having to wait for me. We
managed to get down most of the tough parts before it finally started
raining lightly, around 12:30. We signed out at the trailhead register
at 2:18 in the afternoon. On the way down we met Slagline's fiancee
hiking up the trail a bit hoping to meet him and his friend Gray
coming down. Amazingly, she had had open heart surgery just four weeks
ago! When we told her that Slagline and Gray were at least an hour and
most likely an hour and a half or more behind us, she turned around
and walked back to her car to wait for them.

On the way up Jodi kept asking me how it felt, and I kept telling her
that we weren't there yet. Well, when we finally reached the peak it
felt amazing. I couldn't stop grinning, in spite of the cold. Some
other hikers that were already there congratulated me, and as we were
hiking down we passed several other thru-hikers on their way up. Lots
of high fives and hand shakes ensued.

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

Katahdin? Not Today!

2009-09-26T13:28:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-26T13:14:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-24T17:16:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-23T17:40:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-23T17:08:00.000-04:00

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

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

Lower Jo-Mary Lake

2009-09-23T10:20:00.000-04:00

--
"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

2009-09-22T19:05:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-22T19:04:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-20T18:32:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-20T06:04:00.001-04:00

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

Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to to Monson, ME

2009-09-18T16:52:00.001-04:00

Friday, 9/18

AT Miles = 9.0 / 2063.8
Other Miles = 0 /63.0
Total Miles = 9.0 / 2126.8

Miles to Katahdin = 114.5

Not much to talk about today. I got up this morning and hustled down
the trail to get to Monson before the weather closed in. Dark clouds,
cold wind. It's definitely good to be in town today!

I am staying at the Lakeshore House, which is a combination
laundromat, pub and grill, and lodging house! And the food at the pub
is way better than I would expect to get in a small town like this.

I will be taking a zero day tomorrow. After hiking every day for the
last 15 days, I need a little break. I will also get my food and other
supplies squared away for the final push through the Hundred Mile
Wilderness. I've made arrangements with Jodi to meet me in Baxter
State Park next Friday or, more likely, Saturday. The following day we
will climb Katahdin together, and the day after that I will be home,
and likely a bit lost and disoriented.

But for right now, there's dinner in the pub a bit later, and music
in, of all places, the general store tonight.

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

Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to to Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to

2009-09-18T08:51:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 9/17

AT Miles = 13.0 / 2054.8
Other Miles = 0 / 63.0
Total Miles = 13.0 / 2117.8

Miles to Katahdin = 123.5

I often wonder how some of trhe other thru-hikers manage to have such small, light packs. Well, I found out at least part of the reason this morning. It was cold last night, and when I got up this morning a bunch of other hikers were talking about how cold they were last night. Not me. I was toasty warm. I am carrying my warm sleeping bag, plenty of warm clothing, and plenty of insulation for the bottom of my hammock.

First thing this morning I climbed to the summit of Moxie Bald. What a beautiful morning it was up there! The air was cold and crisp and still, the valleys below were filled with fog, and there were just enough puffy white clouds in the sky to give the sun something to shine on and to lend depth to the sky.

After climbing down the mountain I stopped at Moxie Bald Lean-to for an early lunch. The shelter is near the shore of Moxie Pond so I took my food bag down to the water and sat on a rock in the sun and ate lunch with a gorgeous view out across the water. It was so peaceful and comfortable that I toyed with the idea of staying there and spending the day sitting in the sun reading my book, but practicalities won out and I soon pushed on nine more miles to this lean-to.

Along the way I had to ford the West Branch of the Piscataquis River. As fords go it wasn't much; the water barely came to my ankles. But fords eat up time. You have to take your pack off, remove boots and socks, put sandals on, tie boots to pack, put pack back on, ford the river, then reverse everything. But, the cold water sure did feel good on my aching feet!

I will be in Monson tomorrow. I have been frantically trying to figure the logistics for the final leg from Monson to Baxter. The problem is that I need to know Jodi's schedule and cell phone reception is lacking around here. Right now I am planning to take a zero day in Monson on Saturday. I haven't had a day off since I got back on the trail in Gorham. Tomorrow will be my 15th straight day of hiking. If I leave Monson on Sunday morning, I expect I shouid be in Baxter Park next Saturday. I may be able to get there on Friday, but that would be piushing pretty hard. Once I get to Baxter I need one more day to climb Katahdin, and this summer-long quest will be over!

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

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

Pierce Pond Lean-to to Broad Mountain Brook Lean-to

2009-09-17T09:28:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, 9/16

AT Miles = 18.7 / 2041.8
Other Miles = 0 / 63.0
Total Miles = 18.7 / 2104.8

Miles to Katahdin = 136.5

A full day today. It got pretty cold last night, and I was warm and snug in my bag, making it a bit hard to get out and get going this morning. But I was anxious to reach the Kennebec River. For some reason that felt like a big milestone to me. I was hiking a few minutes after 7:00, and I reached the river around 8:30. Dragon Breath was already there, having camped near the river last night. We waited until 9:00 when Dave, the guy that ferries hikers across in a canoe, showed up on the opposite bank. He soon paddled across, and after signing liabilty waivers and donning life jackets, we were off across the river. By 9:20 I was back in harness and heading up the trail away from the river.

After lunch I climbed Pleasant Pond Mountain, and for the first time since Monday got cell phone reception. I sent yesterday's blog entry and checked email and voice mail messages. I had two messages from my daughter Anju informing me that the event I was going to attend with her next Monday has been postponed indefinitely.

So, big change of plans! Instead of going home for a week or so from Monson, I will be continuing on into the Hundred Mile Wilderness and towards Katahdin. Only problem is, I had sent my bounce box home from Stratton, and had told Jodi not to assemble and mail a food drop to Monson for me. As soon as I heard Anju's message I called Jodi and luckily caught her at home. I asked her to put together a food drop for me and get it in the mail today if possible. A bit later I remembered that the last three maps are in the bounce box I sent home, so I called again and asked her to include those with the food drop.

If anybody thinks hiking the trail is hard, think about how hard it is being the at-home support person. Jodi had just gotten home from work today when I called and started issuing frantic requests: send me 6 dinners, 10 packages of oatmeal, a package of English Muffins, a jar of peanut butter, etc. etc. And I will be in Monson by noon on Friday so you have to mail it today.

Jodi actually asked me if it was alright if she had lunch first. Not sarcastically, either. She was actually going to skip eating lunch to go run around getting everything I wanted.

It would be far more difficult foro me hiking the trail if I didn't have Jodi at home responding to my every whim.

When I was down almost to the molttom of Pleasant Pond Mountain I rqan into Bookworm hiking southbound. I had last seen Bookworm in Shenandoah National Park, at Lewis Mountain Campstore where I had stopped to tqake a shower, eat some junk food, and drink a beer. Bookworm is doing some kind of art project about h=the AT and is interviewing hikers, so we sat down next to the trail and did a little interview for 15 minutes or so, then I said good-bye and pushed on the last 4 miles or so to this campsite. I had run out of water about three miles before reaching here, so I was really happy to arrive and get water from the brook.

It is about 50 degrees right now, with predictions of a hard frost for tonight. I am only planning to hike about 13 miles tomorrow, so I can take my time getting up in the morning. Usually that means sleeping until 6:15 instead of 6:05. :-)

I expect to be in Monson by noon on Friday. My next task is to figure out Jodi's schedule and when she can meet me in Baxter, figure out how long it will take me to get there from Monson (right now I am thinking 7 days) then figure out if I have enough time to take a zero day in Monson. It will be 15 days without a day off when I get to Monson on Friday, so a zero day would be very welcome.

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

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

Safford Notch Campsite to Pierce Pond Lean-to

2009-09-16T13:08:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 9/15

AT Miles = 22.2 / 2023.1
Other Miles = 0.3 / 63.0
Total Miles = 22.5 / 2086.1

Miles to Katahdin = 155.2

Yup, you read that right; 22.5 miles today. I don't think I've done that many miles in a day since back in New Jersey somewhere! Basically, I hiked the 5 1/2 miles I had hoped to do yesterday, then I hiked the 17 miles I had planned to do today.

That first 5 1/2 were up and over Little Bigelow Mtn, and I took my time with them. Once I got down Little Bigelow, the terrain really eased up. There were a couple of hills, but they were just hills, not mountains. One of them had about a mile of steady uphill, and the next maybe a mile and a half.

I stopped at West Carry Pond Lean-to, 12.5 miles into the day, and felt gfood enough that I decided to try to crank out the 10 miles to here. I left West Carry Pond at 1:15, and arrived here at 4:45; 10 miles even in 3:30. Sorry if I sound like I'm bragging, but I feel so good knowing that I could do this.

Okay, there's more to write about than just how great a hiker I am as long as the terrain is easy.

How about the weather? It was cool yesterday evening and I thought it was going to be a cold night. I rigged my hammock for frosty weather, and went to bed wearing my long johns. I got up about 11:30 to pee, and I was very overheated. I took off my long johns and crawled back into bed. A few minutes later it started to rain very lightly. There were very light, brief showers on and off during the night. It never did get cold, and in fact I think it was warmer when I got up this morning than it was when I went to bed last night.

It looked like we might get more showers all day, and in fact it still does, but so far no rain.

And how about water? It has been wonderfully dry weather for the last couple of weeks. That makes for great hiking. But it also means that the springs and small brooks that serve as the water source at many of the shelters and campsites are starting to dry up. At West Carry Pond, where I stopped for lunch today, there is a nice little spring that even has a spring house built over it. Only problem is, it's bone dry. That left the pond as a water source. It has been quite breezy all day, and the lean-to is sited at the down wind end of the pond, so there were quite large waves crashing into the rocky shore. The waves were big enough that they acted like surf breaking against the rocks, and while I was trying to dip my water bottle into the pond to fill it, a wave broke and got me full in the face!

From where I am tonigth it is only about 3 miles to the Kennebec River. The Kennebec is quite a large river, and the official way to cross is by ferry. Now, we are not talking about some big car ferry. We are talking about sa canoe. The ATC contracts with an outfitter to provide ferry service for hikers during the season. Right now, that means from 9 - 11 in the morning, and from 2 - 4 in the afternoon. I intend to be at the river waiting to be the first passenger of the day at 9:00AM. If I can do 18.7 miles tomorrow, and 13 on Thursday, that will leave me just 9 miles shoirt of Monson. That means I can be in Monson by noon on Friday. I am hoping Jodi is not working on Friday, and can pick me up then instead of on Saturday. Unfortunately I can't check her schedule, nor can I send this blog entry, as I have no cell service here.

Well, it is getting dark enough that I am having trouble seeing the keyboard, so I am going to go square everything away for the night, crawl into my hammock, and read for a while.

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

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

ME 27 to Safford Notch Campsite

2009-09-14T16:52:00.001-04:00

Monday, 9/14

AT Miles = 10.4 / 2000.9
Other Miles = 0.3 / 62.7
Total Miles = 10.7 / 2063.6

Miles to Katahdin = 177.4

I was hoping, but not expecting, to make 15 miles today. That would have gotten me completely through the Bigelows, it would have positioned me to reach the Kennebec River in time for the morning ferry on Wednesday, and it would have gone a long way towards ensuring I reached Monson by Saturday morning, in time for Jodi to pick me up.

But my knees vetoed that plan, and I stopped here, at a campsite between Bigelow and Little Bigelow. That's alright. I am happy having covered 10 quite tough miles up and over the multiple peaks of Bigelow Mountain. After slack packing 6 of the last seven days, today I put my pack on again; and it was a heavy pack with six days of food in it.

It is about 63 miles from here to Monson. Tomorrow morning I have to go up and over Little Bigelow. After that the terrain flattens out dramatically so I expect I will still be able to reach Monson on Saturday morning. There is a shelter 9 miles south of Monson, and as long as I reach that by Friday night, I can scoot the last nine miles to the road while Jodi is driving up from Boston on Saturday morning. At least, that is what I am telling myself today. ;-)

It is quite chilly this afternoon. It is only a quarter to five now, and I am wearing my light weight silk shirt, my medium weight tops and bottoms, long pants, my doewn sweater, and a hat.

I was just thinking today, while hiking, that at the beginning of this hike I watched spring creep up the mountains, and now at the end of the hike I am watching autumn creep down the mountains.

This campsite is rather spread out, and there is now somebody in another part of the site making all sorts of noise. I can hear things crashing and banging. I can't imagine what they're doing. It often surprises me how noisy some people are in the woods. To me it seems natural to be quiet when out in the woods.

Brr. I think I will be breaking out my down jacket tonight! It's amazing how quickly I get chilled now that I am so darned skinny.

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

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

Caribou Valley Rd to ME 27

2009-09-13T22:42:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 9/13

AT Miles = 8.3 / 1990.5
Other Miles = 0.2 / 62.4
Total Miles = 8.5 / 2052.9

Miles to Katahdin = 187.8

I hiked a quick 8 miles over the Crockers today. 3 miles of uphill,
and 5 miles of downhill. I was at the Stratton Motel by 12:30. Even
with that short hike, after spending a couple of hours sitting on the
bed watching a movie streamed to my laptop from NetFlix, I could
barely stand. At least that reminded me to take some ibuprofen before
I go to sleep tonight.

When I got here today I found out that Gator and Tiger just left here
this morning, and so did Kiwi. I decided to skip stopping in Caratunk,
as from the book it looks like there isn't much resupply there.
Instead I will be leaving here tomorrow morning with six days' food in
my pack. I hope to get to Monson by next Saturday. I think I will
probably catch up with Gator and Tiger by Monson, unless they skip
ahead. They might do that because one or the other of them has a
deadline to reach Katahdin.

In any case, I have to get off the trail again next Saturday. I have
promised my daughter Anju that I will be somewhere with her on the
21st, and with Jodi's work schedule she will have to drive up and pick
me up on Saturday. I won't be able to get back up to Monson until next
Friday at the earliest, so I will be missing a full week on the trail.
That is a bit frustrating as I am starting to feel some momentum
towards the end of this hike, but that's life.

With the delay, that should put me starting the 100 Mile Wilderness on
the 25th, and at Katadin sometime around October 5.

So, does anyone want to come hike the 100 Mile Wilderness with me? Or
climb Katahdin? Jodi is going to drive up and meet me at Baxter Park,
but she has been battling running injuries all summer so she may not
be up to climbing the mountain with me.

Well, it's way past hiker midnight and I need to get some sleep. I
tackle the Bigelows in the morning.

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

Photos - Gorham NH to Rangeley ME

2009-09-13T17:33:00.001-04:00

I had been trying to get my photos uploaded for the three days I
stayed in Rangeley. I was using my cell phone as a modem for my
computer, but had only a marginal signal and a very slow connection.
Finally today, here in Stratton, I have a good WiFi connection and got
the photos uploaded. They can be found here:

http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/GorhamToRangeley/

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

Orbeton Stream to Caribou Valley Road

2009-09-12T20:14:00.001-04:00

Saturday, 9/12

AT Miles = 10.4 / 1982.2
Other Miles = 1.2 / 62.2
Total Miles = 11.6 / 2044.4

Miles to Katahdin = 196.1

It rained a little bit this morning before I was hiking, and it rained
a little bit this afternoon after I finished hiking, but it never
rained while I was hiking. I must be doing something right.

Yesterday I started hiking at the Orbeton Stream and went south. Today
I started at the same place and went north, It was a nice day to be in
the woods; quiet and peaceful. No spectacular views or prominent peaks
today, just some good, honest work climbing up and down the hills.

I made good time and knocked out the eleven and a half miles in about
6 hours, putting me at the agreed upon meeting place about 20 minutes
before Bob from the hostel was supposed to pick me up at 2:00PM.
2:00PM came and went. 2:15. I tried calling the hostel and got the
answering machine. I told myself that was good news, as it meant Bob
was on his way to pick me up and that's why he wasn't there to answer
the phone. Between 2:15 and 3:10 I called the Lodge 7 times. Finally,
one the 7th call, Bob answered.

"Bob, this is Monkeywrench, you were supposed to pick me up at 2:00 o'clock."

"Um, okay, Where are you?"

So, it turns out that Bob had not forgotten THAT he was supposed to
pick me up, but he had forgotten WHERE he was supposed to pick me up.
He had been waiting for me at an entirely different trail head.

Once Bob drove out to Caribou Valley Road and picked me up, I had him
drop me off in town where I went to Sarge's Pub & Grub. I ordered a
beer and the bartender asked if I wanted a menu. I said yes, and told
her I would start with some of the beef stew they had listed on the
daily specials. A bowl of that went down fast and tasted really good.
I followed that up with a second beer, and a cheeseburger and french
fries. They have really good fries at Sarge's. When the bartender
asked me if I wanted anything else, I told her I'd like another bowl
of that beef stew. She came back from the kitchen with a cup of stew
and told me that was all that was left, and it was on the house.
Finally, I finished up with some apple crisp with ice cream and
whipped cream. That was about 2 hours ago, and now I am hungry again!

I called the Stratton Motel, which is in, of all places, Stratton.
They run a combination motel / hiker hostel. I reserved a room for
tomorrow night, and explained o them that I will be slack packing
tomorrow and made arrangements to drop off my backpack with most of my
gear there in the morning. At the end of tomorrow's hike I will be on
Rt 27, from where I will hitch into Stratton.

