Day 162 – South Arm Rd to ME Rt 17

“My old Blue, he was a good old hound

You could hear him hollering miles around

When I get to Heaven first thing I’ll do

Is grab my horn and call for Blue” – The Byrds 

Up at 6:30. Shuttled to trail at 7:20. On trail at 7:40.

Partly cloudy, mid-60s. A bit humid and breezy.

Another day, another rebar ladder climb.

Nice view part way up Old Blue mountain looking southeast, down the valley of Black Brook to Ellis Pond. Love the low clouds in the valley.

Summited Old Blue mountain (3600 feet) at 9:35 and 2.8 miles in. Windy and chilly up here. Almost above tree line.

WTF. I’ve been dealing with lots of blowdowns for the last mile. Just keep getting worse.

Summited Bemis Mountain at 12:55 and  7 miles. I have 6.3 miles to go. It got very cold and spit rain for a while about 30 minutes ago. Seems better on this side of the mountain.

Nice view onto the series of lakes to the west. 

Reached Bemis Mountain Second Peak at 1:50. Called into the hostel to confirm pickup in 2 hours. Got 3.1 miles to go.

Arrived at ME 17 at 3:33. Sat down and looked over the Rangeley lakes. Tough hike the last 3 miles. Hard rocky downhills and a hard .7 mile climb up to the road. Some NOBOs here I have not seen since NY or earlier.

Shuttle picked me up at 4:00. Took 40 minutes to get to the hostel. 

Today’s 13.3 miles were harder than I expected. It was that final 3 that was a lot nastier than I expected. Tomorrow is 13 miles but half the elevation changes and nothing nasty other than maybe the first mile. I’m getting picked up at 3:00 so I’ve got a hard deadline tomorrow. Need to get on the trail earlier.

Weather looks okay next week for 2 days, then rain on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Ick 🙁 just not feeling like hiking. I’m ready to be done.

Celebrating my third and final night at Pine Ellis Hostel in Andover with the seafood platter at Mills Market. Eaten here 3 nights in a row as it’s all there is. My kind of place 🙂

Got shuttles and hostel arranged for Wednesday evening. 

Technical Notes:

• Pop Tarts 370
• Oreo 160
• Oreo 160
• Snickers 440
• Fatty Beef Stick 190
• Root Beer 260
• Seafood Platter 1300
• Misc 2000
• Water 1.7
• Miles 13.3
• Time 7:15
• Elevation Gain 4409
• Calories Consumed 4800
• Calories Burned 6100