Trail Update: Gorham, NJ to Rangely, ME
Day 111: September 24th: The Final Border, The Final State!
I woke up in my warm, comfy bed at the White Mountain Lodge and had absolutely no desire to hike, but I definitely wanted to see GooRoo in a few days, so I had no choice but to get back on trail. I stalled as much as possible (the owners/staff kept asking what I was waiting for), and eventually they informed me I could skip another chunk of the AT by taking a side trail. (The hostel was at mile 1887.0, I skipped ahead to mile 1898.8 - so another 11.8 miles I'll need to make up). ***If I was still attempting a thru-hike, I probably would have had a really hard time justifying all of my "yellow-blazing". But I need to come back to Maine anyway to make up the Wildcats, so I figured I might as well just do whatever would make me the happiest at this point. Once you skip the first time, its really easy to do it again.
The Guardian offered to drive/accompany me along the blue-blaze to the first shelter, which I graciously accepted.
The Guardian writing in the Gentian Pond Shelter Log-Book before saying goodbye!
Sights from the shelter - what a wonderful view to wake up to!
They don't call it Gentian Pond Shelter for nothing!
(There was a really adorable Beaver home/dam in this pond)
After reaching the AT, it was time for The Guardian to turn back and for me to continue on alone. Despite a beautiful day, I began toying with the idea of going home. I had been pretty unhappy with the thought of continuing on for the past few days, and it all started to feel like a chore. With Guru coming to visit, I would have the perfect opportunity to catch a ride to Portland, Maine which had a greyhound station.
I love rocky mountain faces!
The view from "Mt. Success"
One of the reasons I chose to skip other sections rather than this one was due to the fact that it contained the last state border, as well as Mahoosuc Notch - known as the hardest or most fun mile on the trail. I couldn't deprive myself of these seemingly iconic experiences - so I trudged along. I got to the border and positioned my poles in such a way that they would support my phone long enough to take a photo with the timer. Yay for old-fashioned selfies.
The ever-anticipated MAINE BORDER!
Despite being in the middle of nowhere, my phone still had full service (thanks verizon!), so I had my mom look up bus schedules while I meandered along the trail.
I love walking on planks, especially with a view like this!
Slightly sketchy vertical climbs.
As beautiful as it is, this is where I texted Guru and told him I wanted to quit.
After hiking for a few weeks/months, you tend to become fairly accurate in guessing your pace - and at this moment, I was aware of the fact that I would most likely be night-hiking that evening. I've definitely become more accustomed to it, but I doubt I will ever be that hiker that chooses to night-hike solo. In light of this (haha), I picked up my pace (thank you adrenaline!), and hurried right along. (I think it would be interesting if I could record my average pace vs my pace right before twilight just to see if the adrenaline has any significant effect).
More planks - this time with little slats to prevent slipping!
(I'm willing to bet a ton of hikers have slipped and fallen off of slippery planks).
Living in the woods, you tend to experience many more sunsets than the average person.
Its one of the perks of being a nomad.
Even though the sky is still bright, once you enter the trees, you are surrounded by darkness.
So I quickly hurried along, doing my best to keep calm and hike safe. And I managed to make it to the shelter before I was forced to wear my headlamp! I had been nervous that I would be completely alone in the shelter (I hadn't seen a single person since The Guardian left me), so when I saw a dog come running over to me, I actually yelled "YESSSS!" out loud (to signify my excitement about OTHER PEOPLE!). When I walked up the ladder to the "shelter platform", I found Timber and Rocket - two girls I had met down in North Carolina - and a man spending the night who was there to maintenance the privy.
I was always looking out for GooRoo's log entries.
Log-books are sometimes full of drama and I love it.
I told Timber and Rocket that I was considering quitting, and they gave me hugs and talked to me for a bit. Once I got in my sleeping bag, I realized the whole "hiking the appalachian trail" thing wasn't so bad. Maybe I'll give it a few more days...
