Maine to Georgia - Complete

May 3, 2009

Done! We hiked the final link in my complete section hike, ending at Devil Fork Gap on the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina.

It was a rainy day, but we felt lucky to hike for the first couple of hours in only fog. Then, when we were well committed to the route, light rain set in, perfect for umbrellas. The last section was 8.5 miles, including the usual southern Appalachian ups and downs, and ending in a cow pasture, one of my favorite features of the Trail.

If you've been following the adventure, you may remember that I climbed both Springer and Katahdin in the fog, so am quite used to not seeing the long view. Again today, we focused on the near at hand, old orchards with apple trees in bloom, trilliums everywhere, a small waterfall near the end of the day.

It's been a wonderful 12 years, and thank you to all the loyal supporters who have read and commented along the way.
Thanks to those who have driven (Augusta especially), dried me out during hurricanes (Michael and Susan) and those who have accompanied:

Phoebe for parts of the Shenandoah, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, this final section, and for believing.
Ginny and Martha for three very long sections in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Abby for Glastonbury Mountain, Vermont.
Louisa and Li Zhuang for some of the bogs of Maine.
Mabel for some Pennsylvania miles.

Oscar and Chloe for canine companionship.

Bald and Not So

May 2, 2009

For several days, my most faithful AT supporters and companions have been sharing the experience. Phoebe joined me in Johnson City, and with a second car we've been able to car-spot and make double progress!
At the top of Beauty Spot Bald (above) Phoebe and I enjoyed views of the Unaka and Bald Mountain ranges on a gorgeous day. Several through hikers were lingering up there, so we asked one to be our photographer.

Some mountaintops are not so picturesque - here's Unaka, flat on top, a forest of red spruce (reminding us of New England) but not much to indicate the actual top.
In case we'd been overcome by amnesia, here's a marker to let us know we're on the AT. Miraculously, a through-hiker came by just in time to snap a photo.

Today, we hiked in fog and rain from Big Bald (where we could see that it was a bald but not much more) to Sam's Gap, where I-26 has cut a drastic gash through the landscape. Here we are crossing an old farmstead meadow near Street Gap.

We've rented a house at the Wolf Laurel resort development, so we are living in luxury for these last few days of the hike. Stay tuned for the finale!

Civil War History

April 24, 2009

Six miles in from the nearest paved road, on the ridge of the Bald Mountains, I come across the Shelton graves. Two brothers from East Tennessee who had chosen to serve in the Union army, were killed here by Confederates on their way back from a visit home. I learned that people of this area didn't want to secede, but were occupied by force and made to join the southern side of the Civil War. Someone is still tending these gravestones, cutting the grass and leaving silk flower arrangements.

So much history in these overgrown woods!

Bald Mountain Trek

April 21, 2009

I'm working on a 20-mile stretch of the Bald Mountains where the Trail, and the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina, make a big northward bend. Camp Creek Bald has a bunch of telecom towers on top, and a road for trucks to service them, so I used it to get up into the middle of the section.  

Above is Blackstack Cliff, a forbidding-looking pile which made me feel a little nervous about venturing into the wilderness!

But it turned out as usual, there were plenty of through hikers. Much of the trail was well-constructed; here's a flight of stone steps, thanks to the trail crews! 

Up here at 4200 feet, trout lilies were having their fling along trailside.

And on Cold Spring Mountain, one of the nice southern Appalachian meadows. Several old roads come up here, and the gaps are named for the farmsteads that were here: Fox Cabin and Jerry Cabin.

Here's the view back south to Camp Creek Bald where I started this morning.

Trail Town - Hot Springs

April 17, 2009

Hot Springs is a famous AT landmark - the Trail is the sidewalk here along Bridge Street. Trains cross the street several times a day, passing right next to the campground where I'm staying - midnight and 5 am every night. I know because of the train whistle! It brings back memories of the "old days" by which I mean growing up in the 50s when trains were everywhere.After crossing the French Broad River, the Trail leaves the sidewalk again and climbs up Lovers Leap Ridge. Here's a view back to town. This hike is another excellent bike-hike, 8 miles down down down to the river and then the walk back up to Rich Mountain Fire Tower.

Approaching Hot Springs

April 16, 2009

Coming into Hot Springs I was able to do a great bike-hike. Here's an overlook along NC Route 209 looking back south toward the Max Patch area. The road hugs the cliff top, then plunges down to the French Broad River.

Here's the hike back up to where I started - there's one of the many hikers I met along the way.
In Hot Springs, I'm camping where a CCC camp was located, and here's part of the treadway that they built in the 1930s.

Sun and Rain

April 13, 2009

Sunday (Easter for some) was a perfect sunny day, so I "skipped ahead" a few miles to famous Max Patch, one of the classic Appalachian balds. A snow drift still clung just below the crest where the wind must have compacted it all winter. Two days later I went by the trail head and the snow was gone. Quite a few picnickers were up there with dogs and frisbies although it's quite a remote place, about a 10 mile drive up a dirt forest road.

Most days have been cloudy or foggy - today I hiked Walnut Mountain and Bluff Mountain. Here's Walnut Mountain Shelter, built in 1938, I'm guessing out of chestnut logs.


Here's the top of Bluff Mountain, at 4600 feet, in the clouds. I was glad to be on a day hike, returning to the lowlands for the night - I met numerous hardy through-hikers who were camping in the fog and drizzle.

Smoky Mountain Springtime

April 11, 2009

I'm at it again. After a drive from New England on which I encountered snow flurries on the Hudson and daffodils through Virginia, I'm headquartered in Newport, TN. 

I'll be hiking the Tennessee-North Carolina state line northward.

On my first day, I finished the last stretch of the Smokies and crossed the Pigeon River. Here's the Trail along State Line Branch, plunging down to the Pigeon River (and I-40).

 Now I'm starting up the Bald Mountains - the first hike to the top of Snowbird Mountain was socked in with low-hanging cloud cover. 

These funky trilliums (if I remember right, they're called "toad shade") are blooming in damp places.

Further up the slope, trailing arbutus are blooming along the trailside. 

You can see how foggy it is here.

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.

Rock and Water

September 21-27, 2008

I'm back at it again - this time I truly hope to complete my missing link across the mountains and lakes of Maine. Fall is one of my favorite times, so after experiencing Fall Color in Alaska, I'm having it now in Maine and with luck I'll see it again at home in another week.


I camped for 4 chilly nights on the shore of Flagstaff Lake (there's my camp above) while doing some good bike-hikes among the Carry Ponds (here's West Carry Pond) to the north and up the Bigelow Range from the "back" side where it's quite wild and remote.





Then I came around to the south side of the Bigelow Preserve (view to the top from Stratton Brook) and hiked over the West Peak (scene of the alpine ridge) to Horns Pond (those are the Horns behind the pond) and then down a really steep cliff to a great beaver pond (while sleeping nights in comfort at a Stratton motel).


I took refuge during the tropical storm with Susan and Michael at their Sebago Lake cottage rental - what excellent hospitality!

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.