Appalachian Trail - Day 147 - Abol Bridge to Mt Katahdin

Day: 147

Date: Monday, 18 September 2023

Start:  Abol Bridge (AT Mile 2193.4)

Finish:  Mt Katahdin (AT Mile 2198.4) plus 4.0 back down to the Abol Ranger Station.

Daily Kilometres:  21.9

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3565.6

Weather:  Mild and mostly overcast, with spitting rain in the afternoon and cold winds at altitude.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Mars Bar/Turkey Italian roll 

  Lunch:  Trail mix/Ham Italian roll

  Dinner:  Bacon double cheeseburger & fries, ice-cream.

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - possible/likely broken toe after her foot slipped on a rock and slammed into another one.

Highlight:  Reaching the summit of Mt Katahdin and the end of our 2200 mile journey along the Appalachian Trail.

Lowlight:  Julie possibly breaking a toe on the descent from Mt Katahdin

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke early and were hiking by 6:00am in the pre-dawn light following the Blueberry Ledges trail to the base of Mt Katahdin. The official AT route was four miles longer, but we needed to get to the ranger station at the mountain base to register to climb before the 10:00am cut-off.

We reached the ranger station shortly before 9:00am where we removed everything we would not need for the climb from our packs and left it in a shelter, and then went through the registration formalities before beginning our climb up the Hunt Trail to the summit, five miles away.

Initially, the trail rose relatively gently beside the cascading Katahdin Stream but, the further we went, the more challenging it became and we found ourselves boulder-scrambling and using iron rungs fixed into vertical rock or squeezing along narrow ledges.  It was scary in parts and very difficult in others and we began to wonder what it would be like descending along the same route, as we planned to do, in the rain forecast for the afternoon.  Offsetting that, were spectacular views over the Maine wilderness.  Even after the most difficult parts, the climb was still strenuous until we reached the plateau-like upper part of the mountain.

From there we had about 1.5 miles of steady climbing over the bare rock-strewn alpine terrain to reach the summit marker on Baxter Peak (5267') on Mt Katahdin and the official finish of the Appalachian Trail.  There were a few people about, including a thru-hiker we knew and other day hikers, who congratulated us on our feat.  It felt surreal to finally be there.  It was also cold, and after some photos and a short break sheltered behind some rocks enjoying more spectacular views, we headed back down the mountain.  

Instead of returning via the Hunt Trail, we decided to follow the Abol Trail down.  It was supposed to be less demanding, though brought us out at a different trailhead, two miles by road from where we had left our gear at the ranger station.  It was not an easy descent, but less scary than the alternative.

Originally, our plan was to hitch-hike from the ranger station to Millinocket, an hour away and the nearest town, but with the rain gradually becoming more persistent and time passing quickly, we realized we may not be down in time to catch a lift with day-hikers leaving the park.  At 4:00pm, while we still had phone reception, Dave called a hostel that offered shuttles from the park and we were lucky that, on short notice, they agreed to pick us up at 5:00pm from the Abol Trailhead and said they had a private room at the hostel we could have.

The last mile of the trail into the trailhead was perhaps the nicest trail of the day, autumn-leaf-littered and rock/mud-free and a lovely end to our journey.

The hostel-owner drove us to the ranger station to collect our stored gear and then back to the hostel in steady rain.  After checking in, and making arrangements for a shuttle to our long-distance bus stop tomorrow morning, we showered and ordered dinner for delivery from a local store.  It was a low-key ending to our trek, but fine by us.

Dave is fond of saying "never say never" but is adamant that he will never thru-hike the Appalachian Trail again.  It was just too physically and mentally demanding at age 72 carrying a heavy pack (long hikes with a lighter load are definitely a possibility).  Leaving that aside, it was a very special and memorable experience and not one he regrets.  He and Julie made a good team, despite their current physical capability differences, and rarely had disagreements on trail.

Julie loved the trail life, though was quite exasperated by Maine's roots, rocks and bogs towards the end.  She was one of the few people on the trail not using trekking poles, frequently attracting comment, and made it all look easy.  She enjoyed the social interactions with the other hikers and learning their personal stories.  She would definitely do another thru-hike, but it wouldn't be the Appalachian Trail again.