Shelter: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6 (+ 2ish for the side trail)
Total miles: 967.7
Miles from Springer: 1908.4
Miles to Katahdin: 276.9
Day 112: September 25th: Mahoosuc Notch: "The Hardest or Most Fun Mile of The AT"
I woke up feeling a lot better about everything - I texted GooRoo and told him I decided not to quit after all. He said he was planning on convincing me to stay anyway. Coming up today was the infamous "Mahoosuc Notch" - a mile that sometimes takes hikers upwards of 2 hours to accomplish.
This was one of the only miles I "hiked" without my poles (seriously, I feel like I can't even hike on flat ground without them), because it was pretty much a boulder jungle gym. I tried my hardest to avoid going through caves and opted to just climb over it all - but at one point I was forced to take my pack off and shove it through a little crawl space. I ended up catching up to Timber and Rocket about 45 minutes in - the mile took me about an hour. It was fun - it broke up the monotony.
Yes, Yes - This is the trail.
See that arrow? You are encouraged to crawl through rock openings.
Oh classic Mahoosuc.
After the notch, I stopped to eat some lunch with Timber and Rocket - then I continued up "Mahoosuc Arm", which I felt was more difficult than the notch.
I took this photo of Timber and Rocket - and that may have been the last time I saw them.
Around this time, I began to make plans for the evening. I wanted to meet Guru at Grafton Notch as early as possible the next morning, so I originally decided to camp right near the road crossing. But this kind of sketched me out, and I wanted to sleep inside, so I called up Pine Ellis Hostel (Andover, Maine), and asked them to come get me. (Unfortunately I needed to pay $15 for them to pick me up - I was painfully aware of the amount of money I had been spending, but I really wanted to sleep indoors...).
Speck Pond!
(I could have slept at the shelter by this pond, but sometimes they charge you $8 for it!)
I continued along and decided to take the Old Speck Trail blue blaze (.3) to the Old Speck summit and observation tower.
The ladder was a little sketchy - but I climbed it anyway!
Not sure if you can see them - but there were a ton of peaceful little windmills in the distance!
Sleepy selfies - featuring my hospital bracelet.
I made it to the notch just in time to see the Pine Ellis car pull into the parking lot. The old lady spent the next half hour telling me a ton of unnecessary, intimate personal details of her life...
Pine Ellis was weird... It definitely grew on me, but it was odd. Its more of an old-lady house than a hostel (though, I didn't see the bunkhouse), where the owners basically are like "pay us, and you can live in our home for a night". We had use of the kitchen and the tv room, but I stayed in my semi-private room for most of the night, watching National Treasure with my two roommates, Nuke and Tits.
Shelter: Pine Ellis Hostel (Andover, ME)
Miles today: 9.7
Total miles:
Miles from Springer: 1918.1
Miles to Katahdin: 267.2
Day 113: September 26th: Tiny Towns in Maine.
I woke up to Nuke and Tits asking if I would donate a pair of my socks. Tits apparently was worried about the weather from here to the next town, as his were pretty beat up and there wasn't a store anywhere in Andover. I wasn't really about it - especially since my socks have a lifetime guarantee and were $25 a pair. I offered to let him buy them for $20, but he declined. Woo.
Then, Guru came to visit! It was a pretty lazy day - he picked me up and drove us to the town general store and Walmart so I could buy a fleece (it had started to get really cold) and some food. We made some random stops along the way: saw a big statue of Paul Bunyan, a paper mill, a visitors center, etc etc.
We returned to Andover and ended up going to the little library and then walking around town - they had really adorable "community gardens" planted in wheelbarrows along the way. We ventured down a little path that lead us to a river-bed, and then found an apple tree (and proceeded to roll some into the road in hopes we could watch cars run over them - is this what hoodrat teenagers do when they grow up in tiny towns with nothing to do?).
On our walk, we noticed a church sign that read "Variety Show: Saturday, September 26th, 7:30" and realized that it was starting in 15 minutes! We decided to check it out - and it was the cutest thing ever. We watched the choir, a guy playing guitar, a lady on a ukulele, and an old man telling jokes with a really heavy Maine accent (at some points I couldn't totally understand what he was saying). I hadn't realized that Mainers even had accents until this moment - its similar to a Boston accent. Going to the variety show was definitely a highlight of my time in Andover - it was nice to feel a sense of community - even if I wasn't necessarily a part of it.
