Date: 2007-07-31
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Miles today: 0.0

7-31-07Guilford, ME70 miles today2956 easterly miles7041 total milesI slept great last night because the AC unit in the motel worked great and kept it nice and cold.Today started off in Farmington, ME with....Starbuck's!!What a great way to start off each day. The sad part is this bike ride is almost over now and someone just emailed me and said there's no electric outlets on the AT. What AM I going to do without my coffee each morning?? :-((I got in touch with a good Trail friend by the name of Mailar. He lives near where I'll be riding today, so we made arrangements to meet at 11am in Skowhegan for an early lunch.That only left me about 30 miles to ride by 11am, so I was taking my time getting ready.I got to Ken's Restaurant about 20 minutes early because I know Mailar is usually about 10 minutes early and I wanted to beat him there. Well, I beat Mailar by about 10 minutes. :-))Mailar had done 2 more canoe trips this year down the Allagash River. That makes 30 times he's canoed down that river!!We had a good meal and Mailar said he could meet me in Guilford in a few hours, then we could go to Flatlanders in Greenville for their broasted chicken.I didn't have to think very long about that offer because Flatlanders has the best broasted chicken along the AT. :-))I headed on towards Guilford. It was a hot and muggy day, so I just pedaled easily.There's lots of hills in this area, but none that are really big climbs. They add up though because I've been climbing nearly 3,000 feet each day.I still had about 7 miles to Guilford when Mailar passed by. I'm sure I looked very thirsty, but he just passed by and in a minute he was out of sight.I kept thinking to myself that he must have seen how thirsty I looked, but he never came back.He was waiting for me in Guilford when I got there and he asked me what took so long. :-))I got a Coke and we headed to the house where he was raised in Shirley.Mailar gave me a Yeungling and I think that ice cold Yeungling was the best beer I've ever had. Sometimes.....after you've been so thirsty for so long, an ice cold beer really does taste great!!We headed over to Flatlander's and had some really good broasted chicken.Once again I thought Mailar was being a little selfish when he said he was so stuffed that he couldn't eat any more. He could have shared some of that chicken. ;-))I called Frogcaller and Lew and told them we were in town. They have a beautiful camp on a pond just out of town. I couldn't go to Greenville without stopping in and seeing them.We turned onto their street and a very healthy looking 100 pound black bear ran in front of us.Frogcaller finished walking the entire AT last year!! Woohoo!!Lew, Zulu, Mrs Gorp and I got to summit with her when she climbed Katahdin.It's always great seeing Lew and Frogcaller. We visited for about an hour before it started getting late.Mailar and I got back to his house in Shirley. The house had been closed up and it was warm inside...too warm for me to sleep comfortably, so I set up my tent and slept in it!!My last night on this bicycle adventure and I finally slept in my tent. :-))It actually felt nice to crawl into the tent. It's been a while.It was also much cooler outside, so I slept good.Thanks Mailar!!...you helped make this another fun day on my version of the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))8-1-07Millinocket, ME78 miles today3034 easterly miles7119 total milesI had set my beautiful coffee brewing machine last night at Mailar's before I set up the tent.I got up early today and went inside to the nice smell of a freshly brewing pot of Starbuck's.I even offered to pour Mailar a cup. It was a pleasant surprise when he reminded me that he didn't drink coffee. It was ALL mine!!At least I offered!! I remember a day not so long ago when I was very thirsty and couldn't find anyone to OFFER me a soda. ;-))We headed towards Guilford and stopped at a small restaurant for some breakfast.Mailar dropped me off in Guilford and I thanked him for rescueing me from the Trail. Thanks again Mailar...it was great seeing you again!!I headed towards Dover-Foxcroft. The map makes it look like Rt 150, which I had been on for a while, headed straight over to Dover-Foxcroft.I'm riding along, thinking about all these hills that I've gone over and that I don't have to climb them again.I'm riding along thinking about how all the traffic seems to be headed for the smaller town of Guilford.I'm riding along thinking that dang, Mailar said