Nostalgia for Summer

October 29, 2008

Today I received a surprise e-mail from a through-hiker who watched (and documented) Oscar and me back in August as we forded the deepest of those Maine rivers - Big Wilson Stream. Here we are, in transit, thanks to "Boat."


It's great to look back on those warm long days of mid-summer and to know that I've crossed every one of those fords. Any river-fording that I do in future will be purely optional.

Yay Phillies, 2008 Champs!

The Last of 281 Miles

October 10-11, 2008

After enjoying the luxury of the Norseman Inn in Bethel for several nights (and breakfasts of warm muffins by a cheery fire at the inn) I concluded my traverse of the rugged Maine mountains by spending one last night outdoors at 3000 feet on the Trail. The route was a loop starting with a pleasant steady 6-mile walk up Bemis Stream Trail (former route of the AT until 1958). Logging is ongoing outside the stream corrider, but around the stream you're hardly aware of it.

Here's a view of lumpy Bemis Mountain, my destination for the second day, from a stream crossing.

I reached the AT near the ridge top, and found a tiny primitive campsite along the Trail where I cooked my Annie's macaroni and spent the night.

Next day, I walked the AT along the ridge north for 8 miles, with the constant ups and downs that are so typical of Maine, plus a few miles of ridge top views.

Then a wicked plunge down hill, a final stream ford, and an uphill through maple woods back to the road, where I arrived just as the sun set over Lake Mooselookmeguntic.

All the most strenuous elements of the Maine mountains rolled into this final section!

That's all for the Appalachian Trail in Maine - now I'm home for the winter, having walked 2,030 miles of the Trail so far. I'll be planning to finish up the Tennessee-North Carolina section next spring - only 145 to go.

Backcountry Challenge

October 4-6, 2008

Saddleback and the Horn - aside from Katahdin it's the longest walk above treeline in Maine. And on my day it was blowing a major gale. I enjoyed the approach up the AT past several ponds; then I reached the treeline and felt the full force of the wind - every step required planning to keep from falling over. You can see by the frozen trees that winter has arrived up here. Well, I trudged along and got over the Horn, the rightmost peak in the distance there.

Luckily down the other side I found a brand-new campsite being built (by the MATC) at Redington Stream, just as I was running out of daylight and worried about how I'd get to the shelter that was still a couple of miles away. That was Trail Magic - I stayed two nights and had an easy day trip north to my "tag up" spot (where I had ended on my hike in from the north) near Orbeton Stream.


Here's the north side of the Horn on the way back over. This day was sunnier and less windy, but still freezing on top. It was a relief to get back across the exposed tops and return to the lakes at the lower elevations.

Here's Eddy Pond and
Piazza Rock, a famous landmark cantilevered piece of gigantic talus.

Fall Foliage Maine-style

October 3, 2008

The weather's been gray, but the foliage is colorful.

Here is Sabbathday Pond, where Louisa and Li Zhuang hiked with me in August. Now I've been in there from the opposite direction.

This is the view of the S Branch of the Carrabassett River as I'm climbing a rocky slope on the back side of Sugarloaf Mountain.

More & More Water - Rivers and Bogs

October 2, 2008

The last few days have featured lots of water, mostly underfoot but also from the skies. Here are a few samples of what the Maine Woods are dishing out:

Crossing the S Branch of Carrabassett River on a single plank laid across the rushing torrent. I was lucky - after the rain from Kyle, the plank was under water and people couldn't cross for days.

Fording the Orbeton Stream (not nearly as scary as the above) - cool relief for sore toes!

Slipping and sliding through swamps and bogs - note the spruce grouse in the trail - where there were bog bridges, many of them were submerged. After a half hour my feet were soaked and the rest of the day was wading.

A stream cutting across the slate bedrock - this one was an easy rock-hop

Here's one that I could admire from the bank - a flume in Sluice Brook, plunging down into Orbeton Stream.

More Water

August 29, 2008

Ponds, rivers, streams, waterfalls ...

