Tag: Appalachian Trail

Friday, August 29, 2025. Up at 6:25. Overcast, cool, breezy, showers around noon.

Wishbone left camp (mile 2183.4) at 6:00am. He needs to be at the Baxter Park kiosk to meet the ranger at 7:00 to try to get one of the 12 hiker camp spots in the Birches Campground. Weather permitting he will try to summit tomorrow, Saturday. Weather does not look good for him.

We road walked a mile to the entrance to Baxter spark. Arrived a bit before 8:00am at the park entrance kiosk and talked with the ranger Donald Duck. He has the morning duty most days and is quite famous on the AT up this way. Wishbone is going to start with us and then meet us at the end and shuttle to Millinocket with us. It’s too risky to summit this afternoon with thunderstorms forecast after 1:00 on Katahdin.

Passed a minor waterfall at mile 4 and 9:30. Beautiful easy trail.

Minor water crossing. Ed got both feet wet up to the calves but no harm.

Stopped for second breakfast at 9:50 and 4.7 miles by the first waterfall on Nesowadnehunk Stream. Trail has been mellow with a slight incline and good footing. 

At 10:45 and 6.34 miles we reached Big Niagara Falls on Nesowadnehunk Stream. Impressive even in a drought! See Ed on the right side for scale.

YouTube Video of Big Niagara Falls on Nesowadnehunk Stream.

About .3 miles later we reached Little Niagara Falls on Nesowadnehunk Stream. Katahdin in the background shrouded in low clouds..

YouTube video of Little Niagara Falls on Nesowadnehunk Stream.

Getting close. Trail continues to be very pleasant.

There are a ton of day hiking trails up here. Well marked fortunately.

Arrived at Katahdin Stream Campground at the base of Mount Katahdin at 12:20. There are a pair of thru-hikers here who went up and down in 6 hours this morning. That’s insanely fast!  

Wishbone arrived about 10 minutes after we did. Ranger Donald Duck was up here covering for the normal day rangers who had to do a night rescue on the mountain last night. We talked for about half an hour. Great guy!

Lloyd shuttled us back to Millinocket along with Wishbone at 1:40. Just as the rain started. Yay. Wishbone headed back to Monson for the night and will drive his car back up here tomorrow and try to summit on Sunday.

Hung out at 100 Mile Wilderness Inn until 5:30. Got a well needed shower after 7 days on trail. Called Pitcrew, caught up on news and blogs. Went for a drink at the Blue Ox then had dinner at the restaurant across the street. Back to the Inn and in bed about 8:45.

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Payday 250
• Town food and drink
• Water liters 1
• Miles 9.9
• Time 4:45
• Up 1047
• Down 541
• Calories consumed lots
• Calories burned 1650

I got up at 1:00am and walked down to the lake to look at the stars. No clouds and very clear. Zero ambient light. The Milky Way was a bright band running diagonal over the lake. Stars from the horizon up to the Milky Way and back down behind me. Awesome view.

Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Up at 6:30. Cool, partly cloud, breezy. Nice hiking weather. 

On trail (mile 2157.7) at 8:00. We have 14.5 miles to go. 

Nice trail paralleling the lake this morning including some beach walks.

That turned into a good hard climb to our last decent mountain before Katahdin. Including some interesting rock formations. Tough rooty trail again.

Stopped on summit of Nesuntabunt Mountain for second breakfast at 10:25 and 4.5 miles in.

Good view of Momma K topped in clouds. Hopefully we will see her in sunshine later today.

YouTube video of Katahdin and lake.

Found something interesting at Wadleigh Pond Road.

Stopped to fill up on water at noon. Mother Nature’s boat ramp.

Stopped at Rainbow Stream Cascades waterfall at 1:15 and 8.75 miles for a snack. Falls are flowing, but not nearly what they normally would due to drought. 

Passed by Rainbow Springs Lean-To at 2:15. This was our backup in case of rain. 

Stopped at Rainbow Lake Dam at 3:10. Thought about camping here but decided to push on. Awesome view of Katahdin from the tent spots.