I asked Bob how I could get his daypack, which I have been and will be
using, back to him. He told me not to worry about it; that he has day
packs all up and down the trail. Apparently the hostels up and down
the trail get together once in a while and redistribute the day packs
that hikers use when slack packing.

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

Caribou Valley Rd

2009-09-12T12:08:00.001-04:00

Looking down at Caribou Valley Rd; today's destination.

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

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

ME 4 to Gravel Rd Near Orbeton Stream

2009-09-11T19:17:00.001-04:00

Friday, 9/11

AT Miles = 13.5 / 1971.8
Other Miles = 1.0 / 61.0
Total Miles = 14.5 / 2032.8

Miles to Katahdin = 206.5

Arrghh! Still more than 200 miles to go. When I got back on the trail
last Friday morning in Gorham, NH, it was just under 300 miles. 8 days
of hiking later, it is still over 200. This is so frustrating!

As I mentioned yesterday, I am back to slack packing today. And I have
compromised another one of my self-imposed rules. I hiked north to
south today. It was the only logical way to hike this section, as I
started out in the middle of nowhere at the end of a rough dirt road,
and hiked back to Rt 4 east of town. But it still rankles. Oh well, if
these compromises -- slack packing, southbounding -- help me get to
the end of this hike, then so be it.

I hiked over the three peaks of Saddleback today. Since I was hiking
north to south I crossed them in the order of Saddleback Junior, The
Horn, and Saddleback Mtn.

The high point of my day was running into some hikers I haven't seen
in a long time. First, I met McBride. I last saw McBride at the Green
Mountain House Hostel in Manchester Center, VT. Jodi even met McBride
the day she slack packed me over Mt Greylock in Massachusetts. A few
minutes later I met Kiwi, hiking with Stud The Dud. I last saw Kiwi
way back at The Doyle in Duncannon, PA, the night she ate an entire
half gallon of sherbet and went off on a fantastic sugar high.Kiwi
told me that her Dad, Papa Kiwi, whom I last saw eating lunch at Ten
Mile River in Connecticut, completed his thru-hike on Sept 4.

I made pretty good time hiking today. but it would have been a very
different story if I had been carrying my full pack. Even without it,
both knees were pretty sore by the time I got down to the road.I will
be slack packing for sure tomorrow, and probably the day after as
well.

Once back to the road I stuck my thumb out and got a ride from the
first car that came by. I had the driver drop me off at the pub in
downtown Rangeley, and I had a beer and a decent dinner. Then I called
Bob at the hostel and he drove into town and picked me up. Now I've
showered and am doing my laundry. Since my shorts are in the laundry I
am walking around dressed only in my long johns. Fortunately, strange
clothing choices like this are acceptable among hikers.

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

ME 17 to ME 4

2009-09-11T18:52:00.000-04:00

Thursday, 9/10

AT Miles = 13.1 / 1958.3
Other Miles = 0 / 60.1
Total Miles = 13.1 / 2018.3

Miles to Katahdin = 220.0

Almost 90% done! 90% will be 217.83 miles, so I am only 2.2 miles shy.

I hiked with my full pack today. It was a pleasant hike, through the
woods on a pretty day, but nothing special. Fortunately, the terrain
was relatively mild. Still, walking downhill with my full pack is
tough on my tender knees.

When I reached Rt 4 I emerged right into the middle of a construction
site. In fact, they had even installed a huge orange "WORK ZONE AHEAD"
sign on the trail. The road was one lane with traffic controlled by
flagmen, and I thought it was going to be impossible to hitch a ride
there, but after about 10 minutes a really nice couple stopped and
gave me a ride. They told me they don't pick up hitch-hikers, but they
do pick up hikers. They dropped me at the IGA because I wanted to buy
a pint of Ben & Jerrys Phjish Food ice cream. They even offered to
wait for me and then drive me here to the hostel, but I told them I
would call the hostel for a ride.

I will be back to slack packing tomorrow.

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

South Arm Rd to ME 17

2009-09-09T19:46:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, 9/9

AT Miles = 13.3 / 1945.2
Other Miles = 0 / 60.0
Total Miles = 13.3 / 2005.2

Miles to Katahdin = 233.1

Man, oh man, what a perfect day today was! Today was the quintessence of early fall in New England; a cold crisp morning followed by a day just warm enough to work up a sxweat while hiking hard, but cool enough that it felt good to sit in the sun when stopped. The sky was a deep blue, the air was dry. The light had that crystalline quality that comes in the fall when all the summer humidity is gone. The landscape is beginning to take on the look of autumn, although if you look you can't find any particular item that singly looks like it.

I saw a moose early this morning. I was hiking north on the trail, and a bull moose was walking south. When he saw me, or more likely heard one of my hiking poles strike against a rock in the trail, he spun around and took off at top speed into the forest. He whirled so fast that he actually left a divot in the trail. It was amazing to see such a large animal move so quickly through the tangle of trees.

Later, while walking along the ridge that connects the three peaks of Bemis Mountain, I was reveling in the whole atmosphere of the place. The colors in the lichen and mosses on the rocks were amazing. The foliage of the evergreens was set off by the deep blue of the sky. I was walking along thinking how quiet it was, and a bird started signing. It was just such a perfect moment I actually got choked up a little bit.

And at the end of my hike I came out onto Rt 17 and the road was half way up the hill with an amazing view down across Mooselookmeguntic Lake. It was SO beautiful. Somebody has installed a bench there and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting there taking in the view for a half hour or so while I waited for my shuttle to arrive.

A good day, well done.

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

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

Mooselookmeguntic Lake

2009-09-09T15:12:00.000-04:00

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

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

East B Hill Rd to South Arm Rd

2009-09-08T15:15:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 9/8

AT Miles = 10.1 / 1931.9
Other Miles = 0 / 60.0
Total Miles = 10.1 / 1991.9

Miles to Katahdin = 246.4

Ah, what a lovely day to be hiking in Maine! I set off early this morning and had a wonderful time slackpacking along easy trail through the cool of the morning. I covered the 6 or so miles to Hall Mountain Lean-to quickly, so ended up eating my lunch there at 9:45 this morning. It was so nice to just cruise along enjoying the forest instead of fighting for every foot of forward progress.

After lunch I did have to climb down into Sawyer Notch, and then make the steep climb up Moody Mountain. The trail up Moody Mountain washed out (last year, I believe) and there is a temporary reroute while a permanent reroute gets built. As I was starting up the climb I saw some blue falgging tape and followed that. It was quickly evident that the trail was a work in progress, with stone steps here and there and trailbed leveled in some places but not others. For much of the way the trail was just a new, raw scar which presented very challenging going. Then I got to the top of the relocation where it joined back to the existing trail, and I noticed two routes, one flagged in blue, which I had followed, and another route flagged with orange tape. There was also a sign here for southbound hikers which said to follow the orange flagging and not to follow the blue flagging until there were white blazes on the trail, which would indicate that the relocation was completed. Oops! Well, I ne
ver saw any orange flagging as I approached from the bottom of the hill. I don't know why that is; whether I just mised it, or whether it was absent.

Tomorrow will be my last day slackpacking from here. I have really enjoyed my time staying at Pine Ellis. Ilene (I misspelled her name in a previous blog entry) and David are wonderful hosts. Tomorrow I will slackpack from South Arm Rd northward for 13.3 miles to ME 17. On Thursday I will start at ME 17 with my full pack and hopefully hike the 13 miles to ME 4 and then get a ride into Rangeley. I hope to base in Rangeley and slackpack a couple more days until I get through the Saddleback Range.

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

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

Baldpate Looms Ahead

2009-09-07T19:32:00.000-04:00

From today's hike:

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

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

Elevation Profiles

2009-09-07T19:30:00.000-04:00

This is a photo taken with my cell phone camera showing the map and elevation profile for some of the terrain I have been hiking the last few days.

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

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

Grafton Notch to East B Hill Road

2009-09-07T19:13:00.001-04:00

Monday, 9/7 Labor Day

AT Miles = 10.3 / 1921.8
Other Miles = 0.1 / 60.0
Total Miles = 10.4 / 1981.8

I haven't slackpacked since those two days back in Massachusetts when Jodi came out and slackpacked me. Boy, is it nice!

I had arranged for a 7:00AM shuttle from the hostel back to Grafton Notch, so I set the alarm on my cell phoneto go off at 5:15. By 5:30 I was seated at the counter of the local breakfast place ordering up a hot, cooked breakfast. So much better than the cold cereal or instant oatmeal I eat when I am camping.

By 7:45 I was starting my hike up the south side of Baldpate Mtn. With only a light day pack on even climbing a mountain was almost a joy. I stopped at Baldpate Shelter to look through the shelter register and see when some of the people I know came through here, and to refill my water bottle. Pushing on, I got to the summit of Baldpate around 10:00. The mountain is aptly named as the top is mostly a dome of naked rock. It was fun walking up it on this nice dry day, but it surely would be a different story in wet weather, or something like a freezing fog! That would make it suicidal.

Somehow I ended up being the only person at the summit and I stayed there for about an hour. It was wonderfully quiet. All I could hear was the wind blowing, and the occasional fly buzzing around. I could hear no cars, no trucks, no lawnmowers, chainsaws, or airplanes. How wonderful!

I took advantage of the cell phone reception up there and spent some time talking to Jodi back home while lazing in the sunshine, then I called the hostel and told them I estimated I would finish the hike by 3:00PM and arranged for them to pick me up at that time.

Leaving the summit of Baldpate I had to negotiate a few tricky sections going down the north side, but mostly I was actually hiking on a normnal hiking trail. How refreshing!

I soon reached Frye Notch Leanto and stopped there for lunch. Lunch was a ham & cheese grinder I had ordered while I was earting breakfast this morning. Yum! It was now 12:30 and I had 4.6 miles left to hike. Based on my experience over the last few days, there was no way I was going to make it in time. But those standards didn't apply here. I made great time on the relatively easytrail, and by 2:00PM I had reached the stream crossing in Dunn Notch. At the same time, I caught up with another hiker staying at the hostel, and since he had a car parked at the road I called the hostel and canceled the scheduled shuttle. Half an hour latedr we were at the road, and another half hour after that we were back at the hostel, I was showered and changed into (relatively) clean clothes, and I had walked to the general store to buy beer and Ben & Jerrys ince cream.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the front porch chatting with some of the other hikers, and with David, one of the proprietors.

As a sideline, David makes jewelry out of moose droppings. Anybody out there want a nice pair of moose pellet earrings? David tried to convince me to buy a pair for my wife, but I am quite sure Jodi would not appreciate them.

Maine is really beautiful, especially with the ideal weather we have enjoyed lately. I am afraid my fixation on my physical difficulties is overshadowing that and I am not giving youy a fair picture. In spite of all the difficulties, I do appreciate the beauty all around me. I guess I just wish it didn't hurt so much to get out there sometimes. Slackpacking takes a good deal of the physical difficulty away, and let's me appreciate it all the more. I expect to stay here at least another two days and get about 24 miles of trail done by slackpacking. I could keep slackpacking from here beyond that, but the shuttles get more and more expensive as I get farther away. I'll figure that out when the time comes.

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

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

Full Goose Shelter to Grafton Notch

2009-09-06T19:24:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 9/6

AT Miles = 9.7 / 1911.5
Other Miles = 0 / 59.9
Total Miles = 9.7 / 1971.4

Miles to Katahdin = 266.8

Whew! What a day!

The weather was perfect today. It was cold last night and I slept SO good all snugged down into my down sleeping bag. I was awake a few minutes after six and after packing up and eating some hot oatmeal (first time in months), I was hikin a few minutes after 7:00.

A mile and a half into the day's hike I reached the south end of Mahoosuc Notch. Mahoosuc Notch is a tight notch between two mountains that has filled up with gigantic boulders that have come down from either side. The trail winds around, over, and under these jumbled boulders for a mile. It is known as the toughest mile on the AT. It took em 2 hours and 10 minutes to make my way through the notch. Several times I had to take my pack off and either push it ahead of me or pull it behind me as I crawled through some tight passages. It was actually quite fun although I was getting tired of it by the end of the second hour.

After the Notch the trail climbs very steeply up Mahoosuc Arm, and by the time I gbot to the top of that it was after noon. 5 hours for 4 miles of trail! From here I climbed down to Speck Pond, where I stopped at Speck Pond Shelter to get water and eat lunch. While here I finally got a cell signal and called Eileen at Pine Ellis Hostel in Andover to ask about getting a shuttle from Grafton Notch and a bed for the night. Eileen told me to call her again from the summit of Old Speck Mtn, which I did when I reached there at 2:30. I told her I expected to be at Grafton Notch by 5:00, although to be honest I had doubts that I could make it. It is 3 1/2 miles of downhill from the top of Old SPeck to Grafton Notch, and after the terrain of the last couple days I envisioned myself climbing down ledges and over cliffs for 3 1/2 miles and thought I might never make it down. Much to my surprise and delight, the trail down was actually a regular trail and I made it down by 4:40. It was still 3 1
/2 miles of downhill and it took a toll on my knees, but all in all it was a pleasant way to end the day.

So I have gotten a shower, walked to the general store / diner for a bacon cheeseburger and fries, and will sleep in a bed tonight. Tomorrow I will slack pack from Grafton Notch back here to Andover, and over the next few days will continue slack packing sections northward. Hopefully that will make things easier on my knees.

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

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

Gentian Pond Shelter to Full Goose Shelter

2009-09-06T12:12:00.001-04:00

Saturday, 9/5

AT Miles = 9.6 / 1901.8
Other Miles = 0.8 / 59.9
Total Miles = 10.4 / 1961.7

Miles to Katahdin = 276.5

9.6 miles. That must sound to you like I had an easy day. Ha! It took 9 hours to cover those 9.6 miles. I said the terrain was going to get tough, and it seems I am quite prescient. I'm not complaining; at least not much. It was a gorgeous day, and the views when I was above timberline were awesome. A cool front moved in today, sweeping away the lingering humidity and treating us to a dry, cool breeze. It is a bit after 6:00PM as I write this, and it is actually quite chilly. I am wearing long pants, both my lightweight and my medium weight thermal shirts, my down sweater, and a cap. It should be glorious sleeping weather; the kind of weather where it feels so cozy to snuggle down into the warmth of the sleeping bag.

Tomorrow morning I will go through Mahoosuc Notch, known as the hardest mile on the AT. I've no idea how long that is going to take. Someone fell in the Notch last month and broke a leg. I don't want to do the same, so will be moving slowly and cautiously. After Mahoosuc Notch comes the climb up Mahoosuc Arm, which is suposed to be very tough.

My plan for tomorrow is to hike the ten miles to Grafton Notch, then get the folks at Pine Ellis Hostel in Andover to come pick me up. I'll get them to shuttle me back on Monday morning, then I will slack pack the next ten miles north. I plan to base there for 4 or 5 days and slack pack all of the trail up to Rangeley, where there is another hostel and I may just repeat the same process there.

Oh, my knees. Thanks to the wonders of ibuprofen, my knees felt good this morning. I continued to baby them as much as possible all day, and they fared pretty good. The last couple of miles they were starting to hurt, but considering how tough the climbs and descents were, I was very pleasantly surprised. Here's hoping they continue to do so well!

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

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

US 2 to Gentian Pond Campsite

2009-09-05T12:19:00.001-04:00

Friday, 9/4

AT Miles = 11.8 / 1892.2
Other Miles = 0.2 / 59.1
Total Miles = 12.0 / 1951.3

Miles to Katahdin = 286.1

First, a word about the mileages given above. You all know that I skipped about 15 miles of trail between Carter Notch Hut, where I got off the trail a couple of weekends ago, and US 2 where I started this morning. You know I missed that section, and I know I missed that section, so I am not pulling the wool over anybody's eyes. But those miles are included in the mileage totals I keep, as that is the only way to keep the mileage synced to the guidebook. To do otherwise would leave me in a constant state of confusion.

Jodi and I were on the road a few minutes after 5:00 this morning, and I was on the trail at 9:15. Skipping the section over Carter Dome was definitely the right decision. Today's hike was, for New Hampshire, an easy section. There was plenty of ascending and descending, but it was hiking on a trail, not climbing up and down rocks. Even so, it was a tough workout for my knees. The braces help A LOT, but I still move rather slowly, and even more so on the dowwnhills. I think I am moving at a normal pace on the rare flats and when ascending, but on the downhills I guesstimate I am making slightly more than 1 mile per hour. It took me 7 1/4 hours to reach this campsite today. With a 45 minute break for lunch, that makes it 6 1/2 hours hiking for 12 miles. I can live with that.

I spent the day telling myself that as long as I can cover 10 or 12 miles per day, I am fine. At ten miles per day I will cover the 300 miles in 30 days. That's doable.

But I am not out of the woods (metaphorically) yet. The terrain is going to get a lot tougher in the next couple of days, and it is going to stay that way for quite a while. I am still estimating that I have a 50/50 chance that my knees are going to stand up to the abuse.

I felt like I was moving oh-so-slowly today, but there are lots of weekenders out for the long holiday weekend, and I passed several of them. That just serves to remind me that I am not moving as pitifully slowly as I imagine I am. I hike slowly, but I still have great stamina and instead of taking all those frequent breaks that weekend warriors have to take, I move along steadily for 3 or 4 hours at a time.