From Millinocket, where we are staying tonight, we will get a ride to nearby Medway tomorrow morning where we will catch a bus south for 90 minutes to the city of Bangor to pick up a hire car and do some touring in the US north-east until our flight out of Newark (near New York) on 2 October back to Sydney via Vancouver.  Home on 4 October.

Appalachian Trail - Day 146 - Hurd Brook Lean-To to Abol Bridge

Day: 146

Date: Sunday, 17 September 2023

Start:  Hurd Brook Lean-To (AT Mile 2179.8)

Finish:  Abol Bridge (AT Mile 2183.4)

Daily Kilometres:  7.2

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3543.7

Weather:  Cool, breezy and sunny.

Accommodation:  Basic Cabin

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Ham Italian roll/Turkey Italian roll

  Lunch:  Roast beef Italian roll/Turkey Italian roll, fruit pies

  Dinner:  Hot dogs, fruit pies

Aches:  Nothing to report

Highlight:  Hiking the 3+ miles to Abol Bridge, our destination for the day, along the sun-dappled trail in the cool early morning with a sense of achievement and knowing that the worst of the trail and our journey is over.  Just the climb up and down Mt Katahdin tomorrow, without full packs, and we will be done.

Lowlight:  None.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The wind blew hard all night, but there was little further rain from the remnants of yesterday's storm and we slept well in the shelter.  There was no rush to start the day as we only planned to hike the three miles to Abol Bridge and the campground/store there, so we didn't start hiking until around 7:30am.  The weather was such a contrast with yesterday's, with clear skies and sunlight shafts dappling the pine-needle-covered trail although there was a lot of debris and even large trees down in places.

We reached Abol Bridge soon after 9:00am, with a magnificent view of Mt Katahdin from the bridge, and decided to take a cabin in the campground here for tonight with plans to set out early tomorrow for the hike to the base of Mt Katahdin and then the summit and return climb.  We probably could have done the climb today, but the rangers won't let anybody start out from the base after 10:00am and we wouldn't have been there in time.

We bought some breakfast from the limited items in the campground store and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the picturesque campground set beside Abol Stream beneath the mountain.  We also had our first showers and did laundry for the first time in a week and dried out all of our wet gear.

Trail friends, Christine and Matthew, have rented the cabin next to us and will also be summiting Katahdin tomorrow.  They had originally planned on summiting on Tuesday, but the weather forecast for that day is rain.  Tomorrow's forecast is for partly sunny skies.

We had dinner with Christine and Matthew cooked over an open fire on a beautiful evening outside our cabin and enjoyed a good conversation about our times on the trail and what we had observed and learned.  A very pleasant time before an early night with an early start planned for our last day on the trail tomorrow.

Appalachian Trail - Day 145 - Nahmakanta Lake to Hurd Brook Lean-To

Day: 145

Date: Saturday, 16 September 2023

Start:  Nahmakanta Lake (AT Mile 2157.7)

Finish:  Hurd Brook Lean-To (AT Mile 2179.8)

Daily Kilometres:  38.0 (Ascent 

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3536.5

Weather:  Cool, windy and overcast all day with rain of varying intensity in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Shelter 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals, Pop tarts 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  None really 

Lowlight:  A miserable afternoon as we were hit by the outer edges of tropical hurricane Lee.  Strong cold winds and rain made for challenging hiking along a trail of which much was boggy or under water, either flowing or standing, and had the usual slippery rocks and roots to negotiate.  We were cold and saturated and our shoes/boots and feet were sodden.  Up ahead, Dave could hear Julie cursing at each new obstacle was encountered or she sank ankle deep into the mud once again.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We got going at 6:00am, happy that the rain from hurricane Lee had not yet arrived and we could pack a dry tent.  Our goal for the day was to get as close as we could to Abol Bridge, the end of the 100 Mile Wilderness, where there was a campground store, but that was 25+ miles away, so we were unlikely to make it all the way.