At 4:00 we made at camp at Rainbow Spring Campsite (mile 2172.3). Good tent sites with picnic table, sheltered from the wind, and an amazing piped spring! Older gentleman from Tennessee named Wishbone we met on day 2 is here finishing his Hundred Mile Wilderness section hike and his summit of Katahdin. Had been sectioning with his brother, but the brother went home last Wednesday from Monson.

We all had dinner together at 5:45. By 6:30 everybody was cold and tired, so we adjourned to our tents. Took care of chores including blog edits by 7:00. 

Going down to upper 40s and breezy tonight. Sleep pad is deflating within an hour. I picked a spot with a good bed of leaves for padding and insulation. Put two sit pads under the sleep pad at my torso to help with the cold that the ground sucks out of your body.

Good day overall. Just 1.5 days left on Maine on trail. Momma K is getting closer and closer.

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Trail mix 170
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Trail mix 170
• Peak Refuel White Chicken Chili 760
• Fig bar 200
• Payday 250
• Fatty beef stick 200
• Water liters 4
• Miles 14.86
• Time 8:20
• Up 2635
• Down 2201
• Calories consumed 2230
• Calories burned 2856

Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Up at 6:40. Warm, breezy, sunny. We are in no rush as we only have 11 flat miles. 

If there was any doubt that I have a leak in my sleep pad, last night took care of that. I had to put more air in it 4 times. I may try to find the leak and patch it this afternoon.

I’m also running low on batteries. Not sure why one of my power banks only lasted 2 nights. Should have been 3+. I may have left WiFi on yesterday 🙁

We took an hour to dry our tents and clothes on the beach this morning. Breeze and sun are great. Fully disassembled the inner from the outer tent to get things as dry as possible. Inner is dry and foot print is dry. Outer is close enough. Can dry the outer more at camp this afternoon before pitching the entire tent.

On trail (mile 2146.7) at 9:00. Hope to be at camp by 2:00.

We got our first on-trail view of Katahdin. Spectacular. And emotional. More on that later.

Slippery wooden walkways all morning from the rain. Very slippery.

We had 3 mellow water crossings. Most years you have to ford these. But with the drought this year we could rock hop.

Nice walk in the woods for a few miles.

Stopped at 12:15 and 7.33 miles for lunch and water refill. Yes those are stairs bolted into the river side.

Hard last 3.7 miles. Lots of slippery nasty roots and rocks. Ed took a nasty fall at one point, but all is good. 

Startled this little guy as he was eating lunch. Sorry dude.

We got to Nahmakanta Lake (mile 2157.7) at 2:20. There is a 4 person group already taking one big tent area. We found a great tent area very close to the lakeshore and about 100 feet from a picnic table. Setup camp and got a lot of gear out to air out. 

It’s VERY windy as you can tell from the whitecaps on the lake. The wind is a steady 15-20 mph and is 60 degrees at 4:00pm. Hopefully the wind chills out later.

Refilled my sleep pad at 5:42. It was mostly flat by 7:00. Gonna use mine and Ed’s sit pads and spare clothes to try to make a pallet under the sleep pad to help with the cold and the tree root that is in the middle of my back!

Wind is finally dying down as Ed and I make dinner at 7:30. How about that sunset!

In bed to read at 8:40. Wind is mellowed and lows tonight are about 50. The pallet I made under the half deflated air  mattress is helping. Fingers crossed on that front.

Good easy day today. I really wanted to swim in the lake but the wind and lack of sun messed that up. Got another lake to try that with tomorrow. Seeing Katahdin again brings up all kinds of mixed emotions. I’m exited to see it, but it dredges up some regrets from last year’s thru-hike. This could be my last time up here. Who knows. 

That post-hike depression thing can linger for a long time. I try to look at life through the front windshield and never the rear view mirror, but every now and then ….

