A Hop, Skip and a Jump





The real world is chasing us and we can hear it breathing heavy as it closes in.  There are now 114 miles between us and the northern terminus of this trail.  We are in Monson, Maine.  This is the last town.  Leaving here we enter the 100 mile wilderness and our last week in the woods.  There is no civilization until Baxter State Park. 

 

It has gotten cold.  I guess is does that this time of year at these latitudes.  It never ceases to amaze us that it was cold in Georgia when we started, we saw 100+ degree days this summer and now it is cold again.  When you walk through the seasons, the change is subtle.

 

Monson is a small town "in the middle of nowhere".  There are two hostels here.  Both are full of hikers striding to finish before the big freeze.  We know almost all of them, however, we have recently run into a few hikers on the trail whom we hadn't met yet.  After almost 6 months on the same path, that seems odd.  There are those hikers who knew they wouldn't make it to Mt. Katahdin before the mountain closes for safety reasons, usually Oct. 15th.  Many have chosen to "flip-flop".  This is when you leave the trail and head north, hike up Katahdin then south back to where you left off.  Some folks just hike slower, others needed to make some more money to continue, there were injuries that needed to heal and weddings to celebrate.  In any case, this flip-flopping has given us a chance to pass some old friends we hadn't seen in perhaps a thousand miles or more!

 

In the early days of the AT here in Maine, 1930's and 40's, it was set up for day hikers and those on shorter vacations.  It was never intended to be a trail to "through-hike" in a single season.  Silly.  Instead of going directly over the big peaks, it wound its way from fishing camp to fishing camp.  Hikers carried a bucket lunch and fly rod and arrived at log lodges where there awaited hot baths, beds and meals.  Oh how things have changed!  We ate breakfast the other day at one of the original camps.  It is just off the trail at Pierce Pond.  There is a hiker Lean-to (not called shelters in ME) at Pierce Pond as well.  To eat breakfast, hikers need to make a reservation the night before.  We mosied over, past the waterfall and across the hand-hewn cedar log bridge and signed up.  It consisted of 12 pancakes filled with blueberries, raspberries and apples, eggs, sausage, coffee and juice.  The real deal!  We were the only two there so Tim, the proprietor/cook/everything else, sat and ate with us and shared some of the history of the place.  The leaves are changing color now and the view from the dining room was lovely.  You don't find breakfast spots like this on Main St.

 

We have memories of hanging out around campfires in the Smoky Mountains, or scenic vistas in the hills of Virginia with new friends.  Though it seems so long ago, we have done nothing but continue going about our days in the same manner.  We have been living the dream.  It is coming to an end. It is bittersweet.

 

 

 

 

Clouds rolling in...

A couple of ladders.  Their sketchiness cannot be fully conveyed.

You can't miss this trail junction.

spongy

Ok, almost to the clouds!

A shore lunch, but without fish.

Bogs.  Thank goodness for boards.

Red bellied wood snake.

The trail changes color too!

Another fungus among us.

Live Free or Die

And so it goes. 298 miles of footpath left between us and Mt. Katahdin. We will be in Maine in a few miles. Our guide book, and some south-bounders (Sobos), tell us that the "most difficult or fun" mile of the trail lies ahead. The Mahoosuc notch is said to greet us with a jumbled pit of boulders the size of cars. We are currently celebrating having made it through the White Mtns by taking a "zero" day here in Gorham, NH. Zero is the number of trail miles we hiked today. We don't feel too guilty. Hike the Whites and you too will feel justified in taking some time to relax. It was definitely some of the most difficult trail we've seen. Straight up, straight down, jagged boulders above treeline, in the clouds, grab that tree and be sure not to slip. Oh look at that waterfall...no, wait, that's the trail. All that being said, it was lovely. These are the biggest mountains in the northeast and the most time we spend in the"alpine zone", near or above treeline. For most AT hikers it is a new and exciting experience to hike above treeline and be able to see the views we haven't had since the "balds" down south. For us it felt oddly familiar, like hiking back home in Montana. Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range look as though they could have been plucked from the Rockies and dropped amongst green hills. People from all over the east come to hike in the Whites. Most pay $80-120 a night to stay in one of the handful of huts operated by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club). For that price they get a bunk, no showers and dinner and breakfast served family style in the dining hall. For many this is seriously "roughing it". For a thru-hiker it is luxury with all the fixins. So the running water isn't hot, it comes out just by turning a handle! The AMC does allow for the huts to accept a limited number of thru-hikers (4 or so) each day to do work-for-stay. This usually involves some dish washing and sweeping in exchange for eating dinner and breakfast leftovers and sleeping on the floor. We took advantage of this opportunity on an afternoon where the weather was predicted to go south. It did. We stayed inside and polished off a turkey dinner with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy while a cold rain fell on all the poor suckers camped in the woods. The floor wasn't bad but with all the guests there was lots of noise and so we opted to go back to the tent after that. We did, however, stop in at some of the other huts and were successful at doing some work-for-sandwich! We hiked up to the top of Mt. Washington which is home to the "worst weather in America". There is a road to the top. There is a cog train as well. We had to wait in line to have our picture taken at the summit. I walked into the gift shop and heard a man ask the cashier, "So, is there a hiking trail that comes up here? Do people ever hike to the top?" My laughing out loud caught his attention so I felt I needed to explain my presence there. I'm not sure if he quite comprehended the scope of a long distance trail like this, or even believed me at all, though the cashier nodded in corroboration. We are just going to keep walking until we get to the end. Starting tomorrow!