I have my hammock hung over a tent platform here tonight. Just across the way is a large group of college kids from Colby College, on a freshman orientation trip. I am getting a big kick from listening to them play silly games while seated in a circle.

There is no cell reception here, so you won't see this for a while. Hopefully I will have reception somewhere tomorrow and I will get to send this. But I will say "Goodnight from Gentian Pond" anyway.

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

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

Ready To Go (fingers crossed)

2009-09-03T12:16:00.002-04:00

Well, everything* is packed and ready to go. I made a trip to the grocery store this morning and spent $70+ on food for 8 days. That's 4 days in my pack, and another 4 days of food in a box I mailed to Pine Ellis Lodging in Andover, ME.

When I think about it I think I have about a 50/50 chance that my knees are up to the hike. Until today I haven't felt a lot of confidence or anticipation about getting back on the trail, but now that my backpack is packed and I've been finalizing the logistics for the rest of the trip, I've started feeling and talking about it all much more positively. Instead of saying "If I get to Monson," I've been saying "When I get to Monson."

The weather for southern Maine looks great for the next week (see below). I think if I get through the next week or so I should be all set. That will get me through the toughest terrain, then things will start to ease up.

My plan is to get up at 0400 tomorrow, and be on the road by 0500. With a stop somewhere for breakfast that should get me on the trail by 1000 at the latest. Ideally I would like to make 12 miles tomorrow, but there is a shorter option. I've given up trying to estimate how many miles I can hike in a day anymore.

I will not be picking up exactly where I left off. I am going to start at US 2 near Gorham. This works out better logistically as far as getting to the trailhead, and it also allows me to avoid hiking up and over Carter Dome on my first day back, which is ridiculously steep and difficult. I do have a pretty good sized chunk of guilt in my stomach over missing the few miles from Carter Notch to US 2, but it might be the difference between completing my hike and not, so I think it's a fair trade-off.
--
Monkeywrench

* I just realized I am short one pair of socks. Looks like I need to do some laundry this afternoon.

Forecast for Northern Oxford

Updated: 10:14 am EDT on September 3, 2009

No Active Advisories (US Severe Weather)

This Afternoon

Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. West winds around 10 mph.

» ZIP Code Detail

Tonight

Mostly clear. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the upper 40s. Light and variable winds.

Friday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Light and variable winds...becoming northwest around 10 mph in the afternoon.

» ZIP Code Detail

Friday Night

Partly cloudy in the evening...then becoming mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s. Light and variable winds.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Light and variable winds...becoming northwest around 10 mph in the afternoon.

» ZIP Code Detail

Saturday Night

Clear. Lows in the lower 40s.

Sunday through Labor Day

Mostly clear. Highs in the lower 70s. Lows in the lower 40s.

Monday Night through Tuesday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows around 50. Highs in the mid 70s.

Wednesday

Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.

Practice Hike

2009-09-02T20:09:00.004-04:00

I went for a little walk in the Blue Hills Reservation today. I can
report that hiking on a flat, smooth trail, with no pack, wearing
Cho-pat braces on both knees, and using my trekking poles, my knees
felt about 98%. How that translates into carrying a full pack up and
down mountains and over rough terrain, remains to be seen.

And James, you're right, I do miss sleeping in my hammock!

As for kicking the AT's ass, Ken, there is no such thing. Hiking the
AT is like climbing a big mountain. Nobody conquers a mountain,
they just climb it, or not. I'll either finish the trail this year, or I
won't.

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

Slight Delay

2009-09-01T12:41:00.001-04:00

Jodi just got a job for Thursday so she can't drive me to New
Hampshire that day. Plans are pushed back one day to Friday.

Geez, it's September already! How did that happen?
--
~~~~~
Monkeywrench
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Decided

2009-08-31T10:58:00.001-04:00

Si I've decided: I will be heading back up to New Hampshire on
Thursday to try to complete this darned hike.

I wish I could say that I am excited to be heading back to the trail,
but it's not quite true. I certainly am not yet ready to give up my
life as a thru-hiker. It is, after all, a pretty sweet way to live.
You hike. You camp. You see new places and meet new people every day.
You eat as much of everything as you can possibly get your hands on.
You breathe fresh air. You exercise your body. You have time to le
your mind wander where it may.

But my hike should be finished by now, or at least close to being
finished. The people I hiked with way back at the beginning of my
thru-hike have all either completed their hike, or have gotten off the
trail. It is no longer summer. The cool weather of fall is arriving in
New England. It is 65 degrees here in Quincy this morning. The days
are shortening rapidly. It is strange being here at home now, since I
left here last March when winter was just winding down. It feels like
I somehow missed summer.

This is wonderful weather for hiking of course. If the weather holds
fair I will be treated to the full glory of New England's autumn. But
in a big way it feels like this is going to be a lonely hike. That is
strange, since I have by choice hiked most of the trail alone, but it
feels lonely I guess because everyone I know is done, or at least well
ahead of me.

Anyway, this will be my last shot at finishing my thru-hike this year,
so here's hoping my knees are up to the task!

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

Pondering

2009-08-25T09:53:00.001-04:00

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

Pinkham Notch to Carter Notch Hut

2009-08-23T14:03:00.001-04:00

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

2009-08-23T06:52:00.001-04:00

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

Gorham, NH

2009-08-22T19:39:00.001-04:00

I am in Gorham, NH tonight. I left home after lunch today and drove up
here. It sure was hard saying goodbye to Jodi!

I am staying at Hiker's Paradise here in Gorham. Tomorrow morning I
will leave my car here tomorrow and take the bus to Pinkham Notch,
which is where I got off the trail on Monday. All I have planned for
tomorrow is to hike the second half of what I was supposed to hike
last Monday; the six miles from Pinkham Notch up and over Wildcat
Mountain and on to Carter Notch Hut. I have a reservation at the Hut
so will have a bunk there, which will let me hike with a small, light
pack. On Monday I'll hike the 15 miles from Carter Notch to US 2, then
will call and get a ride back to Hiker's Paradise for the night.

I am looking forward to hiking without my full backpack. It should
also be good for breaking in my third pair of boots, which have
exactly zero miles of hiking on them so far.
--
~~~~~
Monkeywrench
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Frustration & Back To The Trail

2009-08-21T19:42:00.002-04:00

Well, I've been home for most of the week now. It sure has been nice
to shower every day, and to partake in this very strange custom of
wearing clean clothes every day!

My plan is to ty to slack pack (hike with only a day pack) as much of
the rest of the trail as I can. Towards that end, I have made a
reservation for Sunday night at Carter Notch Hut. Tomorrow I will drive
up to Gorham and stay overnight at Hiker's Paradise hostel / motel. On
Sunday morning I will have them drop me off at Pinkham Notch, and make
the climb up the several summits of Wildcat Mountain and down to
Carter Notch and the Hut. On Monday I'll hike the 15 miles to US 2.
Since I have a reservation at the hut I don't have to carry my
hammock, tarp, sleeping bag, or food for dinner and breakfast. That
should make the hike easier and more enjoyable.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I will hike the ~31 miles to Grafton Notch
with all of my camping gear. This leg includes Mahoosuc Notch,
Mahoosuc Arm, and more of the Mahoosuc Range, so should be quite
challenging hiking. I was hoping to be able to slack pack this
section, but haven't been able to find anyone who shuttles out to the
back roads in this area.

Once I reach Grafton Notch I will move my base of operations up to
Andover, Maine, where the folks at Pine Ellis Hostel will help me
slack pack for a few more days.

Once past this area I haven't got definite plans, but if Jodi isn't
busy with work she is going to drive up and join me, helping me slack
pack. I hope to slack pack most of the trail up to Monson, Maine. Once
there I will have just the 100 mile wilderness left between me and
Baxter Park.

Over the last few days I have heard from most of the group I hiked
with so much at the beginning of my thru-hike. Sir Richard is
currently in the midst of the 100 mile wilderness and expects to
summit Katahdin on August 24. Topofgothics is somewhere in Maine and
still heading north. Paulman and CuppaJoe are off the trail due to
Paulman's knee injury and unsure if they will be back this year or
not. Spitfire and NoToyz are off due to knee injuries, and definitely
will not be back this year. It is sad to think how close they got to
finishing and serves to make me more determined than ever to finish.

I am totally unprepared to head back to the trail tomorrow. I have my
gear spread from one end of the house to the other. I have to pack
everything up tomorrow morning, and I hope I don't screw up and leave
anything important behind.

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

Photos

2009-08-20T21:59:00.001-04:00

Photos for the section from Franconia Notch to Pinkham Notch are here:
http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/FranconiaNotchToPinkhamNotch/

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

Franconia Notch to Pinkham Notch

2009-08-18T21:15:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 8/13 - Monday, 8/17

Thursday, 8/13
AT Miles = 12.9 / 1818.6
Other Miles = 0.8 / 58.9
Total Miles = 13.7 / 1877.5

Friday, 8/14
AT Miles = 11.8 / 1830.4
Other Miles = 0 / 58.9
Total Miles = 11.8 / 1889.3

Saturday, 8/15
AT Miles = 14.0 / 1844.4
Other Miles = 0 / 58.9
Total Miles = 14.0 / 1903.3

Sunday, 8/16
AT Miles = 7.1 / 1851.5
Other Miles = 0 / 58.9
Total Miles = 7.1 / 1910.4

Monday, 8/17
AT Miles = 7.8 / 1859.3
Other Miles = 0 / 58.9
Total Miles = 7.8 / 1918.2

Miles to Katahdin = 319.0

My apologies to everyone for dropping off the face of the earth. It
has been impossible for me to post to my blog because my phone died
when it got soaking wet in a thunder and lightning storm last Tuesday
while I was climbing South Kinsman. That was the last day I blogged
about, using my laptop while staying at the home of my new friends,
Dave and Pam. Dave picked me up in Franconia Notch and I spent two
nights at their home, enjoying their hospitality, doing all of my town
chores, drying my boots, and resting up for the next legof my hike.

Pam dropped me off back at Franconia Notch bright and early on
Thursday morning, and I climbed up the very steep Liberty Springs
Trail until I reached the Franconia Ridge Trail. The forecast promised
clearing weather, and the morning was a mixture of cloud and clearing
bits which gave me hope for a fair weather day. As I walked along the
Franconia and then the Garfield Ridges I passed over a few of the 4000
footers: Little Haystack at 4760', Mt Lincoln at 5089', Mt Lafayette
at 5249', and Mt Garfield at 4488'.

Just past the summit of Mt Garfield I reached the Garfield Ridge
Campsite where I stopped to eat lunch. About 10 minutes into my break
it started to rain, so I packed up my things, put the rain cover on my
pack, and started hiking again. From here the trail descended down
until it looked like it crossed a brook just before it goes over a
waterfall, but looking across the brook I could see no trail. Slowly
the realization dawned that the waterfall actually is the trail! From
the campsite to Galehead Hut is only 2.7 trail miles, and it took me
over 2 1/2 hours to walk it. Mostly, that's because you can't actually
walk the trail. You climb the trail. You clamber down wet rocks and
boulders, holding onto small trees, cracks in the rock, and whatever
else you can find. After I got down the waterfall the trail turned up
again as it climbed to Galehead Hut. The rain was coming down harder
and harder, and the trail up to the hut was running a small white
water stream. The water was ankle deep and certainly didn't improve
traction on the rocks. I arrived at Galehead Hut about 4:30 and was
grudgingly granted work-for-stay by the unfriendly croo* there.

The next day the weather was much better, and after a very meager
breakfast -- 5 pancakes and a bowl of cold leftover oatmeal, split
between three hungry thru-hikers -- I set off for Ethan Pond Campsite.
A bit after noon I reached Zealand Falls Hut and spent a couple of
hours sitting on the porch eating lunch and relaxing while my boots
dried out a little bit in the sun. About 2:00 I left the Hut and hiked
the remarkably flat and smooth 5 miles to Ethan Pond. What a joy it
was to be able to stride along at full speed! I had a relaxing evening
at Ethan Pond chatting with a group from Harvard Medical School that
was out for three days. I also did my laundry and took a sponge bath,
which I hadn't been able to do at the hut.

From Ethan Pond, on Saturday, I made the 3 mile descent into Crawford
Notch, crossed the Saco River, and made the ridiculously steep ascent
to the Webster Cliffs. Whew! It was tough, slow going to Mizpah Spring
Hut, where I took a 30 minute break for lunch. Then I pushed on up to
Lakes of the Clouds Hut, which sits just below the summit of Mt
Washington. I got work-for-stay again at the hut, and they sure did
make us work for the privilege of sleeping in the dining room and
eating left-overs. I swept floors, cleared and washed tables, set
tables, cleared and washed them again, swept and scrubbed more floors,
and folded 300 blankets in the morning. In return for this we got a
pretty good dinner, eating leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, green
beans, and three bean salad. The breakfast was quite meager, though.
All we got was a few pancakes and some farina.

On Sunday I had a short day planned as a bit of a reward. I left Lakes
of the Clouds Hut and made the short climb to the summit of Mt
Washington. I spent a couple of hours hanging around here and eating
in the visitor center, then I left for the 6 mile hike to Madison
Spring Hut. The hike was remarkably difficult, andd I was more tired
than I expected when I arrived. I asked if they had any bunks left as
I was intending to pay for a bunk and thus get a full dinner and a
full breakfast, and not have to wait until all the paying guests had
eaten and then eat left overs, but they were full and the best I could
do was to get sork-for-stay again.

I had a big day planned for Monday; the 8 miles down to Pinkham Notch,
then the 6 miles up and over the four peaks of Wildcat Mountain and
finally to Carter Notch Hut. Alas, it was not to be. The trail down to
Pinkham Notch was steep and rocky, and my knees rebelled from the
pounding they had been taking through the Whites. It took me 5 1/2
ours to hobble down into Pinkham Notch, and it was clear I would be
going no further for a while. I called Jodi and asked her to drive up
to Pinkham Notch and pick me up. We got home last night and I have
spent today sleeping late, eating, napping, eating some more, and
napping even more.

All in all I was remarkably lucky with the weather through the White
Mountains. Over the weekend, while I was above tree line and climbed
the summit of Washington and on over the peaks and down into Pinkham
Notch, the weather was better than anyone has a right to expect up
there. For something like 270 days a year the summit of Washington is
fogged in, but when I was there it was sunny and warm and calm. I am
sure there are people that climb the mountain year after year and
never have such good weather. Yet, I resented every moment of my
hiking in the Whites. To me it is all just a huge obstacle between
wheree I am and where I want to be, which is at the end of this hike.
Burnout and fatigue, I guess. And there is plenty of tough going ahead
of me. Sigh.

No, I am not giving up. I have 319 miles to go, and I intend to finish
them all. But I am home for a few days, and rethinking my strategy. I
am trying to figure a way to slack-pack as much of the rest of the
trail as possible. I am worn down physically, and I don't see myself
hauling my full backpack for another 4 weeks through this very tough
terrain. I am not sure exactly when I will be back out on the trail,
but it won't be long; a few days at the most.