Cue: apple smashing.
We returned to Pine Ellis (after getting lost on our way back), and made frozen pizzas while the main owner lady watched the Popes address. Bed!
Shelter: Pine Ellis Hostel (Andover, ME)
Miles today: 0.0
Total miles: 977.4
Miles from Springer: 1918.1
Miles to Katahdin: 267.2
Day 114: September 27th: Complete and Total Solitude.
***So I took advantage of the fact that Guru had a car and decided to skip another section - from Grafton Notch (1918.1) to South Arm Road (1938.5) - 20.4 miles.
That morning, Guru tried to give me a shakedown, but I was really reluctant to send home some stuff. I did get rid of some unnecessary food, and Guru took all my souvenirs/postcards with the promise of sending them to me once I got home. I wanted to stay in bed for as long as possible, but Guru wanted to hike a bit, so we packed up and left.
Hiking up Old Blue Mountain was a bit difficult for me - but Guru was full of an abundance of energy (of course). Even though he hadn't hiked in weeks, his pace still surpassed mine.
Maybelline: "Lets just sit here for a while and look at this view"
Guru: "No"
MAINE HAS SO MANY LAKES ITS CRAZY!
When we made it to the top of the mountain, Guru and I ran into Ren-bird, a SOBO that Guru had met on his summit day! They were very excited to see each other, so we spent a while sitting on a rock and talking with her. She was one of the happiest, most down-to-earth, genuine people I've met while on the trail. She had started hiking the AT 11 years prior, and was finishing up her last section! She gave us a lot of advice about enjoying life and doing things you love. I'm grateful to have met her because I needed to hear a lot of what she had to say.
Guru and I continued along for a bit, but he soon had to turn around and head back to his car. I only had a few more miles, so I wasn't worried about the time or anything. I should have gotten water when I had the chance - the AWOL guide told me the water at the shelter was unreliable, but I was feeling lazy, so I just walked over a spring and kept going.
I arrived at the shelter around 5:30/6-ish, so I had a little bit of time before it got too dark. I hoped that someone would arrive, but I decided to collect a ton of wood so that I could have a fire if I was spending the night on my own. This was the first night I was truly alone - I had previously camped "alone", but that time I was less than a half a mile north of people. Tonight, I had no idea where the closest person was.
I wanted to make myself a hot dinner - but when I went to get water, I found a sludgy puddle of mud. Even with my filter, I decided against it. I had enough water to drink for the night, but definitely not enough to make Ramen. Boooo. At least I learned from this mistake.
The shelter to myself? I will be the warmest I can be and set my tent up inside.
(Also, I found a discarded sleeping bag hung up here and put that on top of my own sleeping bag.)
(I dont care if that ups my hobo status.)
(It was warm and I loved it.)
Decided to just embrace the solitude.
I love the Trail Devil!
"Back on the trail after fucking around for 2 months.... A MAN ALMOST WRECKED MY HIKE - WALKING IT OFF!"
"I stepped foot in Main and Maine just started punching me in the face..."
"Stopped for a quick lunch and water. Guess I'll just eat lunch"
Lol I wasn't the only one who was disappointed by this water source...
"Well, I reckon I'll put my signature" - Sweaty Yeti
(I just liked his trail name)
Yay! I found an entry from Buns!
"Hiding from the rain like I haven't lived in the woods for 5 months..."
That night was the blood moon - I stepped out of the shelter to view it through the trees, but in hindsight, I should have walked half a mile to see it from the summit of Beemis Mountain. If I wasn't alone, I would have definitely done that - but I was freaked out and liked the safety of the shelter.
Shelter: Beemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 8.7
Total miles: 986.1
Miles from Springer: 1947.2
Miles to Katahdin: 238.1
Day 115: September 28th: Shelter Slumber Parties!
I woke up to a pesky little red squirrel running around the shelter. You're cute and all, but stay away from my stuff!!! I was only planning to do 8.3 miles, so I was in no hurry to get moving.