Hiking conditions weren't bad initially, though the trail was often the usual bogs, rocks and roots.  The wind was blowing strongly and there were the occasional spots of rain, but the hurricane impacts were less than anticipated and we made good progress, passing along the shore of Nahmakanta Lake then climbing over Nesundabunt Mountain before descending to a forestry road.

We chose the option here of following the road which reconnected with the AT a little over a mile later and missing some more bogs, rocks and roots on the AT.  Our justification was that with the full hurricane effects were yet to be felt, we wanted to get to a shelter just short of Abol Bridge so that we could camp out of the weather if necessary.  It didn't save much distance, but it did save time.

A bonus of our route was that we encountered a moose on the road.  It wasn't close, but we did get a good view of it before it sidled off into the forest.

After rejoining the AT and following the raging Rainbow Stream upstream for a few miles we stopped for a lunch break at a shelter.  There were quite a few hikers there, some waiting out the weather and in their sleeping bags, and only a few of us pushed on further.

The weather quickly deteriorated and it was a miserable afternoon (see above).  The only bright spot was that we were moving quickly, despite the trail conditions, to keep warm.  Apart from a brief break under an overhanging rock we kept walking for six hours and made it to our target shelter a little before 6:00pm, with only a short 3+ miles to go tomorrow morning to reach Abol Bridge.  Already at the shelter were friends Christine and Matthew and we chatted with them while we set up our sleeping gear, had dinner and changed into some dry warm clothing.

We feel like we are almost at the end.  We will spend most of the day at Abol Bridge tomorrow, assuming we can get a cabin for tomorrow night, then end our journey by summiting Mt Katahdin on Monday, a 15 mile hike.  Despite the conditions, we were pleased with how much ground we covered today.

Appalachian Trail - Day 144 - Cooper Falls Lean-To to Nahmakanta Lake

Day: 144

Date: Friday, 15 September 2023

Start:  Cooper Falls Lean-To (AT Mile 2138.7)

Finish:  Nahmakanta Lake (AT Mile 2157.7)

Daily Kilometres:  31.2 (Ascent 1047', Descent 1302')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3498.5

Weather:  Cool to mild and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals, Pop tarts 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  None really 

Lowlight:  None really 

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We set out about 6:45am on a cool clear morning anticipating easier trail for the day and hopeful of covering a good distance.

It was mostly good trail for the day and there were some beautiful sections where the path meandered through lovely mixed conifer and deciduous forest on a bed of pine needles and autumn leaves.  We passed peaceful lakes and followed rushing streams for long periods.

However, there were other sections of trail where we were constantly negotiating the roots, rocks and bogs that have become a familiar part of our day.  It's hard and slow hiking with constant steps up, down and to the side, always looking where you place your feet and hoping your judgment of the depth of the mud or slipperiness of a root or rock is accurate.

We also had some unexpected and challenging fords today.  The first was quite scary because of the pace and depth of the water in one small part of the crossing and the second was even deeper (waist-level) though not as fast.

The fords slowed us down and we didn't get quite as far as hoped.  However, we ended up at a very pretty campground by Nahmakanta Lake around 6:15pm and had a beautiful sunset accompany our camp setup.  A bonus was the arrival of trail friends Christine and Matthew shortly after us.  We haven't seen them for a few days.

We feel like the Appalachian Trail is making sure our last days are not easy, with challenging fords and endless bogs that are not usually a feature of the trail, but it has been a very wet year.  And now, Hurricane Lee is forecast to hit the Maine coast overnight and bring rain and wind to the state tomorrow.  The coast will be hardest hit, but we are anticipating a wet and windy day in the woods and not looking forward to it.

Appalachian Trail - Day 143 - Gulf Hagas Mountain to Cooper Falls Lean-To

Day: 143

Date: Thursday, 14 September 2023

Start:  Gulf Hagas Mountain (AT Mile 2121.6)

Finish:  Cooper Falls Lean-To (AT Mile 2138.7)

Daily Kilometres:  26.4 (Ascent 3048', Descent 4551')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3467.3

Weather:  Mild with some fog and an early shower then mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals, pop tarts.