Oh, while I was staying at Dave and Pam's house I did get photos
uploaded for the section between Hanover and Franconia Notch. They can
be found here: http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/HanoverToFranconiaNotch/

* Croo - the traditional spelling for the crew that works at any of
the AMC huts in the White Mountains.
--
~~~~~
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com

Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch

2009-08-12T13:39:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 8/11

AT Miles = 16.4 / 1805.7
Other Miles = 0.8 / 58.1
Total Miles = 17.2 / 1863.8

Miles to Katahdin = 372.6

I had a nice night in North Woodstock, with a good dinner followed by
a nice, filling breakfast this morning. After breakfast I positioned
myself on Rt 112, the road back up to Kinsman Notch, and tried
hitching. After 40 unfruitful minutes, I gave up on hitchhiking and
called The Shuttle Connection. That 5 mile ride cost me $12.00, but it
got me to the trailhead.

It was a few minutes before 9:00 when I started hiking, and it took me
4 hours to hike the 7.5 miles to Eliza Brook Shelter. I stopped here
for lunch, and met a couple out for an overnight heading south. We
chatted a bit about the climb up and over South and North Kinsman
which they had just done and which I was about to do. Just as they
left the woman remarked to me "Well, at least the rocks will be."
Jinx! I packed up from lunch and started up the trail with the sun
shining. 5 minutes later I heard the crash and boom of thunder, and
the skies opened up and poured on me. It was a biblical storm in the
amount of rain that came down. The water was so deep in some of the
usually wet low spots that in one place the puncheon were actually
floating. At least, they were until I stepped on it. Wet feet!

I spent the next several hours climbing and clambering up step, wet
rocks. It was not fun. My socks and boots were squishy wet. When I
finally got to the summit of South Kinsman I stopped very briefly to
take a few photos. The view was actually quite spectacular and the
storm was clearing down below me, but I could still hear thunder so
was scurrying up the trail as quickly as I could to get back down
before another storm came through.

It was 4:00 by the time I got to Kinsman Pond Shelter. From here it is
only 2 miles to Lonesome Lake Hut, my goal for the day. Pushing as
hard as I could, it was after 5:00 when I finally reached Lonesome
Lake. I just don't know how to figure the time it will take to hike
between any two points around here. So much of the trails here are not
really hiking at all, but slowly climbing up and down rocks and huge
boulders.

Back while I was eating lunch at Eliza Brook I had turned on my phone
to find a voice-mail from Dave Smith, telling me that if I wanted to
hike the few extra miles down to Franconia Notch he would meet me
tonight and bring me home for a shower, a steak dinner, and a bed.
This was an irresistible offer after the soaking I had taken, so when
I got to Lonesome Lake Hut I wanted to call Dave and tell him I would
take him up on his offer, but my cell phone had gotten wet in the
storm and was not working. I borrowed a cell phone from one of the Hut
staff and called Dave to arrange for him to pick me up at the
trail-head parking area near The Flume in two hours, then pressed on.

Whew! I made it down to the trail-head with about 20 minutes to spare.
I waited for Dave, then he showed up and whisked me off home for a hot
shower and a big steak dinner. Civilization is a wonderful thing!

This was a tough day. 10 1/2 hours to hike 17 miles! Back in Virginia
17 miles would have been a 7 hour hike. After Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and Vermont, I was just getting used to only being able
to cover 2 miles per hour rather the 2.5 I had gotten used to through
the Mid-Atlantic states. Now it looks like I am going to have to start
figuring 1.5 mph at best through the Whites. Ugh!

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

Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff NH to Kinsman Notch and the Carriage Motel in North Woodstock NH

2009-08-10T19:13:00.001-04:00

Monday, 8/10

AT Miles = 9.5 / 1789.3
Other Miles = 0.9 / 57.3
Total Miles = 10.4 / 1846.6

Miles to Katahdin = 389.0

The weather toyed with me this morning. In my "Appalachian Pages" book there is a notation that "North side of Mt Moosilauke is steep and often slick," and I had heard that there are signs on the trail warning that it is hazardous when wet or icey. Since it was raining when I went to bed last night, I was determined to try to ascertain the weather before venturing up and over Moosilauke. Well, when I went outside this morning there were bits of blue sky showing and it looked like the weather was going to break up, so I was at the post office when it opened at 7:00AM to get my food drop and the warm clothes Jodi had sent to me, and by 7:45 I was walking up the road towards the trailhead.

As soon as I left the road I had to climb down a mud bank, then swap boots and socks for my sandals so I could wade Oliverian Brook, which was more a river than a brook. After a short warm up wherein the trail climbed rather easily, the world turned quite vertical and I spent the next few hours climbing steeply and steadily. The weather, meanwhile, had closed in again and I climbed through a heavy fog with quite warm temperatures and 100% humidity. I poured gallons of sweat and thousands of calories into climbing to the summit of Moosilauke, and in return I was treated to views that went on and on for two, sometimes three feet! I did prevail on a couple of day hikers who were also at the summit to take my photo next to the summit sign. I haven't looked yet to see how that turned out.

Some of you may recall that I climbed Moosilauke last February, on snowshoes, from the east. That was quite a clear day, though bitterly cold at the summit. If you go to the hiking folder in my photo gallery, there should be a Moosilauke album there from that trip.

With the wind blowing shreds of cloud across the summit sideways, my glasses were totally fogged up and covered with water droplets. I couldn't see anything with my glasses on, and without my glasses I can't see much of anything anyway, so I was pretty much blind. I managed to find a white blaze and started across the summit and down the north side. I missed the turn for the Beaver Brook Trail, which is the route the AT follows, and started down what I later figured out was the Benton Trail. After descending a couple tenths of a mile, I noticed that I was breaking through a lot of spider webs. I knew other AT hikers were ahead of me this morning, so those webs shouldn't have been there. That's when I stopped to study the map and figured out what I had done. So, I turned around and climbed back up those couple of tenths, then started down the correct trail.

I picked my way down the rocky trail until I reached the Beaver Brook Shelter. This was my nominal goal for the day, and I could have stayed here, but it seemed early to stop and it wasn't a very inviting spot anyway. I thought of pushing on 9 miles to the next shelter north, and was getting ready to leave when another thru-hiker, Baltimore Andy, showed up. We fell into a very pleasant conversation and then a couple of day hikers stopped by and they joined the conversation. Again I was going to leave, then I remembered my promise to myself to stop pushing so hard for miles all the time and let myself enjoy the hike more, so I settled back and let the conversation flow until it was well past 2:00PM.

Finally I left, with the goal simply of hiking down to Kinsman Notch, at which point I would decide whether to go on another 7.5 miles to the next shelter, or to hitch into town for the night. Well, the 1.6 miles from Beaver Brook Shelter to the Notch took me nearly an hour and a half to negotiate. The Beaver Brook Trail here descends very steeply over a jumble of wet rocks and boulders. Even going downhill, I was sweating up a storm and was exhausted from concentrating so intently on foot and pole placement to avoid taking a bad tumble. It was nearly 4:00 when I got to the trailhead, much too late to set off to hike another 7 1/2 miles, so I turned my attention to trying to hitch a ride into town. I've been told that it's tough to hitch around the Whites, and so far my experience bears that out. I lucked out, though, and a family I had passed on the trail just in from the road, and exchanged pleasantries with, saw me and offered me a ride into town. It turns out that they, too, are
from the Boston area. The husband said he used to climb Moosilauke all the time as a teenager, and that he had proposed to his wife at the summit. They are in the Whites on vacation, and were trying to decide when their daughters would be old enough to be able to make the climb to the summit. They asked a lot of questions about thru-hiking, and very kindly went a bit out of their way to drop me right at the motel here. Now I just hope I can get a ride back out of town and up to Kinsman Notch in the morning.

My plan for tomorrow is to hike the 13 miles from the Notch to Lonesome Lake Hut, where I am going to make my first attempt at getting work for stay. Hopefully that will work out. That will leave me just a few miles from Franconia Notch on Wednesday morning, where I need to go into the town of Lincoln to pick up my bounce box at the post office. On Wednesday night I will be staying with a couple that live near Franconia Notch. They have been reading this blog and very kindly offered their hospitality wqhen I reached the area. I am greatly looking forward to meeting them.

I was hoping last week's weather was a portent of a changed weather pattern for August, but it seems now we are back to warm humid weather with a chance of thunderstorms pretty much every day. I hope the weather treats me well as I make my way through the Whites. Being above treeline in a storm is no fun, to say the least!

So, goodnight from North Woodstock!
--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

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

Smarts Mtn Fire Warden Cabin to Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff NH

2009-08-10T12:26:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 8/9

AT Miles = 19.9 / 1779.8
Other Miles = 1.3 / 56.4
Total Miles = 21.2 / 1836.2

Miles to Katahdin = 398.5

Last night was a beautiful night. I went up in the fire tower to take some evening photos, and also to get cell service. That was the first place I had been able to get service since leaving Hanover. There is no service at all here in Glencliff, so I don't know when I will be able to send this.

This morning was sunny and I had some great views while climbing over Mt Cube. By noon the sky was starting to cloud up, and by 3:00PM it started raining lightly.

The original plan for today was to hike 12.4 miles to Ore Hill Shelter, but soon after starting off this morning I decided I would try to get all the way into Glencliff if I could. I hiked pretty hard all day and got here before 5:30. I've showered and my laundry is in the washer. It's a bit pricey at $5.00 for wash and dry for 2 pairs of socks and a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, but clean dry socks are important and I have to send the shorts and T-shirt home in the mail tomorrow. Jodi probably wouldn't appreciate opening a package of dirty, sweaty clothes.

The post office opens at 7:00 tomorrow, and I will pick up my food drop and my warm clothes that Jodi sent. If the weather clears up I will leave here and climb up and over Mt Moosilauke, the first of the White Mtn peaks. If it rains all day tomorrow I may stay here and postpone the climb a day. The guidebook warns against climbing down the north side of Moosilauke in wet weather.

I have a sort of schedule that puts me at Katahdin on September 15. That schedule includes no zero days, and there is no way I am going to hike for y6 weeks without taking any days off, but I am determined not to let the 9/15 date slip, so I will have to 'earn' any zeros. I arrived here in Glencliff a day ahead of schedule, so I have one zero day 'in the bank.' It would be nice not to have to use that banked day tomorrow.

I got an email from Paulman and CuppaJoe today. Paulman fell just across the Maine border and hurt his knee, so they had to get off the trail for a while. Luckily he is apparently healing well and they will be back on the trail in a few days, but you just never know what mishap could end your hike.

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

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

View From Smarts Mtn Fire Tower

2009-08-08T19:33:00.001-04:00

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

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

Moose Mountain Cabib to Smarts Mtn Fire Wardens Cabin

2009-08-08T19:31:00.003-04:00

Saturday, 8/8

AT Miles = 12.4 / 1759.9
Other Miles = 0.1 / 55.1
Total Miles = 12.5 / 1815.0

Miles to Katahdin = 418.4

Boy,it was cold lat night! I wore every bit of clothing I have, which isn't all that much, while sitting around after supper. Normally I wiuld have crawled into my sleeping bag to stay warm and passed the evening reading, but there was a nice group of weekenders and section hikers at the shelter, and I greatly enjoyed their company as we all sat around the campfire and sipped shots of Jack Daniels from a bottle one of them had brought. After watching a bright orange moon rise around i8:30, I finally did go to bed and barely stayed warm during the night.

I allowed myself the luxury of sleeping in a bit, and thus didn't get moving until 7:30 this morning. It was a surprisingly tough day's hike, which found me at the summit of Smarts Mountain about a quarter of two this afternoon. It surprises and worries me how tired I am and how much my knees ache after hiking only 11 miles yesterday and 12.5 miles today.

I set up my hammock near the Fire Wardens Cabin here near the summit, and after reading for a while managed to fall asleep for a while; I'm not sure how long. It is 6:00PM now and again I am wearing all the clothes I have but am not quite keeping warm. I will be in Glencliff on Monday morning where I will pick up a food drop and some warmer clothes that Jodi mailed to me there. I decided not to have Jodi send my warmer sleeping bag yet, planning to continue using my summer bag. I hope that doesn't prove to be a mistake. I will have my warm long johns to wear at night, as well as my down jacket which I add to the bottom insulation of my hammock on cold nights.

I saw a bear this morning; my fourth to date. I heard him moving through the underbrush and stopped to look. Once he was far enough away to not feel threatened, he stopped and looked back, and we stood for several minutes studying each other. Any day I see a bear is a good day.

Two of the section hikers that were at Moose Mountain SHelter last night had said they were planning to be here tonight, but they haven't showed up yet. There are two other southbound hikers here tonight, who I haven't really had a chance to talk to yet. I am going to stop typing and cook my dinner now. I haven't had any cell coverage since leaving Hanover yesterday morning, so I'm not sure when I'll get to send this.

Oh, I think yesterday I said I assumed the Dartmouth colors were orange and black since the DOC uses those colors for their blazes and all their signs, but I have since been told the school colors are green and something, so I guess my theory is shot to heck. That'll teach me to assume anything.

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

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

Hanover NH to Moose Mountain Shelter

2009-08-08T19:31:00.001-04:00

Friday, 8/7

AT Miles = 11.0 / 1747.5
Other Miles = 0.1 / 55.0
Total Miles = 11.1 / 1802.5

Miles to Katahdin = 430.8

Jodi and I had such a wonderful evening last night! I spent the afternoon doing zero day chores, mostly working out logistics for the upcoming sections. I never did find time to take a swim in the hotel pool. Then it was dinner time and I asked Jodi what she wanted to do for dinner, and she suggested we head over to Chester and find someplace to eat there. Chester is only a dozen or so miles over the pass from Springfield, and we had stayed at an inn there last year on Memorial Day weekend when we spent the weekend cycling and running.

We drove over to Chester and decided to have dinner at the Inn which is right on the town green. It was a gorgeous evening out, with cool, dry air and just enough puffy cumulous clouds in the sky to add a bit of depth. We got a table on the front porch of the inn, and soon after we sat down we noticed a concert about to start in the park across the road. It was a jazz ensemble, and they were very good. So we sat outside sipping our martinis and eating our dinner, listening to big band jazz and watching the locals enjoy the concert. A great way to end my latest zero day.

This morning Jodi dropped me off at the post office in Hanover, where I mailed my bounce box up the trail to Lincoln, NH, then I started walking. It is only 44 miles from Hanover to Glencliff, my next town stop. If I pushed a bit, as usual, I could make it there in 3 days, which would put me there on Sunbday. But I have a mail drop at the post office in Glencliff, so getting there on Sunday makes no sense at all. That leaves me free to take it very easy for the next 4 days, and get there on Monday.

I really enjoyed hiking without any time pressure today. I left Hanover after 10:00AM. Around 12:30 I was at a point where the trail crosses a road, and just up the road is an old cemetery with fresh-cut grass and nice sunshine, so I walked down there and sat in the sun while I ate my lunch. I left there around 1:00, and by 3:00 I was here at the shelter.

The weather is quite cool today. It feels like late summer in northern New England. It is breezy in a way I haven't felt for months. The forecast calls for the temp to fall into the 40s tonight. It should be great sleeping all snugged into my bag tonight.

This is Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) territory. The DOC has been blazing trails between Hanover and the Whites since long before the Appalachian Trail existed. Traditionally the DOC blazes trails in alternating orange and black stripes, which I assume are the school colors. The DOC maintains this section of the AT and they do use the standard white blazes, but they also mix in some of the old orange and black blazes, which are sometimes referred to as Halloween blazes. The signs the DOC puts up are also black on orange. Tradition counts for a lot in New England!

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

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

Zero Day in Hanover, NH

2009-08-06T15:06:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 8/6

AT Miles = 0 / 1736.5
Other Miles = 0 / 54.9
Total Miles = 0 / 1780.5

Miles to Katahdin = 441.8

The title of this post is a bit misleading. Jodi and I aren't staying
in Hanover. Hanover is quite an expensive town. The Hanover Inn,
directly across the green from Dartmouth College, has rooms starting
at $275 per night, and goes up from there. Jodi and I are comfortably
settled into the Holiday Inn Express at an exit off I-91 in
Springfield Vermont, where the prices are much more reasonable. But
Hanover is where I got off the trail, and where I will get back on
tomorrow morning, so in reference to my hike, Hanover is where I am.

Yesterday afternoon Jodi and I drove to the Eastern Mountain Sports
store in West Lebanon, NH, wigth my broken backpack. That is where
Osprey had sent the part to repair my pack. Sure enough, the package
was there, marked in bold to "HOLD FOR APPALACHIAN TRAIL HIKER ALLEN
FREEMAN." Their backpack expert, Jeff, and I set out to figure out how
to replace the broken rod. Getting the broken one out was easy enough,
but installing the new one was a whole other story. With the new rod
in place, there is a large flap of fabric at the top of the pack that
has to be stretched until it goes over the rod. This places the whole
mechanism under tension, and gives the pack its stability. When I had
talked to the woman at Osprey she had told me we would have to pry the
fabric over with some kind of lever. Well, we tried several different
tools, and even enlisted the aid of another employee so that there
were three of us trying to lever this rod into place, but to no avail.
After struggling wityh the pack for what must have been close to an
hour, Jeff decided to simply replace my pack wqith a brand new one,
and to send my old one back to Osprey. Considering that I did not buy
my pack at EMS, and that EMS received nothing for all their effort in
helping me try to install the replacement rod, this was a very
generous offer. Jeff went well above and beyond in helping me out, and
I am now the happy owner of a brand new backpack, so I expect no
further troubles in that department for the rest of my hike.

I told Jeff I thought they should hold on to the broken backpack, and
