Date: 2018-08-29
From: Home

To: AT Lodge in Millinocket 
Miles today: 0.0

After a rather lengthy hiatus from the trail I¢m finally off on the second leg of my journey. I¢ve been driving my very patient and understanding wife crazy with my incessant jabbering about the trail and my need to finish what I started. Thank you Kayanne for lending a receptive ear and offering your support, you¢re the best!If all goes according to plan (famous last words) this leg of my hike will take me from Mt. Katahdin, ME to Vernon, NJ. Having completed the leg from Springer Mt., GA to Vernon earlier this year, if I am able to complete this second leg this year I will indeed qualify as an AT thru hiker. But Opa, let¢s not get ahead of ourselves - there are many footsteps that remain to be taken, and as I know firsthand there is much that can go wrong! I¢ve got a lot of hiking ahead that will take me over some of the more difficult terrain that the trail has to offer, most notably in Maine and New Hampshire. Over the years I¢ve section/day hiked a fair number of miles of the AT in these two states, so I know well some of the challenges that await. My trip today started with a flight from Rochester, NY to Bangor, ME, via. a connection in Philadelphia. The flights were smooth, but as expected I was not able to carry-on my pack as my collapsible hiking poles are considered weapons. Oh well. My pack arrived safely at the airport in Bangor, that¢s what counts. On the flight from Philly to Bangor I was seated in a row immediately in front of two ladies that talked nonstop - and very loudly- for the entire flight. They never stopped to take a breath, so annoying. When disembarking the man in the seat across the aisle from me just looked at me, and we both just shook our heads. We should have asked the airline for a discount for enduring ¢cruel and unusual punishment¢.I arrived in Bangor at 14:00, and had 4.5 hrs. to kill until my Cyr bus left for Medway. Across the street from the airport there was a grocery store, where I did some final resupply shopping and then had a bite to eat at the local Wendy¢s. Eventually I made my way to the bus station, which was just a short walk away, and caught the 18:30 bus to Medway. At Medway I was picked up by a shuttle that took me to the AT Lodge in Millinocket, arriving at 20:00. The shuttle was included in a $70 package provided by the AT Lodge that also included a one nite stay, breakfast in the AM, and then an AM shuttle to Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park where I will begin my hike. Not a bad deal at all. I stayed at the AT Lodge back in 2010 along with Art, one of my hiking buddies, on a trip where we climbed Baxter (Katahdin), Hamlin and North Brother. We both finished our Northeast 115 on that trip, so it was very memorable. The Lodge was pretty much as I remember it. I must admit to you that although I am extremely excited and anxious to get back on the trail, I do so with some trepidation. Will I have any health issues? How will my body hold up - particularly my feet? Will the plantar fasciitis rear its ugly head? Is the stress fracture in my foot healed enough, such that it will withstand the daily pounding that the trail will dish out? I keep telling myself that I can¢t dwell on these ¢What If¢s¢, that I¢ve been a good patient and followed my doctors¢ instructions during my recovery - now all I can do is put one foot in front of the other. What will be will be. I am just so thankful to have this opportunity to resume my hike!I expect to encounter a fair number of NOBOs that I should cross paths with on the trail as I will be heading south, and look forward to hearing about their trail adventures/misadventures. I will be most happy for them as they near the end of their epic hike - way to go fellow hikers! Here at the AT Lodge I¢ve met two southbound flipfloppers, Caveman and Truck, who will be heading out with me tomorrow AM on our climb up Katahdin.I plan on doing daily trail journal entries to document my hike, although lack of cell coverage may delay posting of my entries for a day or two. I¢ve also decided that in terms of the trail mileposts recorded in my entries I will work backwards from Katahdin (MP 2190.9) to Vernon, NJ (MP 1358.0).  It¢s just easier this way, especially since I have the northbound versions of the two apps on my phone (Guthook and The AT Guide). I¢ve got 832.9 miles to go, but who¢s counting....HaHa, I guess I am!For those of you that are following along on my hike via. trailjournals.com, thank you for your interest - I¢ll try not to bore you to tears.I am safe, warm and dry tonite at the AT Lodge in Millinocket - hoping to get a decent nite¢s sleep, which may be a challenge as I am filled with excitement in anticipation of tomorrow. Goodnite!