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Early in our day's hiking we met some hikers going the other way, a couple and then, separately, a man, all of whom warned that the crossing of the East Branch Pleasant River that we had coming up during the day was very difficult and that they had heard the authorities were recommending by-passing it using an alternative route.  The man said that he had spent a very worrying 20 minutes with his foot caught between two rocks beneath the surface in the rushing river before being able to extricate himself.  This all happened yesterday before the hours of torrential rain we had last night, likely meaning the river would now be even higher.  Although we worked out an alternative route, it would have meant spending most of the day road-walking so we decided to chance the river crossing.  It was quite intimidating when we arrived - loud and rushing fast with the heavily tannin-stained water making it impossible to judge depths.  Making use of some nylon cord strung across the river between two trees, we both made a successful crossing, but it certainly had the adrenaline pumping at times.

Lowlight:  Very soon after the river crossing described above we encountered a huge puddle on the trail and Dave slipped on a wet log while trying to get around it and fell into the deep water, saturating half his body and pack.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It rained torrentially for 3-4 hours after we went to bed and eventually some water seeped into our tent and some things got damp, but nothing too bad.  When the alarm went off at 5:00am, Dave, who had had a bad night, firstly with the after-effects of yesterday's wasp stings and then the heavy rain during the night, said he didn't feel up to trying a 20+ mile day as Plan A required (see previous posts) and suggested reverting to Plan B with a shorter mileage for the remaining days on the trail and having an extra hour's sleep.  Julie agreed so now we will finish the trail on Monday instead of Sunday.

After the extra hour's sleep, at least it was light enough to pack up without headlamps and we began hiking around 7:20am on a cool morning.  We were immediately climbing steadily to reach the first of three summits, West Peak, followed by, with descents preceding each, Hay Mountain and White Cap Mountain (3644'), the highest.  The latter had an open treeless rocky summit and we took a breakfast break and spread out the tent fly and other gear to dry.  The views were spectacular.  Soon afterwards we were joined by a "trail family" (or "tramily"), a group of six young hikers we have got to know quite well who also spread out all of their wet gear to dry.  It was an amusing sight.

From the peak we had a long descent during which time we decided to attempt the river ford coming up (see above) rather than take the bypass route.  The ford was challenging, but we made it across and had a lunch break on the other side.

Supposedly the AT is much easier in Maine once you get past White Cap Mountain, but it wasn't as easy as we hoped, with many large puddles and bogs, along with the usual rocks and roots.  But, at least, it wasn't raining and we made reasonable progress along the sun-dappled trail through pleasant early autumn deciduous forest.

We climbed and descended another mountain and passed by a large pond as the evening approached, eventually reaching our target campsite just before 7:00pm, by which time it was dark.  We found a good tent site and set up camp by headlamp, hoping that we can finish a little earlier tomorrow now we are on Plan B.

Appalachian Trail - Day 142 - Barren Mountain to Gulf Hagas Mountain

Day: 142

Date: Wednesday, 13 September 2023

Start:  Barren Mountain (AT Mile 2101.9)

Finish:  Gulf Hagas Mountain (AT Mile 2121.6)

Daily Kilometres:  26.2 (Ascent 4268', Descent 4478')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3440.9

Weather:  Mild, foggy in the morning and mostly overcast with occasional light rain.

Accommodation:  Tent 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles plus some wasp bites (see below); Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  None really 

Lowlight:  While looking for a place to cross a stream, Dave disturbed a wasps nest and was stung many times, mostly on the legs but also on the butt, groin and back.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It rained a lot overnight as was evidenced by the huge deep puddles on the trail when we began hiking at 6:00am.  They were very difficult to negotiate, along with plenty of bogs and the usual rocks and roots, and the hiking was not enjoyable.  It was hard to see how we would cover the distance we wanted for the day when it took 3.5 hours to cover the first 4.5 miles.  We were in the cloud/fog and there were no views even though we were quite high.

From comments on our crowd-sourced navigation app, we were aware that there was an alternative trail that took us down off the mountain and reconnected with the AT in seven miles, missing the last section of the Chairback Range, so we took it.  We weren't going to miss anything in the weather and the trail conditions were so difficult we were unlikely to stay on schedule if we kept to the main trail.