Sometimes the shelters provide you with tools...?
Little plants that remind me of holly!
A really cool cairn-type thing.
Bemis Mountain was cool because it was just an open rock-face.
I like walking in the open.
Oh my god, look at this cairn!
Sometimes, you get some random wonky benches in the middle of nowhere!
In the guidebook, it said I would have to ford Bemis Stream... Bemis stream did not need to be forded. It was very tame and I just rock-jumped. I took a break after the stream to cook a Creamy Chicken Ramen. It was the first time I had ever had that flavor. It was decent, but I'll stick with Oriental.
Afterwards, I saw a SOBO! I was so excited to talk to someone because I hadn't seen another person since Guru left! But he didn't really show much interest in me... =(
I climbed up to ME 17 - the only road crossing in this section - and saw on a bench which overlooked a gorgeous view!
Lots of sweet stickers on the guardrail - this one was my favorite!
Not all my views have benches - but this one did, and it was such a treat!
I probably could have hitched out from ME 17, but I was actually excited about hiking again! On my way to the next shelter, I found an amazing sandy beach - even though it was pretty cold out, I decided to strip down and take a (really really quick and cold) bath.
My showers are prettier than yours.
But you've probably got hot water, so I'm not sure who wins here...
I got to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to right as it started to rain. Again, I was alone, so I started to collect wood and begin a fire. About a half hour later, a SOBO named Arnery arrived - YAYYYY! A FRIEND! I found out that she was a flip-flopper - and she knew Twister!
About another half-hour passed, and then Dixie arrived! I had previously met Dixie way down in the south, but we had never really gotten to know each other. We spend the next few hours laughing about all the ridiculous things that happen on trail, drama that we had been involved in, why we decided to hike the AT, etc etc. It felt like a slumber party - I definitely needed it that night.
The trail devil is at it again!
GooRoo apparently saw a ton of moose bones at this shelter (over a month prior).
**I also used to be good friends with Tunez
"Latch door when leaving (the privy) or porcupines will eat this building."
I love all these random signs!
Shelter: Sabbath Day Pond Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Total miles: 994.4
Miles from Springer: 1955.5
Miles to Katahdin: 229.8
Day 116: September 29th: MY 1000th MILE!!!!!
I couldn't believe it - my 1000th mile would be happening today. I knew it was a huge accomplishment, but I still felt like I should've been close to my 2000th mile at this point.
But I was finally glad to be out in the woods again.
You know how sometimes people put those outlet stickers in airports to fake people out?
This person went so far as to make an Eagle Scout sign.
(Maybe it worked at some point?)
(I dont know how to feel about this)
I drank water from here.
I spent the entire morning at a leisurely stroll so that I could collect colored leaves. I really enjoyed going at a snails pace - I only had less than 10 miles into town, so again, no rush today.
What a cute little heart - I like this blaze better now.
Honestly, I couldn't be sure exactly where I reached my 1000th mile, but I decided to celebrate at Little Swift River Pond Campsite.
Nature-art.
AHHHH! I had 4G here, so I instagramed and facebooked this....
Everything that I need in life right now.
After about a half hour (balancing my phone on my pack, setting it to timer, and running to take a good picture takes time), I continued along (at a much faster pace) towards Rangeley, Maine. My package was waiting at the "Hiker Hut", which was $25 a night and right off trail - but didn't have heat or running water.
"The Farmhouse" - another hostel in town.
They left their business card right by the road-crossing.
AUTUMN!
The leaves are just beginning to change.
And it is STUNNING!
I walked the .3 down the road to the Hiker Hostel, which was cute - but I wanted some modern luxuries. It cost $5 to pick up my package (I'm always bitter when this happens), but they offered me a beer and some cookies and told me to stay as long as I liked.
"Poets and Pilgrims and Lovers and Seekers"
After chatting for a bit, I decided to go up to the road and hitch to The Farmhouse - I really had no other option. The first car I saw, a red pickup truck, ignored my pleas and drove past me - but a minute later the driver turned around and came and got me! My last solo hitch of the season.
