Southbound …

July 5, 2017

So here we are, heading south on the AT, hips a little creaky, legs a little rubbery, but ready for more adventure and beauty!  Jay, with the wisdom of experience, has scheduled ten easy miles for us, from Katahdin Stream Campground to Abol Pines Campground, ending our recovery day with a lovely fish and chips dinner at the Abol Bridge Northern Restaurant!

We are both sore, and battling headaches from the exertion of climbing Katahdin.  The miles slowly pass with much natural beauty attempting to distract us from the pain of our bodies.  Little Niagara and Big Niagara Falls are awesome!  Water pours over a series of ledges, throwing up mist and froth, swirling at the bottom into a classic pool.  “If this were anywhere else in the lower 48 states,” I remark to Jay, “there would be a road to these falls, with crowds of people!  Instead, we have it all to ourselves.  This is incredible!”

July 6, 2017

Both Jay and I are still tired from Katahdin!  This is very surprising to me.  I really expected to feel better today, after taking an easy day yesterday and getting a delicious meal at the restaurant.  I guess climbing that mountain is not something one does on a whim!

We begin to meet many other southbounders today.  All are tired, yet a little giddy.  After all, they just conquered a trail that had to be painted onto rocks!  How tough could the next 2,180 miles be compared to that?

As I think of all the people hiking the AT, each with his or her own agenda, schedule, ideas, joys, fears, experiences, a young hiker named Homer puts it into words:  “There is only one path, the path you take.”

July 7-9, 2017

We enter the 100 Mile Wilderness!

During this three days, we gradually recover our energy.  We also see many lakes and ponds, bogs, moss, trees, mountains.  Beauty is all around, it is our job to notice it.

We continue to meet more southbounders, beginning to put names with faces as we leapfrog with several small groups of hikers.

We hike, swim, eat, sleep, and get up to do it again!  The lakes and ponds are so shallow, that the water is actually warm, a real treat!  One day we see loons, another day we see mergansers.

On July 9, as I’m walking down the trail, I look up to see a marten peering at me from behind a tree trunk!  I stop, amazed and enthralled.  “Jay, look!” I whisper.  We watch as the marten runs up the tree trunk, peers at us again, makes a flying leap to another tree, then disappears into the green north woods.  Wow!

July 10, 2017

White Cap Mountain begins our day, the first mountain since Katahdin that is above tree-line.  My pack feels heavy, and I am very slow over rocks and roots.  The top is cold, windy, a little rainy.  We take a picture, then scurry down to the protection of tree-line!

This same day we also climb Hay Mountain, West Peak, and Gulf Hagas Mountain.  Yes, this is the AT. Either the trail goes up, or it goes down.  Yee-hah!

July 11-13, 2017

The trail continues to challenge us with bogs, boulders, roots, rocks, mud, granite, vertical scrambles and horizontal boardwalk balances!  A hiker named Mike describes the roots as looking like someone spilled a bowl of spaghetti across the ground.  When it rains, those roots are about as slippery as spaghetti also!

The trail also continues to give beauty at every turn, with sunlit lakes, misty bogs, mountain peak views, and deep forest shade.  My pace has slowed, from a 45 minute mile to a 75 minute mile.  It takes all day just to go 10 miles.  If I think of how slowly I am hiking, I get discouraged.  But Jay says to keep enjoying this beauty, and he is right.  We are lucky to have enough time, enjoying the warm summer months in these north woods.

July 14, 2017

We made it to Monson, Maine!  Hot showers! Clean clothes!  Resupply!  Restaurants!

July 15, 2017

Monson is having it’s Summerfest this weekend.  What fun!

The day ends with fireworks at the ball field while the Spring Creek Bar-b-que Restaurant pipes patriotic tunes, including, “Proud to Be an American” and “The 1812 Overture”.  What a lovely end to our zero day!

 

For more pictures of  our adventures, please see our photo pages on the Menu!