the next time the Osprey rep is in their store, he should ask him to
demonstrate just how easy it is to replace a broken side rod. ;-)

I slept late this morning, then after breakfast did all of my errands;
laundry, food shopping, gear cleaning, etc. The weather is mostly
sunny and dry.I can hardly express how happy it makes me to think of
the trail drying out every day. I am starting to get my hopes up that
this summer's weather pattern has finally broken, and we might get a
string of dry weather.

My next stage of the hike is the 40+ miles from Hanover to Glencliff.
The terrain outside of Hanover starts to get a bit more vertical, and
I have decided that I am not going to push hard for miles for a while,
so I am giving myself four days to get to Glencliff, which gets me
there on Monday. It would do me no good to get there sooner anyway, as
I have a food and equipment drop at the post office there, which I
won't be able to collect until Monday anyway. After Glencliff I head
up into the WHite Mountains, so I will pick up my warm clothing again,
and also my Thermarest pad. I need the Thermarest because I hope to
get work-for-stay at at least some of the AMC Huts in the Whites, and
work-for-stay just gets you a place on the floor to sleep, and
whatever the paying guests don't eat for dinner and breakfast.

Right now I am sitting outside at the hotel typing this. I am thinking
about going swimming in the pool, but that almost seems like too much
work.

Oh, I seem to have created some confusion with my reference to blue
blazing a few days ago. To clear things up, blue blazing means simply
to hike a trail other than the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian
Trail is marked with white blazes, and many side trail are marked with
blue blazes. My reference to blue blazing as a "gateway drug" was just
an analogy, folks! Here are a few definitions to help clear things up:

White blazing - following the Appalachian Trail (AT). Sometimes the
term is used to denote a hiker who makes it a point to pass every
single white blaze along the entire length of the trail. Some hikers
even mark the trail in some way whenever they leave the AT, so that
they can be sure to start back up in the exact same spot.

Blue blazing - walking some trail other than the AT

Yellow blazing - hitching rides along the road, and thus bypassing
parts of the trail. So called because of the yellow lines on a road.

Pink blazing - this can have a couple of different meanings, but
usually it refers to a male hiker who is hiking long, hard days trying
to catch up to a female hiker he has taken a fancy to.

So, I have blue blazed a little bit. I have never yellow blazed, and I
certainly haven't pink blazed, unless you count that morning I nearly
dropped from exhaustion trying to get to my rendezvous with Jodi way
back in Virginia.

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

Photos

2009-08-06T11:32:00.001-04:00

Photos for the section from Manchester Center VT to Hanover NH are
here: http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/ManchesterCenterToHanover/

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

Happy Hill Shelter to Hanover, NH

2009-08-06T10:22:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, 8/5

AT Miles = 5.8 / 1736.5
Other Miles = 0.1 / 54.9
Total Miles = 5.9 / 1780.5

Miles to Katahdin = 441.8

It was warm last night.Warm enough, and muggy enough, that I actually
had a bit of trouble sleeping. Also, I think I was just so tired that
it actually made it even harder to relax and fall asleep, if that
makes any sense at all.

I slept a bit later than usual this morning. I usually wake up about
5:30, and lie in my hammock for another 10 or 15 minutes waiting for
it to become just a bit lighter outside before getting up. This
morning I didn't wake up until about 6:10. I knew I had only 3.5 miles
to hike before reaching the town of Norwich, so I didn't even bother
to eat my usual breakfast of cold cereal. Instead I put a granola bar
in my pocket, packed up my gear, and started walking.

Wow. Knowing I had only a few miles to go, and no time pressure on me
today, I relaxed and really enjoyed hiking for the first time in a
long time. By 8:30 I was walking down Elm Street in Norwich, past some
lovely little homes tucked into the lush summer landscape. A few
minutes later I was at the corner of Elm and Main Street, and walked a
block up Main Street to Dan & Whits Grocery, where I bought a bacon,
egg, and cheese sandwich, a bottle of orange juice, and a copy of the
New York Times. I took my purchases back down Main Street to a bench
in front of the post office, where I sat reading the paper, eating my
breakfast snack, and chatting with the occasional passer-by. Boy, was
that wonderful. I so enjoyed this morning. I need to slow down this
hike, even though I am already moving so darned slowly, so I can enjoy
the places and moments that come along.

Eventually, though, I hoisted my backpack onto my back and turned east
heading for the bridge over the Connecticut River and thus into New
Hampshire. I was at the post office in Hanover a few minutes before
10:00, where I picked up my bounce box that I had mailed from
Manchester Center, VT. Then I went outside and sat on a bench while I
waited for Jodi to appear about 10 minutes later.

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

Winturri Shelter to Happy Hill Shelter

2009-08-06T10:10:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 8/4

AT Miles = 20.4 / 1730.7
Other Miles = 0.5 / 54.8
Total Miles = 20.9 / 1774.6

Miles to Katahdin = 447.6

My apologies for being a couple of days late with this entry.
Tuesday's hike just kicked my butt. I started hiking at 6:45 in the
morning, and I hiked hard all day until I finally reached Happy Hill
Shelter at a few minutes before 6:00 in the evening. That made just a
bit over 11 hours to cover less than 21 miles. I sincerely hope it was
because the terrain was difficult, and not that I am simply losing my
ability to hike.

It was really nice outside, and the trail even offered up a nice view
now and then. In the afternoon I came to one spot where there was a
grassy knoll -- not THE Grassy Knoll -- high atop a ridge with a long
view of the Green Mountains stretching into the distance, and someone
had even taken the trouble to put a comfortable looking Adirondack
style chair up there. It looked like a perfect spot to relax for a
while and enjoy life. But I didn't have time to stop, and just pushed
right on through without breaking stride. I find that so frustrating!

When I arrived at Happy Hill Shelter there was one other hiker there;
a young woman with the trail name Nico. I hadn't met her before so I
asked if she was a southbounder. "Well, sort of," she replied. When I
pressed a little bit more, she told me that she had just finished her
northbound thru-hike, and was now hiking back to the Long Trail to
finish hiking that trail as well. So, she left Springer Mountain on
March 25 -- one week after me -- and summited Katahdin on August 2nd.
On the 3rd she got a ride back to Hanover, NH, and was now hiking from
Hanover back to the junction of the Long Trail and the Appalachian
Trail, in Sherburne Pass. I told her I hated her. She understood.

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

No Blog Tonight

2009-08-04T19:56:00.001-04:00

Very tired after hiking 11 hours today. Will catch up tomorrow, from New Hampshire!

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

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

The Inn at Long Trail to Winturri Shelter

2009-08-04T08:46:00.000-04:00

Monday, 8/3

AT Miles = 19.9 / 1710.3
Other Miles = 0.2 / 54.3
Total Miles = 20.1 / 1753.7

Miles to Katahdin = 468.0

Whew! Up, down, repeat ad nauseum. That was today's hike. I haven't had to climb like this since I don't know when. I am tired tonight in a way I haven't been tired since probably back in the Smokies.

One might think that since the trail left the crest of the Green Mountains and turned east towards the Connecticut River, the trail would be gradually descending down to the river valley. Well if one did think that, one would be very stupid. There are multiple ridges to the Green Mountains, and the trail has to climb up and over every one of them before it gets to the river.

Most of these climbs were really steep, and many of them were quite long. And it's not like there is a reward for climbing; maybe a nice view with a sunny spot to sit and rest and appreciate it. Oh, no. This is Vermon t. You climb in the trees. You summit in the trees. You descend in the trees.

I got a late start today, and even though I hiked flat out, it took me from 9:00AM until 6:00PM to cover the twenty miles. And it absolutelt kicked my butt! Tomorrow's hike will be a little bit longer, and I hope my legs recover enough over night to be able to do it.

It's not that I think 20 miles is the perfect distance for a day's hike or anything. Rather, it works out this way because the shelters / campsites in this area are spaced about 10 miles apart, and 10 miles is too short a day so the days end up being 20 miles by default.

I am sharing the campsite tonight with a woman and her son. She started section hiking last summer and is now on her third ever backpacking trip, while this is her son's first ever trip.

Oh, a first today! I met, on the trail, an actual United States Forest Service Ranger. In 1700 miles he is the only USFS or NPS employee I've met out on the trail. I've seen plenty in frontcountry settings, but never in the backcountry.

You might have noticed that I passed the 1700 mile mark today, and I have well under 500 miles to go. I told someone today that I wished the trail were 500 miles shorter, as then I would be done and back home now.

Hiking isn't all misery or anything like that, but it hasn't been fun for quite a while either. I hope it becomes fun again.

Oh, I almost forgot. I spent about 35 minutes on the phone with someone at Osprey this morning, and they are supposed to be shipping the part needed to fix my backpack to the EMS store in Lebanon, NH by Wednesday. I will be in Haanover on Wednesday, and if the stars align correctly Jodi will be meeting me there, so then we can drive over to Lebanon and get my pack fixed. If Jodi does meet me, I will likely take a zero day on Thursday.

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

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

My Broken Backpack

2009-08-03T08:20:00.001-04:00

Not only is the stay broken, but the broken end has worn a hole in the packbag.

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

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

Back Home Again Hostel to The Inn at Long Trail

2009-08-02T19:44:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 8/2

AT Miles = 17.4 / 1690.4
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 17.4 / 1733.6

Miles to Katahdin = 487.9

In this episode, our hero solves a mystery, gets stung by a bee, drinks a Coke, climbs a mountain, and (gasp!) blue blazes. Oh, and it rains, of course.

At the hostel yesterday afternoon I chose the bunk right next to the window, of course. I like fresh air. At home Jodi and I keep the bedroom window open almost all the time, even into the winter.

Well, it might not have been the best choice last night. The street fair happeniong right outside the window included bands that played until fairly late ("late" here means pretty much anything past sunset, otherwise known as "hiker midnight"). Then at first light this morning the Rutland Public Works crew was out in the street packing away all the street barriers so they could reopen the street, so I was woken up by their equipment and their yelling back and forth. Not the best night's sleep I've ever had.

After breakfast at a cafe down the street, I called a local guy who I was told provides shuttles for hikers and arranged for him to pick me up at 8:30 and drive me back to the trail. While I was out front on the sidewalk waiting for him, I was checking the suspension on my backpack, as I have been having a lot of trouble lately with the load seeming to shift to the right until the pack becomes very uncomfortable to carry. Well lo and behold, I discovered that one of the aluminum stays on my pack is broken. For those that aren't "into" backpacking, stays are thin aluminum rods that run down either side of the pack and lend it some stiffness, and serve to transfer the load down to the hip belt. I will have to call Osprey tomorrow and find out what I need to do to get this fixed. I hope I can get it taken care of when I am in Hanover, NH on Wednesday.

So, that takes care of solving a mystery. Now, as to thaqt bee sting. Well, I was walking up the trail and Yeeow! A bee stung me directly on my right Achilles, just below the cuff of my boot. I don't know how he stung me through my sock, but darn, it hurt! Alright, so I'm a wimp. It was just a bee sting. But even now, some 10 hous later, it still hurts.

As the morning progressed the sky was getting darker and darker, and it was obvious it was going to rain sooner orlater. I was hiking pretty hard, determined to get as many of the day's miles in while it was still dry, and to try to limit the amount of time I would have to slog through the rain. Still, when I came upon the cooler sitting at the base of a tree, with a lawn chair invitingly open next to it, I had to stop and look. Score! The cooler was full of cans of Coke, and there was even a bit of ice left in it. It must have just been set out Friday or yesterday. So I took off my pack, sat down in the chair, and enjoyed a nice cold Coke. My sock had been rubbing the top of the big toe on my left foot, so I also used this opportunity to put a bit of duct tape on my toe to help lessen the abrasion. I know it's stupid, but I often walk for hours with something bothering my feet because I don't like to stop and take my pack off.

Soon after my Coke break the trail started climbing up the south side of Killington. I was still laboring under some fantasy that I could get to the top before the rain and fog rolled in, and could then actually enjoy the views from the summit. Poor deluded hiker! Of course by the time I got to Cooper Lodge it was raining and the fog was rolling in thicker and thicker. From the lodge the summit can be reached via a 0.2 mile spur trail, but with no visibility it would have been a waste of time and effort, so I stopped at the lodge to eat some lunch and chat with another hiker that was there -- it was 2:00PM already -- and then I pushed on down the north side of Killington.

Okay, so now we come to confession time. I blue blazed this afternoon. There, I said it. I blue blazed. I am no longer pure. I am sullied; unclean. For those of you who have now lost all respect for me as a person and a hiker, feel free to throw brick bats, to unsubscribe from this blog, and to shun me forevermore.

The AT north of Killington used to slab the east side of Pico Peak, pass Pico Camp, and head north across land owned by the Pico Ski Resort until it crossed Rt 4 right at The Inn at Long Trail. But the AT is mandated to have a permanently protected right of way, and in order to procure that the AT was relocated a few years ago so that it slabbed the west side of Pico Peak, on land owned by the state, and then head north to cross Rt 4 0.8 miles west of The Inn at Long Trail. The old trail still exists, it just isn't the AT anymore. It is now called the SHerburne Pass Trail. Well, the Sherburne Pass Trail was going exactly where I wanted to go, so I took it. There. It's done. I am a blue blazer. Let's just hope blue blazing isn't a gateway drug. Next thing you know I could be yellow blazing, and I could be at Katahdin by the end of the week!

As the day progressed the rain of course became steadier and more intense. By the time I arrived at the Inn it was raining hard and I was soaked. I dripped all over the counter while registering for my room. They have a great hiker discount, but it is onmly available as a walk up. If you call ahead and reserve a room you have to pay full rate. It being Sunday it was very doubtful they would be full, and indeed I got the walk-up hiker discount rate. It is really nice to be inside and dry on a night like this. The weather is supposed to be dry tomorrow. I know I am a bit of a whiner, but wouldn't it be nice to string two, or three, or maybe even more, dry days together? It sure would be nice if the trail could dry out a bit and I could end a day with dry feet for a change.

I have two long days planned tomorrow and Tuesday, then a short day across the Connecticut River and into Hanover, New Hampshire on Wednesday. I hope I can get my backpack fixed in Hanover, before I head on into the White Mountains.

Good night from Sherburne Pass, Vermont!
--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

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

Lost Pond Shelter to Back Home Again Hostel in Rutland VT

2009-08-01T18:19:00.003-04:00

Saturday, 8/1

AT Miles = 17.6 / 1673.0
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 17.6 / 1716.2

Miles to Katahdin = 505.3

So far, the month of August has a perfect record for sunny skies! Wonder how long that will last.

Today was a beautiful day. My boots were absolutely saturated from yesterday, and for some stupid reason I did not put yesterday's wet socks back on, but rather started the day with clean socks. Within minutes they were squelchingly wet from my boots. What a waste of clean, dry socks!

The trail was still running with water and deep in mud, so my feet never had a chance to dry out. Since I came up short in mileage yesterday, I had to make it up today. I hiked hard all day to get to the road by mid-afternoon and hitch a ride into Rutland, where I am staying at the hiker hostel run by the Twelve Tribes here. The bunk room is on the second floor above their restaurant, the Back Home Again Cafe. There is a street fair going on today, right outside the window. That's rather fun. I understand they feed us well here. I'll find out in another hour or so.

I came into town from Rt 103, rather than from Rt 4 as most hikers do. The hitch proved a bit problematic, but eventually I talked one guy that stopped into going out of his way to take me to Rutland. In the end he refused my offer of gas money, and we had a great conversation on the way here. I hope getting back to the trail in the morning doesn't prove too difficult.

The last few hiking days I have been covering ground my dad and I covered on my very first Long Trail hike, back in... '73 or '74 I guess. I have been thinking about that hike and my dad a lot while hiking. So Dad, do you remember that hike? Stratton Pond? Prospect Rock? Camping on top of Bromley Mountain? Those awful freeze dried eggs we ate at Mad Tom Notch Shelter (which no longer exists)? Little Rock Pond? I think I remember everything about that hike.

Well, rain coming again tomorrow, so I'll be back on the trail. If I get to Sherburne Pass tomorrow, I think I'll try to get a room at The Inn at Long Trail.

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

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

Green Mountain House, Manchester Center VT to Lost Pond Shelter

2009-08-01T18:19:00.001-04:00

Friday, 7/31

AT Miles = 14.8 / 1655.4
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 14.8 / 1698.6

Miles to Katahdin = 522.9

Rain. Goodness but it rained!

It started a couple of hours before I left town, and didn't stop until after I had set up camp for the night. In between, I waded and wallowed, slogged and sloshed, squished and squelched my way up the trail.

Apparently the Green Mountain Club has initiated some experiment in multi-modal backwoods recreation, whereby certain parts of the trail are meant to be walked, and other parts are meant to be navigated via white water kayak. I guess I just never got the memo, and I spent the day hiking the GMC kayak course. I lost count of the times I stepped in mud and water deeper than my boots. It didn't matter though, as my boots had long ago reached the point of maximum saturation where any additional water just squished out the top.

My goal for the day was Little Rock Pond, but it took me 8 hours of hiking to cover the less than 15 miles to Lost Pond Shelter, and being after 5:00PM I called it quits here.

The ground here is just flowing with water everywhere. It has rained so much, so often, that there is simply no place for the water to go. The ground is completely saturated. With these conditions, I am glad I use a hammock and not a tent.

Here's hoping for drier weather tomorrow.

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

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

Zero Day in Manchester Center

2009-07-30T19:54:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 7/30

AT Miles = 0 / 1640.6
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 0 / 1683.8

Miles to Katahdin = 537.7

A day of no forward progress, but a good day nonetheless.

The hostel here is a wonderful, comfortable place, spo last night I