Oscar drinks from Baker Stream

The canoe ferry bringing hikers across the Kennebec River (Oscar and I skipped the boat ride but visited the put-ins on both banks).

Reality check watching the timber industry at work - access to the AT is over logging roads (recreational users at our own risk) where the trucks are huge and the tree-cutting equipment is huger. Logs are stacked by the roadside in 2-story heaps waiting to be moved. A constant stream of loaded trucks leaves the woods on major and minor roadways. Make the connection between this and the stuff we use and throw away down in the cities and suburbs!

But back to the scenery:

The view north from Moxie Bald Mountain - one of my favorite spots, blueberry heaven and views across the 100-mile Wilderness.

Pierce Pond Stream plummets 500 feet down through slate bedrock to the Kennebec River.

I'm heading home for a few days before the next big travel adventure ... to be continued ...

So Much Water

August 28, 2008

Maine is a watery state and I'm not even talking about the ocean! The whole interior is a boggy sponge overflowing with water that pours out in torrential streams. Here are a few of my bog favorites:

Pitcher plants in the Fourth Mountain Bog of the Barren-Chairback Range

Oscar staying on the bog bridges!

Sundew growing in an old beaver pond near Little Wilson Stream

Morning and Afternoon

August 25, 2008


Here is my view from Barren Ledge in the morning on my way up the mountain.

By afternoon, on the way back down:
Moments later I noticed this dramatic scene in the western sky, and figured I'd better scoot on down before the storm caught me. This was the last hike to complete the famed 100-Mile Wilderness!

Trail Magic

August 25, 2008

Trail Magic is the name for pleasant surprise treats and helpful acts provided to hikers (a ride to town in the rain, a cooler of cold drinks encountered on the Trail). Oscar found his Trail Magic lying on the side of the path!

Trail Dog

August 24, 2008

Oscar's been my faithful sidekick these last two weeks. Here he is bravely fording one of Maine's numerous rivers.

Family Time - Part 2

August 18, 2008

Louisa and Li Zhuang came to Maine and we camped at Mt. Blue State Park - miraculously we had perfect weather for three days and capped it off with a thunderstorm the last night for a taste of real camping.

After a couple of days of hiking, now I can count the two of them on my team of AT helpers.


Here we are going down Moody Mountain - a steep cliff descent which included a new landslide that wiped out part of the trail! Oscar impressed everyone with his mountain goat skills.
























Louisa made this great early birthday present - it works as a brow-mopper and also as a pot holder in camp.

* Sweat Rag - http://ye-xiao.blogspot.com/2008/08/sweat-rag.html

Oscar finally got tired - here he is resting on the Trail.

Family Time - Part 1

August 14, 2008

We're jumping around a bit here - moving Trail-south, I met Bob and Oscar in Kingfield to do a hike in the Stratton area. Here is a view of Bob looking down at the cirque on Crocker Mountain with its little beaver pond. Oscar is enjoying the woods - lots of water and mud which he loves.

[Note looking back in hindsight - little did I know when Bob blew out 2 tires on his rental car by driving over a rock, why he was so distracted - this was the period of Deception - I wish I could delete him entirely from the record of this season - but alas not it's possible]

Coming attractions: more family time ...

August in Maine - means BLUEBERRIES!

August 12, 2008

Finally the rain has let up - I made a tour of a couple of Maine's state parks. Peaks-Kenny on Sebec Lake had a gorgeous sunset view of the Chairback Range ( my next destination - it's in the 100-mile Wilderness ) with pink and blue clouds on the far side of the lake. Perfect Maine.

Then I went on an overnight backpack over Chairback Mountain to Third and Fourth Mountains - here is the top of Third Mt. with a view north to Long Pond. See the white Trail blaze on the rock?
It was blueberry heaven on the ledges - being part bear by nature, I made slow grazing progress through these patches!

Then I toured briefly north to Moosehead Lake and spent a night at Lily Bay State Park listening to loons in the night.