When the going gets tough, you're almost close

Yesterday, we crossed the border from Vermont into New Hampshire.  We have less than 500 miles to go.  This may seem like a lot, and it is, but to us it means we are getting close.  We are in Hanover, NH.  Dartmouth college is here.  It is an extremely hiker friendly town. So far we have had free pizza, free snickers, free donuts and there is a free bagel waiting for us! 

 The forest in Vermont has been lovely.  You can't find a better mix of coniferous and deciduous forest.  It seems to change with every 0.2 of a mile.  The trail goes up and down, not too much, just enough. Enough to make me sweat where it drips off of my pack onto the back of my legs on the uphills and then dry off on the downs.  It is about to get difficult.  We are heading into "The Whites".  We have heard since the beginning of the trip that the White Mtns. of NH are the hardest, yet most beautiful part of the trail.  Lots of it are above tree line.  The weather can change at the drop of a hat (much like Montana).  It is steep.  When the trail was originally laid out through these parts they did  not try to find the easiest way up the hill.  Thoughts at the time were not about switchbacks or graded paths.  It was about getting to the top as fast as you can, meaning straight up.  Then down.  This type of hiking is not easy on the knees.  It will be a test of the shoes. 

We stopped in North Adams, Massachusetts for the better part of a day to check out the Mass MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art).  It was HUGE and awesome!  A day of Art is needed every once in a while. The Sol LeWitt retrospective is definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in the NE.

Crossing into Vermont the AT runs concurrently with the Long Trail for 100 miles or so.  This is a trail that runs from the southern border of Vermont up to Canada.  Lots of folks hike the "Long Trail" and it is always somewhat funny from our perspective to ask upon encountering them whether they are hiking the "Long Trail", or the "Longer Trail".  We do not, however, take it for granted that we are able to take the time to complete what many consider to be the "dream hike".  Though it may be tough, we are enjoying every step.

We intended to stop at Upper Goose Pond only to refill our water and take a quick dip.  It was early in the afternoon and we wanted to do some more miles.  The shelter here is a lovely two-story cabin with a working wood fireplace and a caretaker. They let you take canoes out to cruise around the pond.  We tailed a Beaver for a bit, back to his lodge. The place was full of our trail friends.  The weather forecast was for rain that night and the real kicker was that the caretaker feeds you blueberry pancakes and coffee in the morning!  We ended up staying the night, and so it goes.

We have hiked over several ski areas now.  The one pictured above is Bromley Mtn.  They let hikers sleep in the ski patrol shack at the summit.  A few section hikers carried a 30 rack of cheap beer up there along with a bag full of cheeseburgers.  We had a lovely evening with a gorgeous sunset and a sky full of stars.  We passed over Stratton Mtn and Killington as well.  It would be fun to come back sometime in the winter and do some snowboarding on these hills that we have already conquered. 

We got off the trail in Killington, VT to visit some of Butch's friends, Devin and Kiki.  They put us up for a night and we spent a relaxing afternoon just chilling out in their little cabin with their animals.  It was like having a day off from work.  Or something.  It is hard to describe the feeling of working hard all day, every day, but not actually going to a paid job.  Devin is a chef at a top-notch inn just up the way.  He made us a dinner that any hiker would go extra miles to devour.  Big filet mignons are not common fare in the woods.  We felt spoiled. 

There is little civilization left ahead of us.  The trail itself doesn't go directly through another town for quite a ways.  We still cross roads every now and then and if we need supplies we can generally hitch in without a problem.  We don't want to go out of our way too much at this point.   The nights are getting chilly and snow does fall here in September from time to time.  It is, however, worthwhile to detour for waffles served with ice cream and real maple syrup when you have the opportunity!  So long for now.  See you in Maine!