decided to take a zero here. The most strenuous thing I did today was
to walk the mile and a half into town, where I went to see a movie
before walking up the street to the local steak house where I had a
big dinner and a beer.

Most of the day I hung around the hostel. I cooked up the food I
originally bought for last night's dinner as today's lunch. I ate a
huge plate of sausage and peppers and pasta, and what I couldn't eat
some of the other hikers finished. For dessert I had another pint of
Ben & Jerrys, this time Cherry Garcia.

Tomorrow I will be back on the trail; I promise. The forecast says
there is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow, but Saturday looks to be dry.
That;s something to look forward to.

I got an email today from a couple that live in New Hampshire and are
apparently reading this blog, offering me a shower and a place to
sleep when I get near their home. It is that kind of amazing
generosity that makes an AT hike such a special experience, and I am
looking forward to meeting them.

After I finished my dinner at the steak house I called Jeff, the
hostel proprietor, for a ride back to the hostel. As we were driving
back along the lovely, quintessential Vermont road to the hostel, we
passed a couple of cyclists out for their evening ride. Boy, I miss
cycling! I wish there were roads like these to cycle on back home. I
sure am looking forward to cycling somewhere with Jodi next summer.
Hey Jodi, let's spend a long weekend cycling up here in Vermont, and
we'll spend a night here at the hostel. I'm pretty sure Jeff would
welcome a couple of touring cyclists even though this is a hiker
hostel.

So now I have to spend a bit of time getting my bounce box together
for mailing tomorrow morning, and my bavkpacvk organized to head back
out to the trail.

Good night from Manchester Center, Vermont.

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

New Photos

2009-07-29T16:06:00.001-04:00

Pictures from the section from Dalton MA to Manchester Center VT can
be found here: http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/DaltonToManchesterCenter/

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

Spruce Peak Shelter to Manchester Center, VT

2009-07-29T16:05:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, 7/29

AT Miles = 2.8 / 1640.6
Other Miles = 0 / 54.1
Total Miles = 2.8 / 1683.8

Miles to Katahdin = 537.7

Again last night, it did not rain!

I was up early this morning and on the trailby a quarter to seven. It
was less than 3 miles to Rt 11/30, and I was there a few minutes after
8:00. It took about 40 seconds to get a ride into town. I told the
woman who picked me up that I had heard Up For Breakfast was a good
breakfast place, and she agreed that it was and said she could drop me
right there. By 8:30 I was sitting down to a great breakfast, which I
stretched out for an hour or so. After that I sat outside for a while
finishing up my book and waiting for Northshire Books -- a GREAT book
store -- to open at 10:00. Once Northshire opened I spent a good hour
there browsing and bought a new book to read, then I walked down the
street towards the grocery store. I didn't quite make it to the
grocery store, stopping instead at a pizza restaurant for a pizza and
some soda. Finally, I made it to the grocery. I only needed a couple
of things for my hiking food bag, since I will be stopping in Rutland
in just two more days, but I bought I lot of food for tonight's meal.
I got a box of spaghetti, a jar of sauce, and a package of sweet
Italian sausage and some green and red peppers to saute up and add to
the sauce. I also bought some fresh fruit, and then I stopped at a
bagel / bakery and bought a sandwich for a mid-afternoon snack and
some bagels and cream cheese or tomorrow morning.

After all this shopping I lugged my backpack and my shopping bundles
down the street to the post office to pick up my bounce box, then I
called Jeff from the Green Mountain House hiker hostel and he drove
down to the post office and picked me up. This is a sweet place and I
have really been enjoying my time here.

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

Story Spring Shelter to Spruce Peak Shelter

2009-07-28T16:29:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, 7/28

AT Miles = 18.3 / 1637.8
Other Miles = 0.1 / 54.1
Total Miles = 18.4 / 1681.0

Miles to Katahdin = 540.5

It didn't rain last night. You might think that something not happening would be a non-event, but you'd be wrong. A night without rain is definitely an event this summer; an event to be cherished and celebrated. Not only did it not rain last night, but when I got up in the middle of the night I noticed these strange bright points of light in the sky. I had almost forgotten that stars exist.

It was a glorious, sunshiney, low humidity day today. I felt so good that I just flew over the trail. I stopped for my first lunch on the shore of Stratton Pond where I ate and chatted with the site caretaker. After that I pushed on to Prospect Rock, with views overlooking Manchester Center in the valley below, where I ate some more, and sat in the sun and read my book for an hour and a half, while my boots and socks dried in the sun.

I finally left there and hiked the last two miles here to the shelter. It was still nice while I was setting up camp and washing and doing other chores. Unfortunately now the sun has disappeared behind clouds, and the insects have appeared. I guess it isn't destined to be the wonderful evening I had anticipated. Bummer!

While at Prospect Rock I called Jeff at the Green Mountain House, a hiker hostel in Manchester Center, and reserved a bed for tomorrow night. I am only three miles from the road here. so I should be in town early tomorrow, do all my town chores, go to the post office to pick up my bounce box, then I will call Jeff for a ride to the hostel.

I just spent some time figuring out the next week or so of hiking. I should be in Rutland on Friday, ay Sherburne Pass and the Inn At Long Trail on Saturday, and in Hanover, NH next Tuesday!

I hope it stays dry tonight and tomorrow morning, so I don't have to try hitching into town while looking and smelling like a half-drowned rat.
--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

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

View From Prospect Rock

2009-07-28T12:26:00.001-04:00

Unbelievably, it is NOT raining!

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

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

Bennington VT to Story Spring Shelter

2009-07-28T09:09:00.001-04:00

Monday, 7/27

AT Miles = 19.0 / 1619.5
Other Miles = 0 / 54.0
Total Miles = 19.0 / 1662.6

Miles to Katahdin = 558.8

I got the world's easiest hitch this morning. I barely stuck my thumb out and the first car to come by stopped and gave me a ride back to the trail.

Fvor some reason I thought the climb up to Goddard Shelter was 8 1/2 miles, and I couldn't figure out why it took me so long to get there. Then I looked at my book and realized that it was really ten miles. Ten uphill miles in 4:15 isn't so bad after all.

I ate lunch there then pushed on another four miles to Kid Gore Shelter. This is the section of trail I help maintain with the CT GMC, and I usually hike up and down this hill while cutting brush and stuff, so it felt strange to just cruise down the trail at full speed.

Just as I was reaching Kid Gore a thundershower that I had been listening to for a while let loose. I sat in Kid Gore for an hour snacking and reading until two storms rolled past, then I pushed on to Story Spring, where I am now.

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

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

North Adams MA to Bennington VT

2009-07-26T20:36:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 7/26

AT Miles = 18.4 / 1600.5
Other Miles = 0.4 / 54.0
Total Miles = 18.8 / 1643.6

Miles to Katahdin = 577.8

After two days of easy slackpacking, I was back in harness today. It rained last night -- surprise, surprise -- and it was heavily overcast this morning, with everything still wet from last night. With all this rain the trail is ridiculously muddy, and slogging and slipping through all that mud seems to make the hiking twice as hard.

My original goal when I set out this morning was Congdon Camp, 14 miles in, but I got there around 2:30 and I started thinking about the descent down to Rt 9, fouir miles further north. The trail goes down a long set of rock stairs coming steeply down., and knowing that it was almost certain to rain tonight I knew I'd be coming down some very wet rocks in the morning. Rather than do that, I decided to push on to the next shelter, a couple miles north of Rt 9. Then, while hiking, I realized that when I crossed Rt 9 I would be just a few miles from Bennington VT, and its motels, and restaurants, and stores selling ice cream. Next thing I knew I was standing on the shoulder of Rt 9 with my thumb out, and soon after I was in a nice hot shower getting ready to venture forth in search of a nice dinner. Such is the life of a thru-hiker!

Seriously, I have been feeling a lot better after four days of eating good meals, and while it will surely make this hike more expensive, I am vowing to spend more nights in town and eat as well as I can.

I've just perused the map and guidebook, and my plan is to hike the 19 miles to Story Spring Shelter tomorrow, then on Tuesday up and over Stratton Mountain, down to Stratton Pond, and on to Spruce Peak Shelter, about 18 1/2 miles. That will leave me positioned for a 3 mile nero into Manchester Center on Wednesday.

I feel like I need to make some real progress northward this week, and this will be a good start.

Did you notice I just passed 1600 miles today?

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

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

Cheshire MA to North Adams MA

2009-07-25T20:30:00.001-04:00

Saturday, 7/25

AT Miles = 14.4 / 1582.1
Other Miles = 0.4 / 53.6
Total Miles = 14.8 / 1624.8

Miles to Katahdin = 596.2

Another day of slackpacking. After a hearty breakfast Jodi dropped me
off back in Cheshire and I hiked up to the summit of Greylock as the
sun burned through the clouds and fog. I got my first view of Greylock
on this trip when I was a mile or so south of the summit. Greylock is
usually visible from multiple spots in Connecticut and southern
Massachusetts, but the weather has been so wet and cloudy that I have
had no views at all.

It was really nice making the climb from 974' to 3491' (highest point
in Massachusetts) without my heavy backpack. I didn't even have to
carry my lunch as Jodi met me at the summit of Greylock with a big fat
grinder (hoagie, sub, spukie, po' boy) and a soda. She also brought a
bagful of sweet, delicious oranges and some grapes, which we shared
with some of the other hikers we saw there.

I finished my hiking day by hiking down the north side of Greylock
until the point where the trail crosses Rt 2 in North Adams. I will
start there tomorrow morning, with my full backpack this time, heading
for Vermont only 4 miles further north.

It has been really great slackpacking these last two days, and I will
be really sad, for multiple reasons, to leave Jodi tomorrow and watch
her drive off heading for home.

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

Dalton MA to Cheshire MA

2009-07-24T19:56:00.001-04:00

Friday, 7/24

AT Miles = 8.9 / 1567.7
Other Miles = 0 / 53.2
Total Miles = 8.9 / 1610.0

Miles to Katahdin = 610.6

So, slack-packing. Sa-weet! I coiuld definitely get used to this.

Jodi dropped me off in front of Tom Levardi's house in Dalton, which
is where she picked me up[ on Tuesday night, at 11:15 this morning.
The AT follows roads through town for a mile or so, and then turns off
into the woods. Since it just stopped raining this morning, there was
plenty of mud and wet rocks to contend with. But without a heavy pack
on my back, felt like I was flying. I covered the 9 miles to Cheshire
in under 3 hours, and at 2:10 I was walking the road into downtown
Cheshire and calling Jodi to come pick me up.

We headed back to the motel in Williamstown that Jodi had found for
us, showered, put on clean clothes, and were off for a nice dinner and
a martini. Now this is thru-hiking on the deluxe plan! Salad, fresh
bread, a couple of lamb chops and a baked potato, some fresh sauteed
vegetables, and some mud pie for dessert. All accompanied by a couple
of Sapphire martinis. Ahh!

Tomorrow Jodi will drop me off where she picked me up in Cheshire
today, and I will hike the 14 miles up and over Mount Greylock and
down to Rt 2 in North Adams. And since thwere is a road to the summit
of Greylock, Jodi can even meet me there with a nice lunch tomorrow!
How cool is that?

Unfortunately, this luxury can't go on forever. Come Sunday morning I
will be putting the backpack back on and hiking the last few miles of
Massachusetts and crossing into Vermont, the 12th of 14 trail states.

But for right now, I sure am enjoying my currently 'luxe existence!

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

Weather Forecast

2009-07-24T06:50:00.001-04:00

Does this make you want to get out in the woods or what?!

From www.wunderground.com:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forecast for Northern Berkshire

Updated: 5:02 am EDT on July 24, 2009

No Active Advisories (US Severe Weather)

Today

Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. A chance of thunderstorms...mainly this afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall this afternoon. Highs in the mid 70s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

» ZIP Code Detail

Tonight

A chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall in the evening. Lows in the upper 50s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Saturday

Partly sunny. Highs around 80. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

» ZIP Code Detail

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday

Partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning...then mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Humid with highs in the upper 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

» ZIP Code Detail

Sunday Night

A chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows in the lower 60s. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Monday and Monday Night

Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Lows in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Tuesday and Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy. Highs around 80. Lows in the upper 50s.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy in the morning...then becoming partly sunny. A chance of showers. A chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Wednesday Night and Thursday

Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 50s. Highs in the upper 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Photos

2009-07-23T17:47:00.001-04:00

As I think I mentioned before, Jodi brought my new camera when she met
me in Kent before we went to New York City for a few days. I took a
bunch of photos while we were in New York. Here are some of them:

http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/NewYorkCity/

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

Upper Goose Pond Cabin to Dalton, MA

2009-07-23T14:09:00.003-04:00

Tuesday, 7/21

AT Miles = 19.7 / 1558.8
Other Miles = 0.9 / 53.2
Total Miles = 20.6 / 1601.1

Miles to Katahdin = 619.5

Well. I was up at my usual 5:45 in the morning. And as usual, a swarm
of mosquitoes was buzzing around my hammock, underneath the tarp and
just outside of the mosquitoes netting. God bless whoever invented
mosquito netting!

As usual, I struck camp as quickly as possible, to avoid exposing
myself to the mosquitoes any longer than necessary. I had gone swimming
the previous afternoon in the pond, and my shorts and shirt had dried
very little overnight, so I got to enjoy the pleasure f pulling wet
clothes on first thing in the morning. Ah! That's got to beat a cup of
hot, fresh brewed coffee for waking you up in the morning!

The best part of staying at Upper Goose Pond Cabin is that the
caretakers cook pancakes for everybody every morning. I sat at the
table long enough to eat four before giving up my place to the next
shift.

When I let it was obvious that rain was imminent, so I rigged my pack
for rain. Since it has been so humid I haven't washed my socks in
several days -- I can't wash them when they won't dry for days and
days -- so I was wearing damp, dirty socks. Yuck!

About 2 miles after leaving the cabin the AT crosses the Mass Pike,
and then almost immediately Route 20. Just after crossing Rt 20 there
was trail magic in the form of a cooler of soda chained to a tree and
a bucket of goodies like oatmeal cookies and Yodels. I stopped the
chug a cola -- yeah, I know, it was right after breakfast. So? -- and
put some cookies and yodels in my pocket to eat as I walked --
mosquitoes, remember? A couple minutes later the rain started, and it
rained all day.

Shortly before reaching October Mountain Shelter I saw my third bear
of the hike as he or she ran off crashing through the undergrowth.Just
a few minutes later I passed a trio of southbound section hikers. As
hikers often do when traveling together, they made quite a bit of
noise chatting with each other. I told them about the bear just ahead
of them thinking that they might want to hike quietly in hopes of
catching a glimpse, but they responded by telling me they would be
sure to make plenty of noise as they hiked. Oh well. Their loss, I
guess. I also saw a pile of moose scat today, the first I've seen on the trail.

I took a break at October Mountain Lean-to, chatting a bit with Dixie
Dawg who was already there. It was cold sitting around in my wet
clothes and it soon looked like the rain was tapering off (though that turned out to be so very wrong!), so I set off again, bound for the Cooke Lady's house located just off the trail
in Becket, Massachusetts. There is a couple who own a house very close
to the trail who let hikers fill their water bottles and, if they are
home, offer cookies to every hiker that stops by. If you ask
permission, they will even let you camp in their yard. I stopped there
to fill my bottles with water that didn't need to be treated, and I
stood in their open garage and ate the cookies offered and chatted for
a while. I even plugged my cell phone in and charged it up a bit, and
ate most of my lunch in their dry garage. Then I headed back out into
the downpour.

From here my day went downhill fast. I had cooled down a lot while
standing around at the cookie Lady's house, so when I left I was
wearing my rain jacket over my already soaking wet clothes. Well, I
just got colder and colder, it rained harder and harder, I slogged
through mud several inches deep, I climbed up and down wet rocks, and
eventually I took a tumble and smacked my knee on a rock pretty hard.
Now I was cold, dirty, wet, and could hike only very slowly. Hiking
slowly meant I was not generating much heat, and my personal misery
quotient was hovering dangerously close to the red line.

I talked to Jodi on the phone several times yesterday and today, and
we agreed that she would drive out to Dalton and meet me this
afternoon. Unfortunately her job went way longer than expected and she
couldn't leave Boston until nearly 7:30. When it rains, it pours, you
might say. On the other hand, if she had been able to leave early she
would have been stuck in Dalton waiting for me, as I didn't manage to
reach town until 7:30 myself. By that time, with the heavy rain and
all, it was pretty dark in the woods and I could barely see where I
was going. There is a guy in Dalton named Tom Levardi. who for some
inexplicable reason just likes hikers and opens his home to them. By
the time I arrived there he had a houseful of hikers but I told him I
just needed a place to wait for my wife to arrive with the car and he
welcomed me in. Whew! It was so nice to be warm and dry for a change.
A couple of hours later Jodi arrived and we were off headed back home
to Quincy for a couple of days.

It is Thursday now. I made a trip to REI yesterday and bought a new
pair of hiking poles to replace the pair that, after over 1500 miles,
finally died on me. I also bought a new pack rain cover which
hopefully will be more waterproof than the one I had, and a new pair
of socks to replace a pair that now has gaping holes in the toes.
Tomorrow morning we will drive back out to Dalton. It is ten trail
miles from Dalton to Cheshire, and after stopping at the Dalton post
office to pick up my mail, Jodi will drop me off and I will slack pack
-- hike with only a day pack -- the ten miles to Cheshire, then Jodi
will pick me up in Cheshire and we will retire to a motel somewhere.
On Saturday Jodi will slack pack me again as I climb up and over Mount
Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. Since there is a road up
Greylock, Jodi can even meet me on top with a nice lunch! I'm hoping
