Date: 2008-09-01
From: Bethel, ME

To: East B Hill Road, ME
Miles today: 10.3

So before I start about my day, a few things I¢ve forgotten to talk about. First, the Mahoosuc Notch ripped my crotch! Oh, well, actually it was the butt seam of my hiking pants, but I liked the rhyme. I love my REI Sahara Convertible pants, but I¢ll have to admit, they need to reinforce the butt seam on these things, because every pair I¢ve owned this has happened to at some point in hiking, so last nite, I sewed them up.   Scary thing is that I didn¢t know this had happened till we got back to the room and Karen pointed it out. I mean, how often do you look at your own rear while you¢re hiking? I apologized to A.M. if she had to look at anything unattractive while hiking behind me, but she said she never noticed. Also, I've been very late on responding to a few emails from a few people, and wanted to apologize simply because right now I'm in the middle of the big push and I'll be able to respond when I've finished up for sure. I just hate the thought that I've possibly made anyone feel blown off that's all. So yesterday, we ended up driving back to Gorham to do one last major resupply, basically for the rest of the hike and the food drop we¢ll be having driven in about 30 miles into the 100 mile wilderness. Talk about a lot of crap all over the floor and beds and tables in our room. It was overwhelming at first, but we got it all put together. Karen and I prebagged all of our food, snacks, and put them into duffle type bags according to what section it¢s for. I have one just for my 2 week slackpack-athon into Monson, so when I get done in the evening, I take out my trash and grab a pre-made bag, fill my water, and I¢m ready for the next day. Sort of weird to think I may never have to buy another package of Loaded Instant Mashed Potatoes, and yet, I find myself overwhelmingly excited about that too. I was up and we were on the road by 7:30 a.m., headed to Grafton Notch. Ugh..mornings¢¦can we just skip this part of the day?   I was back at the trailhead by 8 a.m., Karen snapped a few pics. There¢s a giant AT symbol made out of wood by the trailhead across Hwy 26. I was off by 8:15 a.m. on yet another perfect Maine day. It was 56 cool degrees, the sun was out, and the sky was blue blue blue. I had the forest all to myself for most of the day today, and it was enjoyable to be a lone too. I was sort of afraid I¢d hate it after having such wonderful company for so long, but I found myself returning right back to my normal child-like nerdy self, talking to myself, laughing out loud at my own thoughts, and playing with my camera to take certain pictures I wanted. First thing up was a 3 mile steep climb (with a sort of flat section about 1 mile up) up to the west peak of Baldpate Mtn. I started at an elevation of 1,495 ft and in this 3 miles ended up at 3,662 ft. It was quite steep, but the trail quality was pretty nice. It was so beautiful today, the wind was whipping quite a bit though, and there¢s this very distinct sound quality to the wind once you get into or close to the Alpine zone where there¢s nothing blocking the wind but the tops of the trees, which are getting shorter. It¢s a high timbre, smooth, and sort of reminds me of the sound of the wind on the holiday cartoon, Frosty the Snowman. I always know I¢ve hit a certain level of elevation (I don¢t know the actual feet though) when I hear this wind, and the first time I remember hearing it was in Vermont. I passed Baldpate Lean-to, but didn¢t need water, so I didn¢t hike the side trail. I was making pretty good time. I¢d told Karen I¢d be at East B Hill Road by 4 p.m. Now, in the meantime, she was packing up our room at Bethel, ME and was driving to Andover, ME to find us accommodations and locate the pickup point before I got there. She was pretty busy all day I¢m sure. It did get significantly steeper after the shelter, but I just kept moving at a steady pace. I didn¢t really need that many breaks today, I felt strong and positive. I got up to the West Peak of Baldpate Mtn. and it really didn¢t have a view, but as you hike past the peak, you can see it opening up and you see the East Peak, which takes you to 3,810 feet and above treeline. The trail went down a short dip and across totally exposed rock and then up the east peak. Wow was the wind something. Not quite as strong as the day we were all on Mt. Hight, but close. I had to put my long sleeved shirt on because it was 59 degrees with winds