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Fatty beef stick 300
• Trail mix 170
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Peak Refuel chicken rice w veggies 740
• Fritos 500
• Fig bar 200
• Water liters 4
• Miles 11.14
• Time 5:26
• Up 988
• Down 860
• Calories consumed 2390
• Calories burned 1800

Monday, August 25, 2025. Up at 6:40. Overcast, potential rain, cool. It drizzled last night. Much less rain than I expected. Storms on and off today per forecast.

Out of camp (mile 2127.1) at 8:00  Either 15.4 or 19.6 to go today.

Stopped at 8:40 for water.

Stopped at Mountain View Pond at 10:39 and 5.3 miles to fill water and have a snack. Small pond. Medium uphill last 1.2 miles. We have .7 down a saddle then .8 up to Little Boardman Mountain. Been misting heavily. Not quite rain yet. Hopefully that holds off till the afternoon. Back on trail at 10:50.

Summited Little Boardman Mountain at 11:40 and 6.84 miles. Surprisingly steep, but all easy after this!

Texted with Pitcrew, sort of. One bad bar cell service on the summit. Starting to rain so headed down.

Making good time now that we are in better terrain. Stopped at a great stream at 1:40 and 10.9 miles to get water and have lunch. Humid but the sun is trying g to come out. Maybe we missed the real rain? Back on trail at 2:00.

Took a break at Jo-Marry road at 3:33. This is one of the two major private logging roads through the HMW. Also where you can get a supply drop but we don’t need one. This road handles major logging traffic including 18 wheelers hauling big loads of logs. 

Beaver definitely at work here. 

Got to Antlers Camp (mile 2146.7) at 5:20 and 19.6 miles. Good long hard day. There are 7 other hikers here. Lots of room so we are all spread out. Beautiful campsite on Jo-Marry lake. Very big lake in a chain of lakes. If the sun were out I would go for a swim. Water is warm.

Got camp all setup and dried clothes a bit before the rain got here at 6:45. We were both all set up and in our tents about 5 minutes before the rain started. Surprisingly have decent cell service. Looks like rain will continue until around 8:30. We will be cooking dinner in our tent vestibules tonight.

Asleep at 9:30. Long day today but not too difficult other than carrying 30 pounds for 19 miles 🙂 My feet are feeling it.

Our long day today gives us a short flat 11 miles tomorrow. Should be mostly sunny which will let us dry our gear after all this rain this evening! We will get to camp around 2:00 at latest. It’s supposed to be an awesome camp right on the lake. Looking forward to that!

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Zero sugar sausage 200
• Fatty beef stick 300
• Payday 250
• Doritos 300
• Peak Refuel sweet pork and rice 800
• Water liters 5
• Miles 19.5
• Time 9:20
• Up 1686
• Down 3533
• Calories consumed 2300
• Calories burned 3313

Sunday, August 24, 2025. Up at 6:30. Warm and sunny and  breezy. Heading for low 80s.

Packed up, had breakfast, and got shuttled back to Monson at 8:10. Arrived at 100 Mile Wilderness Adventures camp in Monson at 9:40. 

Jordan picked us up at and we headed for Gulf Haggis via the Katahdin Ironworks Road at 9:55. Taking the long way in from Moosehead Lake due to the road being closed on the Millinocket side for bridge repairs.

Arrived at the trailhead in the Hundred Mile Wilderness (mile 2114.4) at 11:00. Immediately got on trail.

We made 5.6 miles by 1:30. Fairly cruisy with a few medium uphills. Took a break for a snack and to refill water before we start the hard climb. Next 5.8 miles to the summit of White Cap are 4 steep up and down mountains. Probably slow us down to a bit over 1 mile per hour. I hope to be at camp by 7:00pm.

We have been leapfrogging with Turtle since mile 1. He started in NY and is going to Katahdin, then flipping back to NY to complete his thru. He lost his water cap somehow while we were taking a break. I had a spare. The trail provides.

Nice waterfall.

Back on trail at 2:00. We have 4 summits this afternoon. Reached Gulf Haggis Mountain at 2:35. That was a nasty hard climb.

Crossed over West Peak about 3:30. Nasty climb number 2.

Summited Hay Mountain at 4:30. Nasty climb number 3.