by doing this I can continue to give my feet a bit of a rest, yet
still continue to make some miles. I will also be able to eat better.
I feel like I have been getting really run down lately, and that my
body is getting weaker and starting to break down on me. With the
Whites and the rough trail of Maine facing me, that worries me a lot.

By the way, Jodi and I cycled Greylock one weekend back in 2005:
http://www.allenf.com/mount_greylock.htm

619.5 more miles to Katahdin.

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

Misery

2009-07-21T17:16:00.001-04:00

Wet. Muddy. Cold. Feet are a mess. Fell and hurt my knee. Hiking 1 mph.

Heading home to sleep in my own bed for a day or two and try to regain some perspective.

"I shall return."

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

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

Mt Wilcox South Lean-to to Upper Goose Pond Cabin

2009-07-20T18:31:00.001-04:00

Monday, 7/20

AT Miles = 15.8 / 1538.2
Other Miles = 0.5 / 52.3
Total Miles = 16.3 / 1580.5

Wow! The mosquitoes were something else last night. Right after dinner I climbed into my hammock intending to read my book, but the swarm of mosquitoes just outside of the netting was amazing. Even the noise they made was very distracting. So I gave up on reading and listened to my radio with the earbuds. With my eyes shut, I could neither hear nor see the vicious little bastards as they flung themselves against the netting in their attempt to suck me dry of blood.

I didn't even try to eat breakfast before leaving camp this morning. I shoved a Snickers bar and a granola bar into my pocket and took off, eating as I walked. I hiked the 16+ miles to the cabin here with only one break, which I took when the trail crossed a field at the top of Pine Cobble just before Tyringham.

With the lack of breaks I made it here in record time, but I was exhausted when I got here. Upper Goose Pond is a beautiful pond, and the cabin here is great. It was not built as a trail shelter, but rather used to be a private cabin that is now run as a hiker cabin. There are volunteer caretakers here and for a small donation ($3 for camping outside, which I am) you get the run of the cabin, spring water carried from across the lake in a canoe, and a pancake breakfast in the morning. There is a bunkroom upstairs in the cabin, but I chose to set up my hammock outside as I know I will sleep better there.

I took a swim in the pond after I got here, and I do feel better for having done so. Unfortunately the weather looks like we are likely to get a storm tonight. When the weather is wet I can't wash my socks, since they would never dry.

The mosquitoes are taking a toll. My ankles are an ugly mess of scabbed over mosquito bites. Why my ankles? I've no idea. I theorize that they nestle down in my socks where I can't see them, and suck my blood at their leisure as I hike along.

I expect to be in Dalton early on Wednesday morning. If I can find a place to stay there, I will take a zero day and catch up on laundry and other chores. My clothes haven't seen a washing machine since Vernon, NJ, back on the 4th of July.

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

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

Hemlocks Lean-to to Mt Wilcox South Lean-to

2009-07-19T18:18:00.001-04:00

Sunday, 7/19

AT Miles = 19.7 / 1522.4
Other Miles = 0.2 / 51.8
Total Miles = 19.9 / 1564.2

Whew! Finally, I made some miles. I guess I can thank the mosquitoes! They were unbelievable today, and the only way I could cope was to hike full speed ahead. Once the trail came down off Jug End, it crossed a big low lying, wet area before climbing back up ibto the hills. The trail was fairly smooth, thankfully, and I could put the hammer down and try to outrun the hordes of mosquitoes. It seems that whenever I let my pace slow below about 2.5 mph, the swarm would descend. With negative reinforcement like that, I kept my speed up! I cranked out the first 7 miles, to where the trail crosses Rt 7, in a bit over three hours. There I stopped at a garden center type place that has some cold drinks and snacks for sale, and is friendly to hikers. I spent a half hour there drinking a cold Pepsi, eating chips, candy, and crackers, and availing myself of the luxury of a flush toilet. Then I filled my water bottles and headed back out to do battle once again with my pesky little opponents. Th
ere was a sign where the trail left the road saying that the trail was sometimes flooded and dangerous and if so describing a detour to use. Well, that's useless information. Tell me if the trail is currently flooded and if I need to use the detour or not.

As it turned out the trail was fine, and I again hiked at top speed and made the next 7 miles to Tom Leonard Shelter in another 3 hours, at 2:00PM. Here I stopped to eat lunch, and left a long entry in the shelter register for the Boy Scouts I shared camp with last night, as I knew they were bound for Tom Leonard today. I hope they coped with the mosquitoes okay. I really enjoyed their company last night.

Tomorrow I will be heading for Upper Goose Pond Cabin. I have been looking forward to this since I started my hike. At Upper Goose Pond Cabin the caretaker cooks blueberry pancakes for breakfast every morning. Yummy!

Have I mentioned the camera dilemma yet? I think I did tell you all that I killed the display on my old camera back in New Jersey, when I let the camera sit in a few incles of water. So Jodi bought me a new camera and brought it with her to Kent last Sunday. While we were in New York City I charged up the battery and played with it a lot while checking out all of the features, and I took a bunch of photos while we were in the city. Then when I got back on the trail I used it some on Wednesday, and when I next tried to use it on Thursday the battery was dead. I should have thought to recharge the battery after playing with it so much in NYC, but I didn't. Duh! Yet again, I am the victim of my own stupidity. I won't be able top charge the camera battery until I get my bounce box in Dalton on Wednesday. So of course now I pass something I want to photograph at least a dozen times a day.

Oh, Jodi told me that Alberto Contador won the first mountain stage in the Tour de France! Good going, Alberto! I must admit it would be nice to be sitting on the couch in front of our 60" plasma TV watching the Tour in HD with Jodi at my side. Ah well, choices must be made, and with choices come consequences.

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

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

Riga Lean-to To Hemlocks Lean-to

2009-07-18T16:21:00.001-04:00

Saturday, 7/18

AT Miles = 10.0 / 1502.7
Other Miles = 0.4 / 51.6
Total Miles = 10.4 / 1544.3

It rained last night. A lot. Again. Pretty much as soon as I got all my stuff hung out to dry, the clouds rolled in and the first of several storms came through.

I was up and out early this morning. There were too many mosquitoes to stand around eating breakfast, so I took off at 6:15 and ate breakfast when I got to the summit of Bear Mountain, where there was a bit of a breeze and therefore fewer mosquitoes.

Today presented a bit of a dilemma. I could either hike 10 miles, or 25 miles, but nothing in between. In between is a big low lying swampy area full of mosquitoes, so guerilla camping in there was out of the question.

I was thinking I was going to do the 25 miles, but I forgot how tough the three mountains -- Bear, Race, and Everett -- are. And with all the rain, all the rocks were wet and super slippery. So, it was 10 miles for the day.

By late morning the clouds were finally being burned off and the sun was breaking through. I stopped on the summit of Everett and just hung out in the sunshine for a while, chatting with a group of Boy Scouts from Rhode Island out for a weekend backpacking trip. While I was there Early Bear and Little Dipper showed up and we chatted a bit.

When I left Everett, since I was almost at the days destination, I took a small detour to Guilder Pond to swim. Early Bear and Little Dipper were there as well, as also were a few locals. There was a big rock ledge that sloped down into the water, and after taking a quick swim I lazed about in the sun long enough to get a bit of a sunburn on the back of my neck.

It is now a bit after 4:00 and I have set up camp, washed myself and my socks, and hung everything out on a line to get rid of some of the dankness. The Boy Scouts are here as well tonight and I look forward to some nice conversation.

Tomorrow I have a 19 mile day planned, so hopefully I will start getting in some miles again.

Oh, I passed the 1500 mile mark today. Only 675 miles left; a cake walk!

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

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

Silver Hill Campsite to Riga Lean-to

2009-07-17T15:15:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 7/16 & Friday, 7/17

Thursday:
AT Miles = 19.1 / 1485.2
Other Miles = 1.5 / 51.2
Total Miles = 20.6 / 1526.4

Friday:
AT Miles = 7.5 / 1492.7
Other Miles = 0 / 51.2
Total Miles = 7.5 / 1533.9

So, where to start? Yesterday was an okay day; lots of up and down, lots of humidity, lots of mosquitoes, lots of miles. There was a road walk of about 3 1/2 miles yesterday afternoon. A bridge the AT crosses is undergoing construction this summer and the vtrail has been detoured. The state even put up a whole series ofd those refective detour signs with a white blaze on them to denote the route. That was pretty cool, but road walking basically sucks. It really wears on the bottom of your feet.

I was in a pretty bad mood all day. I've been having a hard time mentally ever since New York. Then I got down to Limestone Springs Lean-to last night, which is way down in a swampy hole with swarms of mosquitoes, and my mood took a turn for the worse. I managed to get camp set up, do all my chores, and eat my dinner. Then we heard the rumble of approaching thunder and soon the first rain drops started to fall. That's when I crawled into my hammock with my book for the evening.

Soon after the real storm hit. Yowee! Rain; lots and lots of rain. Wind; lots and lots of wind. Then, just to mix things up; hail. Small hail. Big hail. Some of the hail chunks hit my little silnylon tarp so hard I was afraid they were going to rip right through it. There was so much rain the ground was just running with water everywhere. I am So glad I deon't use a tent. I surely would have been swamped. The storm finaly ended and my nest was still intact, so off to sleep I went.

When I woke up this morning it was warm, still, and 100% humidity. If mosquitoes ran the world this is the weather they would create every day. I almost took off wityhout eating breakfast, but decided had to eat so did so while walking quickly in circles to try to avoild the swarms of mosquitoes. Then I wasoff heading for Salisbury.

I passed Old Goat and Check Six on the way to town. While walking the road into town I passed the White Hart Inn, which had a sign outside proclaiming "Breakfast Lunch and Dinner Served Every Day". Yes!

The White Hart Inn is a rather fancy place that caters to New Yorkers with money that come up to the country on the weekend, and I was sweaty and dirty and stinky, so when they asked if I preferred to eat inside or on the porch, I chose a table outside on the porch. Just as I was sitting down Old Goat and Check Six came by and decided to join me. We had a wonderful breakfast that was a bit pricey, but worth every penny.

By the time breakfast was done, it was somehow almost 10:30. I left the Inn and continued my walk into town where I went to the grocery store and shopped for the next 5 days to Dalton, MA. After packing all my food away in my pack, I sat down and ate a pint of Ben & Jerrys New York Super Fudge Chunk (1200 calories, a great mid-morning snack) that I had also bought.

By now it was almost noon, and I headed back out of town and back on the trail. From Salisbury the AT climbs to the summit of Lion's Head, the southernmost summit of the Taconic Range. A bit north of Lion's Head is Riga Lean-to, with a nice view to the east over Twin Lakes and the hills beyond. When I got here there was a nice breeze blowing, and I decided to set up camp and dry my stuff out. Well, I did that, but now the breeze has died away to nothing, and the bugs are getting a bit nasty.

7 1/2 miles today is pathetic, but I want to relax and enjoy the afternoon reading my book. I hope my head gets back into this hike soon, or I will be facing trouble. So, I didn't even make it out of Connecticut today, but I will tomorrow. Massachusetts, here I come!

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

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

No Blog Tonight

2009-07-16T18:58:00.001-04:00

Hanging in my hammock listening to an approaching thunderstorm. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up tomorrow.

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

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

Kent CT to Silver Hill Campsite

2009-07-15T19:50:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, 7/15

AT Miles = 10.2 / 1466.1
Other Miles = 0 / 49.7
Total Miles = 10.2 / 1505.8

This morning I woke up in mid-town Manhattan -- at Lexington and 51st Street -- and tonight I am going to sleep at Silver Hill Campsite on the AT in Connecticut. Quite the transition!

After three wonderful days of good food, good drink, jazz clubs, Central Park, harbor cruises, Times Square, and etc., I am now back on the trail. It was really hard to say goodbye to Jodi this afternoon and watch her drive away. The urge to go with her was powerful. I was actually looking forward to there being some other hikers at the campsite so I would have company to keep me occupied, but alas I am here alone tonight. I started reading "The Monkey Wrench Gang" while we were in NYC, so once I finish my chores and get camp squared away for the night, I will crawl into my hammock away from the pesky mosquitoes and lose myself in the adventures of Doc and Bonnie as they level billboards along the desert highways.

I used to bring Anju camping here quite often when she was young, so this place holds many sweet memories for me. Anju, you remember camping at Silver Hill, don't you?

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

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

2009 Nobo Thru-Hiker Statistics

2009-07-14T13:32:00.001-04:00

Here are some statistics for North-bound hikers, compiled by the ATC,
as of July 9:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805579/k.DA92/2000Milers_Facts_and_Statistics.htm

2009 Hiker Counts (updated JULY 9)

Northbound (Georgia to Maine)

Springer Mtn., Ga.
1425

Neels Gap, Ga. (30 miles)
1325

Fontana Dam, N.C. (160 miles)
N/A

Harpers Ferry, W.Va. (1,000 miles)
637

Katahdin, Maine (2,176 miles)
6

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

New Photos

2009-07-14T08:11:00.004-04:00

Photos for the section from Delaware Water Gap to Kent CT are available here: http://www.allenf.com/gallery2/main.php/v/AT2009/DWGtoKent/

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

Telephone Pioneer Shelter to Kent CT

2009-07-14T08:06:00.001-04:00

Friday, 7/10 - Sunday, 7/12

Friday:
AT Miles = 12.9 / 1447.4
Other Miles = 0 / 49.7
Total Miles = 12.9 / 1487.1

Saturday:
AT Miles = 8.2 / 1455.6
Other Miles = 0 / 49.7
Total Miles = 8.2 / 1495.3

Sunday:
AT Miles = 0.3 / 1455.9
Other Miles = 0 /49.7
Total Miles = 0.3 / 1495.6

Friday was a gorgeous day, and I had only a short hike to get across
the state line into Connecticut and on to the campsite at Ten Mile
River, where I was to meet a couple of long time hiking friends from
the CT GMC. I was at Ten Mile River around 1:00, and I found a nice
spot to hang my hammock. I washed up and did my laundry, then put up
my bear line as a clothesline and hung everything out to dry.

About 3:30 Dick showed up, carrying snacks and beer along with his
camping gear. A few hours later Jim joined us. We had a great evening
chatting and reminiscing.One of the pleasantestr days I've had on this
whole trip.

On Saturday Jim had to head back home as he had work and family
obligations awaiting his attention. Jim and Dick spotted Dick's car
just past Mt Algo leanto, then Jim dropped Dick back at Bulls Bridge
and Dick and I started hiking north, up and over Schagticoke Mountain
and north to Mt Algo Leanto. It's funny how no matter whether the day
is 8 miles or 18 miles, the last mile always seems to take forever.

Just after starting the hike this morning I came upon two deer in the
woods. They stopped and stared at me and I did the same in return.
Eventually the lead deer apparently decided I posed no threat and
resumed browsing, slowly moving obliquely closer and closer to me. The
2nd deer was having none of it and remained on high alert. The 2nd
deer surprised me by snorting a warning. I've never seen that happen
before. The 1st deer looked at me again, but again decided I was
harmless and continued browsing. A few moments later deer #2 snorted
loudly three times, stamped her hoof, and turned and fled. Finally,
deer #1 looked back, decided to folow, and fled as well. That was
something to see!

When we got to Mt Algo Papa Kiwi was there. He was taking his zero day
in Kent by staying at the Leanto andf walking into town when he needed
to. Later that evening a bunch of thru-hikers showed up, including
MD3, OG, Joker, FlyBy, and a bunch of others.

On Sunday morning Dick and I hiked the .3 mile to the road where his
truck was parked, then Dick dropped me at the diner in Kent and he
left for home. After a big breakfast at the diner, I hung around for
about 45 minutes before walking over to the IGA and buying a pint of
Ben & Jerry's ice cream for dessert. (You eat ice cream with
breakfast, don't you?). Then I settled down with my book to wait for
Jodi to arrive around 11:00. Finally, we waited for some of my family
to arive and join us for lunch. There was a mix up and we never did
connect with my brother Dana. We did see my daughter Anju, her
boyfriend Drew, my ex-wife June, and Anju's godfather Henry.

Once the little family reunion was over Jodi and I left and drove to
New York City, where we are spending a few days living the high life.
It sure is different than the trail and the small towns I usually
spend time in. I remember gettinbg my hair cut in Tennessee, where it
cost $7. I got my haircut yesterday morning and it cost me $25! $25
could buy a lot of gorp or Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I will be back on the trail sometime Wednesday afternoon. Until then,
Jodi and I are having a wonderful time living in the lap of luxury.

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

RPH Shelter to Telephone Pioneer Shelter

2009-07-09T17:43:00.001-04:00

Thursday, 7/9

AT Miles = 16.8 / 1434.5
Other Miles = 0.9 / 49.7
Total Miles = 17.7 / 1474.2

This afternoon I soaked my feet in Nuclear Lake. Tonight I will check to see if they glow in the dark.

Another day of nothing special. There were a couple of local views early this morning, then I mostly just walked through the woods all day.

I did take a side-trip down the road when the trail crossed NY52 this morning, to get myself a quart of OJ, a toasted bagel with cream cheese, and some other junk food from a deli.

And a bit after lunch time I came upon a group of about 30 girls out for a day hike with one or two adult "leaders" who had absolutely no idea where they were. I took a few minutes to show the leader where they were on the map, but even after asking her several times where they were trying to go, all I got was that they were headed to some lake. Exactly what lake, I never learned. It's rather scary to think that someone in charge of such a big group of kids would be out in the woods with apparently no clue as to what she is doing.

I met a father and son team of southbounders a bit later, and I asked them to be as helpful as possible if they were asked for information. I was thinking maybe the woman leading the group was uncertain if she could trust the info I gave her, but if it were reinforced by someone else she might be more inclined to believe it.

I had plans to meet a GMC friend here tonight, and I was greatly looking forward to that, but he had to cancel at the last minute.

The weather has been quite strange. The wind is out of the northeast, which around here usually spells trouble, and it is quite chilly. It certainly doesn't feel like July. Also, I have noticed that whenever it gets the least bit chilly I feel the cold very quickly. That probably has to do with how skinny I've become. I feel a bit foolish wearing my down sweather in July, but I do it anyway.

I will be meeting another GMC friend tomorrow afternoon at Ten Mile River. I used to take my daughter Anju camping there quite often when she was little, so the place has many pleasant associations for me.

Anybody know why Nuclear Lake is called Nuclear Lake? Maybe somebody could do a bit of googling and find out for me, as I am quite curious. I sort of remember reading about it many years ago, but I can't remember any of the details.