blowing like crazy. The sun was out though and the view¢¦well¢¦nothing short of spectacular. I swear I could see an almost brownish haze way off in the horizon, which is what pollution looks like. I¢d been told by A.M. and V8 that Maine gets the pollution from Chicago and even the west coast blown over here. Sad if that¢s what it was, but I¢ve seen it before so I think it was that gross haze. Luckily, it was so clear today and the brown layer was way off. I started up the East Peak and was having to brace myself from the wind gusts. Pretty awesome mountainside, it had these almost large stadium-like layers of rock so you could walk on a large layer, then step up and walk along it, then step up. It almost looked crafted by a human, but I can¢t imagine someone having done this. I got to the top¢¦had it all to myself, and wow. First I was about blown over twice, but I endured it, because it was almost a 360 degree view of nothing but layers and layers of mountains. Ok people¢¦so far, I have to agree with the majority (a rare thing¢¦I know) but so far, Maine has my vote for the most beautiful state. I putzed around on top for a while and just enjoyed the awesomeness of being on top of this mountain. I was making pretty good time, and thought I might actually make it to the pickup point before 4, but I decided to get down and eat lunch and see how it was going. The down hill from East Peak was VERY steep¢¦almost straight down on open face rock (granite maybe?). Nothing to hang onto, hiking poles don¢t really like slick rock, and the wind was making everything challenging. You go down steeply for less than a mile and then hit Little Baldpate Mtn. which is this cool flat rocky area. I stood on the top of this thing and took a pic, my camera shielded behind a rock to prevent it from getting knocked over by the wind. I was leaning against the wind with my arms out, and it almost felt like jumping out of an airplane. I¢ve gone skydiving 3 times in my life (it¢s AWESOME!!!) and you hit terminal velocity (meaning you can¢t accelerate any longer) at around 125 mph. Now, the wind today was not blowing that hard, but it sort of reminded me of how it feels to be falling through the sky at 125 mph with your pants and shirt being blowing totally sideways. Fun stuff¢¦.in good weather that is. 1.5 more miles down to Frye Notch Lean-to. I was there by 12:15 p.m., which surprised me. I¢d been hiking for 4 hours exactly, but had more than half my mileage finished, which is nice. Nobody was there, and it was way below the wind, actually no wind was blowing, it¢s totally down in a valley. This is an older shelter, but nice enough. There¢s a fire ring, a nice cool stream for water, privy and plenty of great places to hang of course. I took a nice 45 min long lunch break. It felt great to just sit and relax. I sat there and looked around and today this moment, the crispness of the air really reminded me of the air when I started this year¢¦way back in mid-April. Wow¢¦could I really have hiked through 3 seasons¢¦AGAIN? Blows me away sometimes to try to fully absorb how long I¢ve been at this. At 1:00 p.m., I had 4.5 miles to go and it was an immediate .5 mile climb up Surplus Mtn. I ran into 2 sobo¢s who are hiking until their $ runs out. Nice guys who told me the water source at Bemis Mtns. Lean-to is a puddle, so pack extra water in. Always nice to get that info before you get there and end up thirsty. I was up that .5 miles in no time and then¢¦ahhhh¢¦..the friendliest trail I¢ve hiked on in months. Basically 4 miles of gradual down, with some trail that was just plain ole¢ flat. Nice dirt, some rocks and roots and an occasional steep section, but those were all short lived. I knew for sure I¢d be finished before 4 p.m., so when I got a signal, I called Karen to tell her it would be closer to 3-3:30 p.m. I had no idea till now where we were staying tonight, and both her and I have impeccable traveling luck though. She¢s got the 06 companion and I¢ve got the 07 version. She was looking for a place in Andover and saw a place listed called The Cabin. She called and the woman told her they actually took themselves out of the 08 guidebook but are generally serving alumni hikers who knew them from previous years. This place is owned by Earl and Margie (Bear and Honey), but Margie asked Earl if they were able to take us and they did! Karen said I was going to love this place, so I was especially excited to see it and meet these people. I picked up the