Now we need to climb up to White Cap Mountain at over 3600 feet. That’s what we need to go over.

Dragged our butts up to the top of White Cap about 5:40. Tough ascent and the wind is at least 30 miles per hour above tree line with gusts that push me around a lot. Amazing views up here even with the cloud cover. Looking north into the HMW we can’t see any sign of civilization. 

YouTube video from White Cap Mountain.

Somehow there is decent cell service up here. Took a picture and sent it to Pitcrew. She sent me a picture back. 

We descended about a mile to Logan Brook Lean-To (mile 2127.1) by 6:20. The shelter as full and the tent sites were all taken. We got water and hiked about .25 miles to a decent stealth camp spot. Very rocky but it works. Finished setting up camp about 7:40. Made dinner in the dark and in bed to read by 8:30. 

It’s very windy with a high chance of rain tonight. Ed and I both put extra guylines to hold the tents in the wind. Fingers crossed. 

Not a bad day. Hard but not terrible. We are basically done with big climbs for the next 5 days. Yay! There is a 100% chance of rain tomorrow. Will see how wet we get. Probably soaked. Just hoping to put up our tents between storms tomorrow night. We have 15.3 miles to an OK spot, but we want to push for 19.4 to a good camp area. We will see how we feel by mid afternoon tomorrow.

Technical Notes:

• Donut holes 320
• Crackers 190
• Readywise pasta vodka chicken 690
• Fig bar 200
• Fritos 300
• Water liters 3.4
• Miles 13.23
• Time 7:31
• Up 4377
• Down 2815
• Calories consumed 1400
• Calories burned 3359

Saturday, August 23, 2025. Up at 7:40. Mid 70s, sunny and breezy.

Did our route plan for the rest of the trip.  Headed to breakfast at a highly recommended local truck stop then onto Millinocket. Should be there about 1:00.

We decided to cut out the first 2 days in the HMW. They are big mountains and we would have to do the nastiest in the rain. I hiked both those sections last year, so no problem here. This also lets us do an average of 14-15 mile days which also means we don’t need to do a resupply in the HMW. Should finish at Baxter Park on Friday afternoon.

We got to the Hundred Mile Wilderness Inn in Millinocket in the mid-afternoon. This is a nice little house that has been turned into a hostel. I stayed here last year and really liked it. Good location, clean, and great owners.

We met with the owners to plan our shuttle into the HMW at the Katahdin Ironworks (KI) Road tomorrow. And we hit a major snag. The eastern entrance to the KI road is closed. The lumber company that owns the road is replacing several culverts. They were supposed to be finished a week ago, but work continues. Our only option is to come into the HMW from the WEST end of the KI road over by Moosehead Lake and Greenville, Maine. And the only way to do that is to drive in a great big semi-circle from Millinocket south to Monson and then northwest to Greenville and then east on the KI road many. Miles into the HMW to meet the AT. Ugh. Fortunately the owner here can shuttle us to Monson in the morning and Jordan from the Hundred Mile Wilderness Adventures in Monson can drive us the rest of the way to the AT.

We walked to the Scootic Resturant for dinner then back to the hostel. I read for a while and decided that I need to find a different blog site. I plan to build my own site using WordPress and blog there. Downloaded several WordPress tutorial books and started reading.

Friday, August 22, 2025. Up at 6:15.  Cool and sunny. 

We have 18.6 miles to go. Estimating 5:00.

I got careless in my tent and tore a quarter sized hole in the netting. It’s the outer netting with a pocket attached, so I must have shoved something with a sharp edge into that pocket. Fixable with a patch kit but annoying.

I also had to put air in my sleep pad at 4:00am. I’m worried I have a slow leak. I need to figure that out before heading into the hundred mile wilderness.

On trail (mile 2061.8) at 7:15.

Stopped at 8:10 on the top of Moxie Bald Mountain. I need to call my doctor and get a rescue inhaler prescription sent to Millinocket. Fortunately that was successful! We made a hotel reservation in Bangor for tonight. It’s a 1 hour drive from Monson this evening. We get a real bed, bar, and restaurant. No rush as tomorrow will be a zero instead on a Nero day are hiking 18.6 miles today. Really looking forward to this evening as and a couple of bourbons.

