8/25/07
Back on the AT again in high spirits as I envision completing the trail this time if all goes well and good.... Starting at the road crossing of US 2 near Gorham, NH ( where I left off last August) I crossed the Androscoggin River and of course immediately warmed up the hiking legs and lungs with an 1900 feet ascent!! 11.8 mile day - not bad for the first day back on the trail! There was an incredible storm and lightning show playing at the shelter tonight. Watching it I pondered how quickly I "adjusted" to trail life, for I was thrilled and so grateful to have three rough wood walls snug around me and an uninsulated tin roof above me... Tomorrow will be a special day - the Maine state line - my 14th and last state of the AT!
8/28/07
What a challenging few days!!!! One day I only did 5.1 miles but spent all day doing it!!! That was the day I went through the Mahoosuc Notch, the "meanest mile" I have been hearing about since the Georgia line!!! The few days before "the notch" the big news along the 'trailvine" was "there is a dead moose at the southern end of the notch!" I started smelling it a 1/2 mile before. Yuk!!! I literally had to step over his dead and decaying body and the smell was.....Someone had put Buddhist prayer flags in the trees above the dead moose. There are many tales on how he died. The next three and a half hours (to go one mile) was "fun" - no it really was! It was like wild caving - crawling over, under, through a jumble of rock boulders, sometimes pack off - pushing or pulling it along . I saw ice in one crevice - in August! Then immediately after the hiker is "rewarded" for making it thru that nasty mile with a 1600 feet climb up Mahoosuc Arm in one and a half miles which translates to straight up!
Then the next day was the most frightening climb for me on the whole trail - Old Speck Mt.! I felt it was too technical, dangerous and ridiculous to do without the aid of ropes, ladders or metal rungs!!!! I've climbed lesser cliffs with full rappelling gear on!!! This was not only a free handed climb but with a 35+ pound pack fighting gravity behind you!!! It was a vertical rock cliff above treeline and the rock had only small crevices in which to put your hands or feet in. I was terrified! When I got to the top I didn't even glance out at the view; I was so frightened I just headed right back down the other side! I was mad at myself later for that.
Why am I doing this to myself?! Hiking above treeline gifts one with continuous incredible views that take your breath away (if the climb up didn't already). I feel so alive!!!!! The ponds in the valley are magic with their mists, autumns reflections and hopefully a moose feeding at the edge. One morning a day-hiker and trail angel, Lisa, gave me some zucchini bread she had baked that morning - ahh a "peace" of home... One night in the shelter a young thru-hiker from New Jersey read his shelter mates a bedtime story from Pooh. Since I am right with the northbound thru hikers for this year, this section I have not been alone as much as my other sections. There are some very interesting hikers I am sharing this journey with this time.
8/30/07
Wow - the weather can change in a moment above treeline here!!! Today I climbed the Saddleback Range which consists of three major peaks. On Saddleback Senior I enjoyed second breakfast to gorgeous blue and calm skies and warm sunshine and views!!! Whereas on the second peak - The Horn - a wild and crazy storm moved in and chased me off the summit without a view one, except gray forms. On the third peak - Saddleback Junior ( seriously that is its name) it was sunny again but very windy and cooler. Very unpredictable weather in the mountains...