it was 8 miles to Dover-Foxcroft and I've gone almost 10 miles and still no signs of town.I'm riding along and the sign said "Welcome to Sebec Lake".I stopped riding and realized that Rt 150 doesn't go to Dover-Foxcroft, it goes to Sebec Lake and then it stops being a road.I looked on my map and there wasn't anything else to do, but turn around and pedal back up all those steep little hills that I just finished riding over.I got to the road that goes to Dover-Foxcroft in almost another 10 miles....and headed towards Dover-Foxcroft.I was very thirsty when I got to Dover-Foxcroft, so I stopped and had some sodas and ate another breakfast at McDonald's.I rode another 10 miles or so and ate lunch in Milo. I had a steak, cheese and mushroom hoagie and sat right in front of a big fan that was in front of a window AC unit. It felt so nice.I hit another small town by the name of Brownsville, then there was no services for the next 30 miles, so I got another Coke.The road became even more narrow, but there was almost no traffic. It was a hot 30 miles, but very enjoyable being in the Maine woods again.I rolled into Millinocket, stopped for a Gatorade, then headed down to Navigator and Ol' Man's new restaurant...The Appalchian Trail Cafe.They weren't there, but I ordered dinner and enjoyed the cool air inside the building. It's not supposed to be this hot and humid in Maine.Oh yeah, I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!! :-))This had been my destination ever since I left Yorktown, VA 4 months ago today....at least my destination on the bicycle. I still have a little walking to do. :-))I went over to their Lodge and got a room. While I was taking some things off my bike, a guy asked if I had walked last year. I said I had, then asked his name.It was Coach K...I remember running into him on some overlook in Maine. Yep, I'm back near the AT!! :-))It's starting to feel like I'm back home too.Goosebump The Snow Princess came through for me by sending a few boxes that has my walking stuff in it. Thanks Goosebump The Snow Princess!! Everything's here that I need. :-))I spent the afternoon going through my stuff and putting together boxes to be shipped back.One box to Mrs Gorp, one box back to Goosebump and one box that will be my bounce box.I tried on my backpack when I got it loaded and it felt GREAT!!!I spent a long time talking to Navigator and Ol' Man on the porch. I think it was after 10pm before I headed off to bed.The end of another great day on Stumpy's version of the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))8-2-07Millinocket, MEIt was a busy day trying to organize my stuff. I slept at the AT Lodge. It's a great place, but with the hot, humid weather, it was a very warm night. Not a lot of AC units up here in Maine for the 3 or 4 days a year that they really need one. :-))I enjoyed breakfast at the cafe and was back there having lunch when Big Red walked in.He was in the area walking the 100 Mile Wilderness with 3 other '02 thru hikers that I had never met...Jagged, Tweety and Pete.I mentioned to Big Red what I was doing, trying to decide whether to leave my bike up here over winter, or do the smarter thing and ship it south.He came back a few minutes later and said that if I rode with them to the trailhead in the Wilderness and dropped them off, I could use Jagged's car to take my bike to a shop and have it packaged to ship.A person couldn't plan things any better than they just naturally work out in the hiking community.I rode with them into the Wilderness, then drove back to the AT Lodge and made arrangements to have a bike shop take down my bike and package it tomorrow.There were some thru hikers that just finished their nobo hikes come in today. Dr John, Whitetop and another guy. Katy-did and her cousin also came in from doing a large section of the Trail.It was fun talking to them, but the nobo's where kind of busy trying to come to grips with the fact that they won't be walking tomorrow morning. In fact, Dr John has a 3 day bus ride back to Colorado.I spent another hot, sticky night at the Lodge. The weather is supposed to cool off a bit in another day and be much less humid. I'm going to find a room with AC tomorrow though.Looks like I'll climb Katahdin on Monday, Aug 6th. John Galt is driving up from CT and climbing with me.That will give me 3 days of rest before my next walk. :-))Life really is good!!Hopefully, Chief will get back from playing and post a few more photos soon. I'll also write a summary of the bike trip and post it when I get a chance.It was fun. :-))