Back on trail at 8:30. Stopped at Bald Mountain Pond for water and second breakfast. Easy descent from Moxie Bald Mountain. 

Back on trail at 10:10. Should be a gentle downhill all day to Monson.

Stopped at 11:40 and mile 7.75 for a break and a snack. The last several miles were VERY Rocky!

And then we got a brief break with this lovely path. 

Last few hours have been tough. Rocks, roots, and a lot of small steep ups and downs we had not expected. Last year I had to ford two streams. One was calf deep and one ankle deep. It’s so dry this year we walked across on stones.

Ran across Mary-Beth, Toni, cruise director, and Antlers on our hike today. Said good luck and goodbye to all of them. 

Stopped at Horseshoe Canyon for a break and a snack at 2:20. Need to refill on water but not here. It is a canyon with the river waaaay at the bottom. We have 5.3 miles to go.

Reached the 100 Mile Wilderness Adventures in Monson (mile 2080) at 5:40. Awesome end to the first half of the trip.

Drove to Bangor for a hotel and meal. We have a day to kill tomorrow so no rush on things. Had a decent dinner at Texas Road house to celebrate the success of thfirst half of our trip. 

Today was one of those slog it out days.  No views, nothing special. You just have to get from point A to point B. Hike on, keep your head down, and suck it up. 

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Fig bar 200
• Payday 240
• Fatty small sausage 190
• Seltzer 100
• Crackers 190
• Dinner and food in town 
• Water liters 5
• Miles 18.9
• Time 10:15
• Up 2812
• Down 3245
• Calories consumed 4000
• Calories burned 3619

Thursday, August 21, 2025. Up at 6:45. Cool and overcast going up to 77 and sunny. Weather looks great until 4 days from now on Sunday August 24.

Had a great hot breakfast at the Inn. Got a ride to the trail in the back of a pickup. Been about 40 years since I did that! On trail (mile 2047.1) at 8:50.

Pretty chill hike for the first 5.5 miles then a 1.7 mile solid climb up to Pleasant Pond Mountain. Passed Flash, Crash, Toni, and Cruise Director who are slacking back to the Inn for the night. Had lunch on top of the mountain at 12:50.

YouTube video from Pleasant Pond Mountain.

Called Pitcrew and chatted a bit as this is the last cell service until Saturday afternoon. Back on trail at 1:20. We have 7.7 miles to go.

Stopped for some questionable water about 3.3 miles from camp. Beggars can’t be choosers so we filtered a liter each. I’m gonna have to give my filter a serious cleaning when we get to Millinocket! Lots of dirt and debris in the water.

Got to Bald Mountain Brook Lean-To (mile 2061.8) at 5:00. I’m pleased with the pace we had today to get here by that time. 

Set up tents and walked .2 miles to get water from a puddle under a bridge. Even worse than the water this afternoon. Water is a big challenge up here this year. Reminds me of Virginia and Pennsylvania in the drought last summer. We will have to carry 4 liters with us tomorrow morning assuming we can get that much out of the puddles under the bridge. First good water tomorrow is 5.8 miles out with a big climb first.

There are 4 people in the shelter and one tenter. The couple in the shelter are an older couple from Germany doing a large SOBO section. Two guys in their 50s are on their next to last section for finishing the AT. One is a dentist from Silver Spring, MD and the other is from Rochester, NY and is in charge of continuing education (GEDs and such) at a maximum security prison. Interesting stories !

Not a bad hike this afternoon. Sort of a sawtooth over 8 miles but steadily downhill. Unfortunately we have a big 1.7 mile climb to start the day tomorrow. We decided that we felt so good today and made such a good pace that we will try to do the 18.5 miles into Monson tomorrow instead of the 12.5 that we had planned.

In bed and reading at 7:30. We are hearing coyotes howling fairly close. First time for that this trip. 