The Farmhouse was pretty cute, I must admit. It was one of my favorite hostels. I loved that the owners (many) children were running wild around the place - and often plopped down on the bunkroom couch and asked that we tuck them in and put on a movie. Lots of random children would pop up - I never knew which children belonged to which parents. I also loved the FULL KITCHEN we had access to. Honestly, a dream come true for thru-hikers.
This pig.
I had previously met Braveheart at Pine Ellis - and Dixie was also planning on spending the night at The Farmhouse - I was very content to be in good company. Braveheart and I spent some time playing the "Appalachian Trail Game", which was actually not half bad. We knew most of the trivia, but we definitely learned a thing or two.
I don't feel the need to own this, but it definitely belongs at an AT hostel.
For sure.
That evening, we made a trip into town so that we could see the sign for "halfway between the equator and the north pole", which is pretty damn cool, if you ask me.
This towns claim to fame!
My towns claim to fame is the fact that JWoww from The Jersey Shore lived here.
Rangeley wins.
That night, I shared a bunkroom with Dixie, Braveheart, and Peach - as well as a man whose trail name I don't want to put in my blog in case he searches for it. I had previously "met" him one day on trail when he somehow had lost his entire pack and was asking us if we had seen it. Oh wait, it was because he was extremely drunk and confused in the middle of the day. For the most part, this man seems completely harmless - but you know how some people give off the vibe that they might snap one day? That night, I awoke to the sound of someone singing really loudly. In my groggy state, I thought maybe it was someone singing as they made breakfast for the guests. But then I checked my watch and it was 3am and I became super confused. All of us girls woke up and realized it was our drunken bunk-mate. I had planned on taking a zero the next day, but everyone else needed their sleep. Peach decided to get up and ask him to stop - to which he said sure - but once she got back in bed, we heard the distinct sound of another beer can being cracked open, and the singing resumed.
An odd night to say the least.
Shelter: The Farmhouse (Rangely, ME)
Miles today: 9.4
Total miles: 1003.8
Miles from Springer: 1964.9
Miles to Katahdin: 220.4
Day 117: September 30th: An Undocumented Day?
We all woke up to it POURING outside - one of the worst rains I had seen all season. I was so thankful to not be out hiking in it - though, this thought made me feel bad for all the hikers that were out in it. Dixie texted her friend who was in the woods a few days ahead, and he told her that many hikers were just zeroing in a shelter all day. What does one do when zeroing in a shelter all day? My guess is: eat all your good snacks, attempt to nap all day, pray to god you have a book and cell service. In that serious of a storm, no fires could be made.
I read "Holes" most of the day, went to the grocery store, hung out with hikers, watched movies with the kids, took a nap, kept warm in a flannel I "borrowed" from the hostel's laundry clothes...
I got in contact with Sunshine and the rest of the group - they were in Andover, zeroing in Pine Ellis and had plans to yellow-blaze up to Rangeley the next morning!
This is the only picture I have from September 30th.
And honestly, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure its from October 1st...
That afternoon, a ton of freezing and soaked hikers arrived (including Boston!!). They had gotten to Beemis Stream, the river I didn't need to ford, and found it was way too swift and rapid to cross after all the rain. They ended up finding a side trail and hiking until they found a road. Yikes.
I spent that evening making more food, and getting to know "Sensodyne" - a SOBO hiker who was wayyyyyyy behind the SOBO bubble (like an abandoned little puppy... I wonder where he is right now). He was an odd one. A good one, but an odd one. He bought a gallon of milk and was sharing it with everyone.
When I left my trail-family (back at Pinkham Notch), I thought I would meet back up with them in a few days time. I didn't have the intention of separating myself for NINE DAYS. I definitely missed them, but I also enjoyed my time apart. When you hike solo, you truly get to "hike your own hike". You get to know more people and are in full control of the pace/distance you wish to go each day. For anyone planning a future backpacking trip - even if you go with a group, do your own thing for a while.
Shelter: The Farmhouse (Rangely, ME)
Miles today: 0.0
Total miles: 1003.8
Miles from Springer: 1964.9
Miles to Katahdin: 220.4
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