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

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

Graymoor Monastery to RPH Shelter

2009-07-08T17:17:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, 7/8

AT Miles = 18.8 / 1417.7
Other Miles = 0.4 / 48.8
Total Miles = 19.2 / 1456.5

There really isn't a whole lot to say about today. It was a nice enough day, but I just walked through the woods for 9 hours. There was one view where the trail climbed to a ridge overlooking Canopus Lake, and that was it.

There was at least one more thunder storm last night, and everything was wet when I got up this morning. The sky has been partly cloudy all day, but it hasn't rained. Since the woods are wet there are plenty of mosquitoes out and about, doing their mosquitoey best to make me lose my temper. Sometimes they succeed.

I will be at Telephone Pioneer Shelter tomorrow, 16.8 miles from here. I know I have been kind of erratic on trying to figure out where I will be and when as I go throuigh Connecticut, but here are my present thoughts:

I am trying to get my family together for lunch in Kent on Sunday. I don't know yet if that will come to pass or not, as I haven't heard back from my brothers yet. It is all last minute, as it was impossible to be certain when I would reach Connecticut until the last day or so. But, assuming we meet in Kent on Sunday, that means I will have a very easy schedule until then. From Telephone Pioneer Shelter I will hike to Ten Mile River on Friday. That is only 12.7 miles. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can enjoy myself kicking back at Ten Mile River. Then on Saturday I will hike the very short 8.4 miles to Mt Algo Shelter, which is just outside of Kent. Then on Sunday I have the entire morning to walk the 1 mile from the shelter into town. Jodi will meet me in Kent, and after lunch we will be off to New York City to live the high life for a few days.

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

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

CT Addendum

2009-07-07T18:55:00.001-04:00

all I wrote previously about CT still holds, except that I will be leaving sometime on Sunday to go to NYC with Jodi. Because of a change in her work schedule, the NYC trip had to move from Tuesday to Sunday.

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

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

At Graymoor Monastery

2009-07-07T18:18:00.001-04:00

My hammock set up in the soccer goal at the ball field of Graymoor Friary.

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

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

Bear Mountain Bridge

2009-07-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

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

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

Coming to Connecticut

2009-07-07T17:03:00.001-04:00

So, I will be coming through Connecticut this weekend. If all goes according to plan I will be at Telephone Pioneer Shelter on Thursday night. That is just 10 miles short of the CT border at Hoyt Road.

If I go full speed through CT, I would be at Mt Algo on Friday night, Pine Swamp on Saturday night, and up on the Riga Plateau on Sunday night. I need to go into either Kent or Salisbury on Saturday or Sunday to resupply.

But there is no reason why I need to go through CT full tilt. If anybody wants to come out and see me, or even hike with me, I would be thrilled to take it easy and do a couple of short days.

I could stop at Ten Mile River on Friday, and do a couple of short days. That would still get me to Kent in time to resupply.

So, if anybody has any inclination in this direction, please let me know and we can work out where / when to meet up.

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

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

William Brien Shelter to Graymoor Monastery

2009-07-07T16:57:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 7/7

AT Miles = 15.3 / 1398.9
Other Miles = 0.4 / 48.4
Total Miles = 15.7 / 1447.3

Whew! An eventful day!

Early this morning I had to cross the Palisades Parkway during morning rush hour. This was like a game of live-action Frogger, only without the reset button. At the time I thought that was going to be the highlight -- or lowlight -- of the day.

A few hours later I made it to the summit of Bear Mountain. A motorcyclist asked me if I had hiked all the way from the bottom. I said "I hiked all the way from Georgia." This lead to a conversation which I really enjoyed. He is a just retired cop from New Jersey and we talked about his many cross-country motorcycle trips and his plans to ride to Alaska. We also talked about hiking and bicycle touring. When it came time to leave he told me he was also a pastor -- which I had figured since he had a well-thumbed bible sitting next to him as we talked -- and he asked if he could pray for me, which I happily agreed to. Many of you know I am not at all religious, but it always touches me when people who believe in God's power are moved to try to share that power with me.

After leaving the summit of Bear Mountain I made my way down to the bottom where the AT goes through the Bear Mountain Zoo. This is a sad little zoo with desultory animals stuck in tiny little cages. I took no pictures as it was nothing to celebrate.

After the zoo, I crossed the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge. This seems like a huge milestone to me. It was fun walking across the bridge and being able to look up and down the river at my leisure. The Hudson is a huge river here, but I remember hiking in the Adirondaks and stepping across the highest head-water of the Hudson, which is a little brook draining a swampy area just below the summit of Mount Marcy.

As I was crossing the Hudson I noticed storm clouds building in from the west, and once I was on the east side of the river I had to stop and put the rain cover on my pack as a few raindrops were falling. Soon I was back in the woods and climbing the side of a mountain, when I heard thunder to the west. A few minutes later it sounded like a freight train was coming through the woods behind me, and I was hit by a wall of wind. The trees bent over, all the leaves turned inside out, and leaves and bits of branches -- most small but a few rather big -- were flying through the air and hitting me. I wasn't sure what to do so I found the fattest, sturdiest looking tree I could and stood in its lee. My thinking was that the tree would hopefully stop any large branches from hitting me directly.

Well, it was all over in ten minutes or so, but it felt like an eternity while it was going on. When I heard sirens going off in the valley below it only added to my anxiety. Once the worst was over I felt an incredible elation. Living removed from the comforts of home sometimes subjects you to discomfort, but it also exposes you to euphoric moments. I have been smiling all afternoon since.

So right now I am sitting in the pavilion at the ball field of the Graymoor Monastery. There is a shower, though it is cold, a sink with running water, electricity, picnic tables, and a porta-john across the field. Since it is a ball field I wasn't sure how I was going to set up my hammock, but I solved that dilemma by setting it up between the steel uprights of the soccer goal. It turned out to be the perfect size for my hammock.

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

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

Vernon NJ to William Brien Shelter

2009-07-06T18:15:00.000-04:00

Sunday, 7/5 & Monday, 7/6

Sunday
AT Miles = 17.1 / 1364.0
Other Miles = 0.4 / 47.4
Total Miles = 17.5 / 1411.4

Monday
AT Miles = 19.6 / 1383.6
Other Miles = 0.6 / 48.0
Total Miles = 20.2 / 1431.6

My apologies yet again for combining days. The last couple of days have ended with me just exhausted. I am not sure why. I'm not doing huge miles that I've never done before or anything like that. Maybe I am just getting worn out and need a few days off. We'll see.

Anyway, I left New Jersey and crossed into New York yesterday. Soon afterwards I was atop the ledges of Prospect Rock eating my lunch while looking down on all the boats on Greenwood Lake, with the Manhattan skyline just visible in the far distance. That was pretty darned cool!

Whoever laid out the trail in New York really likes scrambling around on huge rock ledges, and goes out of the way to route the trail over every chunk of rock to be found. It's fun for a while, but it gets old fast. I don't even want to think what it would have been like if it were raining!

Yesterday was Jodi and my 3rd anniversary! On our anniversary last year we were cycling from Boston to DC. This year Jodi was out in Denver visiting friends and I was hiking the AT in New York. Gosh, I miss Jodi! The single biggest negative about hiking the trail is being separated for so much time.

Today was more up and down hiking. We haven't had to do so much up and down since probably way back in southern Virginia, and it makes a huge difference in how tired my legs feel at the end of the day.

Right now I am less than 10 trail miles from the Hudson River, which I will cross tomorrow. That seems like a huge milestone to me. Tomorrow night I plan to camp at the Graymoor Monastery, just outside of Peekskill, NY. The monastery provides camping, a covered pavilion, water, privy, and shower for hikers, all free of charge. In the past they even invited hikers in for dinner with them, but they no longer do that. Since there is a 31 mile gap with no trail shelters, the monastery's generosity solves a huge logistical problem for hikers.
--
"Home is where I hang my food bag"

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

Pochuk Mountain Shelter to St Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel in Vernon, NJ

2009-07-04T15:01:00.002-04:00

Saturday, 7/4
Happy Independence Day!

AT Miles = 6.5 / 1346.9
Other Miles = 0.1 / 47.0
Total Miles = 6.6 / 1393.9

Wow, the campsite was crowded last night! Only a few thru-hikers but a
lot of people out for the long holiday weekend. Someone set up their
tent so it was actually partially under my hammock tarp!

I was up early this morning, and not particularly caring if I woke up
my too close neighbor while packing. Yeah, that's a bit cranky of me,
but that's the way I felt. I had less than 7 miles to go to reach NJ
94 from where I would hitch into Vernon, and I knew I'd be getting
there early. It was a really nice morning's walk, which included a bit
of skirting through some neighborhoods with back yards visible through
the trees, but was highlighted by the Pochuk Boardwalk, which is a
boardwalk through a swampy area that goes for about 3/4 mile. It was
really beautiful in the dry morning air and alternating sunshine and
shade.

Since most of the walk was flat this morning, I was at the road by
9:15. After double checking my map and guidebook to make sure I was at
the correct road (a little sign identifying roads as the trail reaches
them would be really nice!), I stuck my thumb out in hopes of a ride
to town. In some places it is really easy to hitchhike, and in some it
is not. This is one of the ones that is not. For one thing the road is
narrow with no shoulders, and the traffic is reasonably heavy and
fast, so it is a tough place for a driver to stop. So I stood there
for quite a while trying to look as respectable as possible, but with
no luck. I finally decided that I would keep trying until 9:45., and
if I hadn't gotten a ride then I would start walking the 2.4 miles to
town. That would be well under an hour of walking, but walking on the
road is brutal on the feet, and my feet already hurt badly enough.

Well, at 9:43 I got a ride! Just in the nick of time. The driver
apparently wasn't a local, as he had NY plates on his truck and he
didn't know where the church was in this little town, but he was
patient enough to drive around a bit and we asked directions and
finally he dropped me just across the street from the church.

One of the recurring stories you hear on the trail is of hikers
hitching somewhere and when they get out of the vehicle the driver
takes off not realizing that a backpack or hiking poles are still in
the back of their vehicle, so whenever I hitch I always leave the door
open when I get out, then I go get my stuff out of the back of the
vehicle, then finally I go back, stick my head in the door and thank
the driver again, then close the door. Just a little bit of insurance.

The hostel here is quite nice. There is a big room with carpeting on
the floor, a computer, and a TV with cable. There is a kitchen which
they allow hikers to use. There is also a clean batroom with a shower,
plenty of soaps and shampoo and towels, and a washer and dryer. Heck,
they even have a printer hooked up to the computer. I did the clothes
I hike in every day, and all my nasty socks, in one load, putting on
my long pants. which I rarely wear now that it's warm every day, after
my shower. Then when the first load was done I put my hiking clothes
back on, and washed my other clothes, along with all my socks again --
they can surely use two washings -- and a load of dirty towels that
were in the hamper from previous hikers staying here last night. So
every bit of clothing I have is now clean and dry. Quite an
accomplishment.

I've made my foray to the grocery store, and I have stocked up with
enough food to get me to Kent, CT. Wow, it's hard to believe I will
soon be back in my native New England! I've checked the forecast for
the next week, and it looks about as good as one could possibly hope.
Maybe some rain showers one night, but mostly sunny and warm but not
too hot, all week.

I ate lunch at Burger King on the way to the grocery store, and had a
pint of Ben & Jerrys ice cream right after shopping, so I will try to
find something a bit healthier for dinner tonight. It loosk like there
is a diner of some kind open around the corner. Maybe I'll try that.

Since there are no bunks here, and since I don't carry a sleeping pad
since I don't need one with my hammock, I am planning to sleep in the
reclining lounge chair here tonight. I hope there aren't too many
other hikers coming, as that could mess up those plans!

I know the Tour de France started today, and I was hoping to get to
watch it on TV, but apparently they don't get Versus here. Darn!

Oh, one last thing. I toasted my camera the other day. I had my
backpack on the ground under the eaves of the shelter at Rutherford
Shelter when that thunderstorm rolled in, and I thought it was safe
and dry, but the water was rolling in on the ground and my pack, with
my camera in the left hipbelt pocket, was sitting in several inches of
water. That water seems to have destroyed the display on the camera.
So I have Jodi doing a bit of research on a new camera. Hopefully I'll
get it replaced soon.

The atatched picture is of the main room here at the hostel. The blue
chair in the middle is the recliner I plan to sleep on, maybe while
one of the videos they have here plays on the TV. Do women sleep with
the TV on too, or is that mostly a guy thing?

Here's hoping everyone is having a Fabulous Fourth. I am certainly
enjoying mine. While I was at the A&P shopping, I was thinking about
just how much fun I was having doing that simple chore. Such an array
of food to choose from! If I could only eat it all.

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

Rutherford Shelter to Pochuk Mountain Shelter

2009-07-03T18:11:00.001-04:00

Friday, 7/3

AT Miles = 16.7 / 1340.4
Other Miles = 0.7 / 46.9
Total Miles = 17.4 / 1387.3

Every time I woke up last night I could hear the swarm of mosquitoes buzzing on the other side of the netting on my hammock. It was a bit unnerving, actually.

It was still very damp when I got up this morning, and I ate and packed hurriedly so I could get moving and try to escape the mosquitoes. Are you starting to see that tiny little insects are now in control of my life?

After the three falls I took yesterday, I was leery of all the wet rocks this morning and I moved more slowly and carefully than usual. When I got to High Point State Park I stopped at the tower just south of the High Point Monument; not for the view, as there wasn't anything to see but fog, but rather because it was windy up on top of the tower and I could sit and eat without the 'squitoes bothering me.

The AT does not go over High Point, but I took the few minutes necessary to drop my pack and scamper up to the highest point in New Jersey, and then back down.

After leaving the park the trail goes through some lowlands where it threads it's way through some nearly suburban neighborhoods. There was lots and lots (and lots and lots) of mud through here, but the air was freshening and felt drier and cooler, and the sun was starting to break through more and more. At one point I was actually in New York State, but only briefly before crossing back into New Jersey. Then the trail makes a loop through the Wallkill River (isn't Wallkill River a redundancy?) NWR. The sun was out now and at one point I came upon a large, expansive bench next to what I assume is a wildlife viewing blind, and I stopped here and spread all my wet stuff out. I ate my lunch and was just settling down with my book when I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. I just had time to get my gear stowed away when the sky opened up and it poured on me. So much for trying to dry my boots!

It was only a couple miles from the wildlife refuge to this shelter, and by the time I got here the sun was out again. The only problem I had is that I didn't read the book ahead of time, and thus did not know that the water supply for the shelter was at the bottom of Pochuk Mountain, 1/2 mile BEFORE I got to the shelter. When I got here and couldn't figure out where the water is, I reaqd the book then realized I had to walk a half mile back down the mountain, then of course climb the half mile back to the shelter. Duh!

I hung my hammock and strung my bear bag line as a clothesline, then out out all my wet stuff, and even my sleeping bag and the little down jacket I use as a pillow. They sure could use some fresh air and sunshine.

It clouded up again a little while ago and I put everything away. I think we might get another storm this evening, but it is definitely cooler than last night, and the forecast for the weekend is dry.

I have to go into Vernon, NJ tomorrow to resupply. I still haven't decided if I am going to stay in town or come back out onto the trail. If I stay in town tomorrow night then I will reach New York on Sunday. If I gho in and out of town tomorrow then I will sleep in New York tomorrow night.

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

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

DWG to Rutherford Shelter

2009-07-02T18:43:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, 7/1 & Thursday, 7/2

Wednesday
AT Miles = 23.6 / 1308.4
Other Miles = 1.2 / 45.4
Total Miles = 24.8 / 1353.8

Thursday
AT Miles = 15.3 / 1323.7
Other Miles = 0.8 / 46.2
Total Miles = 16.1 / 1369.9

Sorry, but I am combining two days' blogs again. I didn't journal last night because the mosquitoes were ferocious and they chased me into my hammock as soon as I finished my chores and ate my dinner.

Yesterday was a really nice day. I felt strong and ate up the miles. Sunfish Pond was beautiful in the morning mist. I saw a half dozen deer at various points during the morning, as well as rabbits and frogs and a raccoon. I caught up to the crowd that includes Squeegie and The Twins and Half Moon and Sunbeam at lunch time. I also met two section hikers named Howdy and Minnow. Oh, and D.O.C. was there. D.O.C. is a very cool young guy of 19, who is a bit of an accidental thru-hiker. He started out planning to hike from Fontana Dam to his home in Daleville, VA, but was enjoying it so much he just kept going.

A while after lunch I ran into D.O.C. and Howdy and Minnow again, and they were going to take a half mile side trail to a swimming pond, and I decided to go with them. It was a nice sunny afternoon and the water felt wonderful. By the time I got to the shelter my feet were pretty sore, and the mosquitoes were absolutely awful, but the day as a whole was wonderful.

Today, on the other hand, was a pretty miserable day. It rained early this morning and it stayed hot and very muggy all day. The mosquitoes have been awful.

So far on my hike I have fallen twice, both on the morning I walked into Pearisburg. Today, I took falls numbers 3, 4, and 5. Wet boots on wet rocks can be like ice. On one fall I landed on my wrist, and it is pretty sore. I don't think I did anything really bad. It isn't swollen or discolored, and I have full range of motion. But it feels very tender when I lean heavily into my hiking poles, which I do when going downhill.

So, I need to stop this and make my dinner, as it is 6:30. More tomorrow. Goodnight from NJ.

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

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