Technical Notes:

• Coffee w cream 80
• Breakfast casserole 500
• Blueberries 100
• Fatty Beef Stick 300
• Pro Adventure Meal beef and Korean rice 750
• Fritos 300
• Water liters 2.5
• Miles 14.68
• Time 8:10
• Up 3445
• Down 2644
• Calories consumed 2100
• Calories burned 3433

Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Up at 6:30. Overcast and cool. 

Just 3.7 miles downhill to the ferry then .4 miles to the road and a shuttle to the hostel. Yey.

On trail (mile 2043.1) at 7:45. Easy day following the stream that flows out of Pierce Pond. Lots of waterfalls all the way today. We stopped at a good viewpoint for a waterfall at 1 mile from camp.

Arrived at the canoe ferry across the Kennebec River at 9:45. There were 3 people in front of us so we had to wait for 2 round trips before we crossed. Ferry holds 2 passengers. 

Got a shuttle to the Sterling Inn (mile 2047.1) and checked in just before 10:30. I stayed here last year. Showered and did laundry. Got more chores to do this afternoon. Full house at the hostel including Toni, Antlers, Flash, Crash, and a lot of others.

Had lunch at hostel and did a bunch of chores. Finalized our hiking plan for the next 12 days. Made hostel and shuttle reservations in Milinocket. All we need to do yet is schedule our resupply drop into the Hundred Mile Wilderness (HMW) on day 5 of our HMW trek.

I also changed the display on my watch to show fewer fields but in a bigger font while hiking. Old age sucks!

We are all resupplied and packed for tomorrow. Got 14.7 miles with one medium sized mountain mid-day.

Went to dinner at the rafting adventure place a few miles up the road with Antlers and Perfect Day. Back to hostel and had a long call with Pitcrew. 

About 8 of us hung out in the hiker lounge and chatted until 8:30. Very nice social evening. 

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Payday 240
• Dr Pepper 150
• Hot pocket x2 720
• Frozen pizza slice 500
• Hershey bar 210
• Meatloaf and mashed potatoes 1000
• Beers x4 800
• Water liters 1
• Miles 5.93
• Time 2:30
• Up 318
• Down 925
• Calories consumed 4000
• Calories burned 910

Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Up at 6:45. Clear and cool. 

Short day today. Just 10 flat miles. Would go further but the ferry closes at 1:00pm, so we are limited. Should be an easy day and guesstimating at camp by 2:30.

On trail (mile 2033.1) at 8:15.

Ran into Antlers at West Carry Pond. Fair number of vacation homes across the lake.

Crossed several boardwalks over boggs today.

Reached the beach of East Carry pond at 10:00.

The trail hugs the pond for about half a mile.

Stopped for a snack at Scott Road at 10:50. Road is owned and maintained by The Scott Paper company which owns huge swaths of land in the area.

Tedious but easy hike the rest of the day.

Arrived at Pierce Pond (mile 2043.1) at 1:15. Made it in 5 hours flat. Great campsite right on the pond.

Late afternoon nap with the sound of rushing water from the river in the background, sun and breeze seeping into the tent, and the lake-view just 15 yards away. Wonderful!

Antlers is in the shelter, Flash and Crash are tenting up the hill, some weird angry lady tenting by the shelter, and a young NOBO in the shelter. Limo Bean arrived about 5:00. She had a long hard day. Another young pair of NOBOs is tenting someplace close by. There are only a few good tent spots by the pond and we got them early:)

We have a bunch of logistics to figure out tomorrow including our shuttle back to the start oh the hundred mile wilderness from Millinocket.

Had dinner by the shelter with Limo, Antlers, a different Lady Bug and two others. 

Now that there is a damn good bear hang!

In bed and reading at 7:00.

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 360
• Fig bar 200
• Fatty sausage 300
• Crackers 190
• Ramen 380
• Tuna 70
• Pop tarts 360
• Fritos 300
• Water liters 2.7
• Miles 10.15
• Time 4:55
• Up 883
• Down 1076
• Calories consumed 2160
• Calories burned 1633