Monson Slate

August 7, 2008

Here I am in the mountains of Maine, where this summer has seen a lot of rain - 6 inches over last year. This is the southern end of the 100-mile Wilderness.

The Trail goes through the Slate Belt here - many local houses and barns have black Monson slate roofs. The slate is very slick to walk on. Even when on it's been turned on edge by geologic forces, it was later carved smooth by glacial action. Here are scenes from a ridge-top east of Monson.



As a result, I'm leery of hiking in the rain. Today was rainy, so I stayed "home" in the tent and did some reading and email - the campground caters to the RV set, and has wifi.

High Altitude Weather

October 16, 2007

Here I am at the top of Mt. Carlo in the Mahoosucs. It's "only" at 3600 feet but just going up a couple of thousand from the valley floor, the weather is completely different. Yesterday freezing rain fell here (though not down below) and this morning as the sky clears, the frosted tips of the spruces give me a preview of winter.
Luckily the ground did not freeze yet, so the path is drying quickly.
I love these ridge-top bog habitats!

Fabled Mahoosuc Notch

August 30, 2007

No photo for this one - we were too busy doing it (besides I forgot my camera).

Phoebe Bressack and I made a quick trip to Maine. We started with an overnight at Louisa & Li Zhuang's new apartment in Cambridge, with a stop at Whole Foods for some "respectable lunch food," to quote Barbara Kingsolver, which we took along for hiking picnics.

For those of you who know the Mahoosucs from your camp days, we did two day hikes, Old Speck from Grafton Notch (the north end of the range), and then we did the infamous "hardest mile" of Mahoosuc Notch in a mini-marathon loop. We approached the Notch (by a lovely side trail from Success Pond Road) with trepidation. It took us over 2 hours to go the mile through the Notch with much scouting of routes, but it was not beyond our abilities, so we felt a great sense of accomplishment as we emerged at the north end. There was a dead moose among the boulders, as several hikers that I met earlier had noted. It was mostly decomposed, lots of bones, but the head was still recognizable and it was very stinky. Someone had thoughtfully put up Tibetan prayer flags over it.

Then after that we had a very steep up to Speck Pond and then about 5 miles more around the pond and down a side trail to get back to the car, all of which took us many hours. Also there was a thunder storm, and we had to walk the last hour in the dark with headlamps. At the end we got to the dirt logging road about a mile from the car and amazingly there was a truck driver who had seen our lights in the woods and thought we might be lost. He offered us a ride to the car - our Trail Magic for the day!

Phoebe is an incredible trooper - she actually claims that it was a rewarding accomplishment to be dragged on a 13-hour hiking trip including getting soaked by rain and walking in the dark. At the end we were happy to get back to our comfy B & B for the night.

White Cap

August 10, 2007

Here I am on White Cap Mountain, 3644 feet. The white blazes mark the Trail.
This is the last major view north-east to the Katahdin massif. And it's the northern extent of the slate belt, so from here south the Trail crosses slate bedrock - sharp edges and slick faces make for tricky footing.

This trip ended at the Gulf Hagas trail head 11 miles south of here. I took a side trip (a zero mile day in hiker-speak) to explore Gulf Hagas, a canyon cut through slate by the West Branch of the Pleasant River. A recent thunder storm blew down lots of trees so getting around the Gulf was tricky.

For more pictures of this outing, see the photo album at:
http://homepage.mac.com/char46r/PhotoAlbum23.html

Working Forest

August 9, 2007

Here's the working forest in action - when we see these guys coming, we get out of the way!

Hairy Rocks

August 3, 2007

When I'm not admiring Mt. Katahdin across one of the many lakes, I'm wandering through forests full of old glacial boulders with ferny hair on top.

To see more check out this photo album:
http://homepage.mac.com/char46r/PhotoAlbum23.html

Lake Country

August 2, 2007
















Here I am on Nesuntabunt Mountain, looking down onto Nahmakanta Lake with - surprise - Mt. Katahdin looming over the ridge.