Down the mountain the trail was better walking and our pace and mood improved.  Then there was some road-walking back to the AT which included finding our way across a raging stream where a bridge has been washed out and was being replaced.  While looking for a place to cross the stream, Dave disturbed a wasps nest and paid the price (see above).

Once back on the AT, it was easier walking until we reached the West Branch Pleasant River which had to be forded.  The rain of the past few days had the river running fast and wide and the ford was a little nerve-wracking, though we both crossed safely, getting wet to mid-thigh.

The trail then entered the Hermitage Preserve of the Gulf Hagas wilderness passing through some old growth forest and then climbed steadily following Gulf Hagas Brook upstream.  Conditions alternated between good and the usual rocks, roots and bogs, but we made reasonable progress and decided to push on over Gulf Hagas Mountain to a campsite on the other side which we reached at 6:30pm.

The tent site was much better than last night and we were congratulating ourselves as we washed before eating dinner when it began to rain, and is still raining steadily as the blog is written.  We ended up eating our dinner in the tent and are happy that nothing got too wet.

We've had enough rain, rocks, roots and bogs to last a lifetime.

Appalachian Trail - Day 141 - ME Route 15 to Barren Mountain

Day: 141

Date: Tuesday, 12 September 2023

Start:  ME Route 15 (AT Mile 2083.7)

Finish:  Barren Mountain (AT Mile 2101.9)

Daily Kilometres:  27.0 (Ascent 4534', Descent 3117')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3414.7

Weather:  Mild and overcast with almost continuous rain in the morning and an occasional sprinkle in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast 

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Pop tarts

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported 

Highlight:  None really

Lowlight:  Wet, muddy and slippery trail.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We again enjoyed the hostel's big breakfast at 7:00am and were shuttled back to the trailhead in a packed van with about seven other thru-hikers in light rain at about 8:15am.  The hostel co-owner and driver, a former thru-hiker (and English Lit teacher), gave us a spiel about the 100 Mile Wilderness and a few short poems about the trail and how life-changing it can be.  Impressive!

For our last 100+ miles to the trail's end on Mount Katahdin, we have a Plan A, that sees us finish in six days on Sunday, and Plan B that sees us finish in seven days on Monday.  Plan A is relatively aggressive, but we really would like to finish on Sunday so for today our goal was 17 miles which we knew would be challenging given our late start and knowledge that the first two days of the 100 Mile Wilderness were reputed to be difficult.  If we can stick to the schedule for the first two days our confidence will be high.

For the morning we decided to hike non-stop the six plus miles to Little Wilson Falls which took us the best part of four hours.  The trail was tough with ups and downs, bogs and slippery roots and rocks.  In particular, the wet slate was treacherous and we had to take great care.  At the first creek crossing Dave slipped and fell half into the water which made him very unhappy.  All the while it was raining with varying intensity and as we leapfrogged some of the other thru-hikers we joked about how much we were all enjoying ourselves.  Misery loves company, and it was good to know that nobody was having a good time.

For the next section, there was an alternative route of about the same distance, including a long roadwalk, that avoided two significant fords and we decided to go that way.  A number of the other thru-hikers we met during the day made the same choice.  The roadwalk was along a quiet forestry road which was pleasant but the linking track that took us back to the AT had long stretches of extremely boggy and unpleasant trail.

We rejoined the AT about 4:00pm and made the choice to try and get over Barren Mountain and to a shelter/campsite on the other side before stopping for the night.  This would be a couple of miles beyond our target for the day, but there was no water in between (and we didn't want to add water to the weight of our already heavy packs for the climb) and it would likely be dark by the time we reached there.

The climb proved slower than we hoped and provided just one hazy view.  By the time we reached the summit of Barren Mountain (2670') it was almost dark and we decided to camp without water or cooking dinner rather than continue on the difficult trail in the dark.  We found a barely adequate space for a tent near the summit soon after 7:00pm, set up the tent and crawled in, still very dirty from the muddy trail with only some wet wipes to clean ourselves before getting into our sleeping bags.  Not a good start to our last five or six days, and more rain forecast for tomorrow.

We passed the 2100 Mile mark today.