New England

It has been a busy past week and a half.  We had a great time in New York with my friends Joel and Dave!  Dave lives in Brooklyn and has for a few years now. He toured us around to a few choice spots in Manhattan on the evening when we first arrived.  We ate delicious, truly Italian hand-made pizza, drank beers in some eclectic pubs and ended the night with a Buffalo chicken and Gorgonzola stuffed, deep-fried rice ball at a punker bar completely covered with grafitti and sprinkled with mohawks.
The next day we went back into Manhattan with Joel and wandered around Chelsea, bopping into galleries, looking at art and just generally trying to adjust to the concrete jungle.  What a change of scenery!  We walked the highline, which has been converted from an elevated train track into a "green" walkway.  It is nice.  There are different plants and shrubs growing alongside this walking path that allows you to travel through the city without having to cross streets or deal with traffic.  It offers some unique views as well.

We ate lunch in China town.  Joel has been to "the city" quite a number of times and has some prime locales dialed in.  We ate good for cheap.  We wandered some more and then met up with Dave and went to see the new Batman movie.  The movie was ok, but the neat part is that it takes place in "Gotham City", which is really Manhattan.  There were lots of scenes in the movie that are fly-bys of the city.  When the film was over we walked out of the theater into midtown Manhattan, and the setting of the film! It was then that we took the subway up to Times Square where I proposed marriage to Butch (Sally)!

The next day Joel took us back to the trail.  We continued on up through New York.  We went over Bear Mountain (there are lots of "Bear Mtn"s) and down the other side where the trail crosses the Hudson river.  There is a popular recreation area there where many people come to escape the city.  There is a zoo, picnic area, concessions and a swimming pool!  The pool and zoo are free for hikers!  We took advantage and let the chlorinated water do its thing on our funk.

This part of the trail is the oldest section of the AT.  After the trail was first proposed they began work on this section and had it open up Bear Mtn. in 1923.  The rest of the trail wasn't complete until 1937.  This is also the lowest point on the AT.  At the bear cage in the zoo we go down to 124' above sea level. 

It was a  little heart-breaking to see the animals in cages, however, all of the animals there had some injury that prevented them from being able to live in the wild.  That made it a little easier to view.  There was a three legged Fox, crippled Coyotes, a busted Bald Eagle and other forest misfits. 

The trail in New York is scenic.  We commented often about how open the forest was.  Large trees sprung up from a grass covered forest floor that was broken up by large outcroppings of rock.  We wandered in and around, up, through and over, down, along and in-between these bones of the mountains.  The remainder of New York seemed to go smoothe.  There are several stopping points where one can grab a slice of pizza or a good deli sandwich just off the trail.  This always helps grease the wheels.

We were hiking with a guy named "70%" for a couple days near the end of New York.  We stopped one evening and went for a swim in Nuclear Lake. (we found out later that it was the site of a plutonium facility that had an explosion in the 70's)  There were two women who were there wading in the lake with their dogs running around.  We got to talking with them.  One of them said in kind of an off-hand way that if we were up in that area again we ought to stop by her place for a meal.  We didn't really take it serious, but before she left, she gave us more specific directions about the road she lived on, how close it was to the trail, to look for a red door and that we really should stop by.  The next morning Butch, 70% and I came knocking and Michele ended up making us a wonderful breakfast of Buckwheat pancakes, eggs, bacon and coffee.  What a treat!  We ate and talked and played with her dogs.  True Trail Magic.

It was then up into Connecticut.  We weren't there long. There are only 50 miles or so in CT. We crossed into Massachusetts yesterday after a couple days of rain and set our sights on Great Barrington.  Everything was wet.  Things were beginning to rot.  It doesn't take long in the woods for the dampness to begin to degrade even hi-tech fabrics.  We had heard that there was a couple, some former through-hikers, who leave cold sodas in a cooler by the trail and put people up at their place.  Indeed they do.  There were 17 hikers here last night.  It is a two bedroom apartment.  I'm not joking.  Bearwalker and Buttons have room inside for 6 or 7.  We camped in the yard.  Everyone is welcome to shower and cook inside.  Something about hiking and experiencing the generosity shown by so many changes you.  It makes you want to just give.  It has happened to these two.  They just started this "hostel" this year and will probably do it next year but are planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail the summer after that.  Initially they stayed in the larger of the two rooms here but then moved to the smaller room to give more floor space to the hikers.  Their days consist of making coffee, running hikers to trailheads, cleaning, going to work, picking up hikers, cleaning, pleading with their neighbors and chatting with the myriad dirtbags traipsing through their place.  I am on the computer here writing this blog wearing only my sleeping bag as Butch has taken all the clothes to the laundromat.  Bearwalker and Buttons have gone to work.  People are milling about.  Only on the trail does this scene not seem odd, or the circumstances not arouse suspicions. 

Our stop in New York allowed some old friends to catch up with us.  We have run into other friends who have been doing some south-bound slack-packing.  We continue to meet new people who know other people we know.  It is a great community.  Everyone is a character.


Oh, and we keep seeing cool bugs!