pace, which was easy to do considering it was more like trail of mid-atlantic states. I saw a tiny snake today¢¦that¢s it. I¢ve not seen hardly any wildlife and honestly, what I most want to see is the obvious bull moose and/or bears¢¦you know, the exciting stuff. There was foreshadowing of fall though. There was one single beautiful deep red with green leaf on the dark dirt path. It really stood out and was so pretty. I hope we see some of the foliage changing while we¢re up here¢¦I think we¢ll at least catch the beginning of it. I got to the Dunn Notch Falls. There¢s a side trai you can take that leads you down to the bottom and out to the road. I opted to stand on the side of the cliff and look down it. Pretty cool, and some awesome camping in the area too. I met 2 day hikers and their dog Sam (Samantha..the golden lab). Dwayne and Terrie Anne were out, but their book didn¢t make it that clear how the trail looped. They took the cascade trail from the road, which leads to the AT and then you take the AT back out to the road. My maps showed how it worked, so they were happy to have more info. It¢s not like they were going to meet their doom, but I understand what it¢s like to have just that little bit of information to make you comfortable. They were super nice and I got some dog therapy from the wet and highly excited Sam, who LOVES hiking. I went up a bit and was behind another dayhiker. We both got to the top of the hill and his 2 buddies joined him. These 3 guys (there was a 4th at one time) have been section hiking the AT for 21 YEARS!!!! How awesome it that!!? They have about 300 miles left and come out every year and try to do 100 miles or so. 2 men were from SC and the other NC. I couldn¢t remember their names, but I am always so impressed by stories like that. I mean to have this trail in your life for that # of years where you¢re hiking new parts? Wow¢¦.to all of you who are on the lifetime plan, you have my utmost respect. I believe it many ways, it¢s much easier to thru hike or section in 2 yrs like me. Although, I have a feeling, I may start my own 20 year plan to section the whole trail again¢¦doing you know¢¦5 mile days and multiple days in once campsite! Oh, these 3 men were getting ready to go sobo on the Mahoosuc Range, and when I mentioned I¢d day hiked the range, they were very curious, so I took the time to explain which side trails to use. I recommend at least day hiking up the Notch Trail to Grafton Notch either nobo or sobo so you can enjoy the awesome rock scrambling. Well, it was now 3:15 p.m. and I had a bit less than a mile to go. I zoomed and it was up, then down, and I could hear the road. Just before the road there¢s a beautiful stream and awesome campsites, then you go up some stone steps and there¢s the road. Karen was sitting there reading. I got there at 3:27 p.m. and we were in the car heading to Andover. I¢m always shocked at how small trail towns can be. I always envision some busy little town (like Gorham for instance), but Andover is literally 1 intersection with a stop sign. It¢s sad to me because it appears the town is dying a slow death. There¢s 1 diner, and a post office that I have to take a picture of, because it¢s literally a tiny tiny house-like building that I have to wonder if it meets USPS regulations. There is another post office though, a larger one, which also cracks me up, because the place is so small. We drove past the other 2 options for accommodations, and I was glad we got a room where we did. We got back to The Cabin and wow, what a fantastic place. Earl and Margie live in this beautiful log cabin home that when they bought it, it was a disaster, but they renovated the whole thing basically to serve hikers. There is a bunkroom and the entire downstairs is a totally independent living area with fridge, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and this is where hikers get to stay. There was already a couple who requested the downstairs private room, so Earl and Margie put Karen and I upstairs across from their room. So folks, these 2 people are absolutely amazing. They KNOW hikers, they are hikers themselves, but rarely do I feel 100% comfortable in another person¢s home, but they have a talent for making you feel totally at home. They knew exactly what to say, what to ask, what to offer, what to check on¢¦amazing. For $8.00 you can get a home cooked dinner, so Karen signed us up. I went up stairs and showered, oh, and more dog therapy. Molly (another golden lab) lives here, and once she trusts you, is a total sweet doggy. I went back downstairs and Earl got a called by the other 2 hikers who needed to be picked up at the road. Margie and Karen and I sat around and talked, and Margie was preparing dinner too, which smelled out of this world. I was starving of course. So my sewing job from last night? Um..not so good. An even bigger rip in the seam opened up today with some of my butt scooting, so I brought my pants and the ole¢ sewing kit back out. When Margie saw this, she goes, ¢Oh, I¢ve got a sewing machine you can use.¢ I hated to admit I can¢t sew with a machine to save my life. Almost made a C in 8th grade Home Economics (ironic how we never learned anything about the economical side of running a home like budgeting or balancing your checkbook), due to the sewing section. So, Margie goes, ¢Oh, I¢ll be more than happy to sew them for you.¢ Can you believe that?!!! I was like, COOL!!!!!! There¢s a computer for use too, so Karen was checking her email and I was standing there next to Margie with pants in hand. Then Karen pointed to another room with a large table in it. This is where they often serve large meals to hikers, so I went in and was shocked. Honey and Bear have served every single trail icon there has been. They have an autographed picture of Earl Shaffer (first thru-hiker) and Ed Garvey (there¢s a memorial shelter named after him) that was taken 5.15.99. This room is full of pics like this¢¦so cool. I mean, Earl and Margie have been true servants to hikers and they are amazing people. Earl got back with 2 hikers I¢d not met, Banjo (ME) and Half Elvis (VA). Nice people, and they got cleaned up and dinner was ready. Wow, what a great time. We all sat around, ate baked chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh from the garden cucumbers, zucchini, rolls, cranberry sauce, and coleslaw. I felt like it was Thanksgiving dinner! We had just a wonderful dinner conversation, sharing stories and then Half Elvis and I discovered we were both former Marines and both served the same 4 years, but he graduated from bootcamp in April and me in September. Karen and I have a lovely tradition of sitting down at our dinner table, no television, no distractions, and enjoying conversation with each other over a nice meal. We try to do this as often as humanly possible. Tonight, it reminded me how much I miss doing that in my own home. It was a fantastic meal, fantastic company, and Earl was offering to all of us hikers that once we finished, if we didn¢t know where to go, what to do, or were just lost, we could come back and live here. They¢ve helped hikers in re-entry too. I mean these 2 people are simply amazing to me, and I feel SO fortunate that they were willing to allow Karen and I to stay here. Thanks so much Honey and Bear. We finished dinner off with homemade brownies with a scoop of moosetracks icecream.   We all discussed breakfast in the a.m. and Earl is getting up to make it by 7 a.m. I wanted to be hiking by 8. Banjo and Half Elvis prefer to hike always with fullpack. Banjo said she tried slackpacking and hated it. Once again, the beautiful thing about this trail is that it doesn¢t matter how you hike it, full pack, slack pack, no pack¢¦you still get to enjoy its beauty. After dinner, I retired to the room and am sitting here journaling on Karen¢s computer. I¢ll transfer this over to her jumpdrive and then go downstairs and email it off to Persistent. It¢s so much faster for me to type on a real keyboard. There¢s a book Karen was looking at. The title is ¢The Appalachian Trail, Calling Me Back to the Hills,¢ by Earl Shaffer, when he thruhiked again in 1998 when he was 79 years old!! This book is autographed by him and has amazing pictures. I believe my personal AT library will be getting MUCH larger in the coming year. It¢s like I can appreciate the books more now that I¢ve been out here. It got up to 75 degrees today. Again, a perfect Maine day, and it looks as if it will continue being this way all week. Day 1 of the 14 day slackpack-athon is over. Tomorrow, Karen is hiking in a few miles with me again¢¦it¢s a good way for her to start some conditioning for when she joins me in a few weeks¢¦man I can¢t wait to have her out here with me all the time. Anyway, I¢m pooped, it 9:09 p.m. and I might actually get more than 8 hrs of sleep tonight. A wonderful day, a little hard hiking in the beginning and great hiking from lunchtime on¢¦just the way I like it. ~Certain