Update from Monson, Maine
Aug. 1st, 2005 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nowalmartMy first update from the trail. Perhaps my last? Hopefully not...
I made it through the "100 Mile Wilderness". I decided to skip summiting
Kahtahdin, the official start of the Appalachian Trail, for logistical
reasons. I hitchhiked from Medway, Maine to Baxter State Park. I took a
trail that intersected the AT. To my right was the mountain. To my left
was Abol Brige, the 100 Mile Wilderness, and about 2100 more miles of
trail to Georgia. I took a left turn.
The 100 Mile Wilderness is the longest stretch of the AT where you do not
have any easy way of getting off the trail to resupply. There are several
logging roads and other means of entrance, but these roads do not get
regular travel on them, so to resupply using them would require
fore-planning.
At the entrance to the Wilderness, the ATC has put up a warning sign,
saying it was strenuous and recommended carrying at least ten days worth
of food. Most people said it took about seven days to get through it. I
was carrying about enough food for eight days.
The first day started off in the rain. I did about 15 miles on the AT, and
hiked for a good chunk of it with a guy named Carl. We ended at a full
shelter right as it was getting dark. As I learned, bedtime on the AT is
"dark", if not a little earlier. It gets too dark to see in Maine at about
9pm in July to give you some idea of when people go to sleep. We quickly
set up our tents and made our respective dinners.
The next day Carl wanted to do an ambitious 19 miles. I was not sure I
wanted to go that far, but figured I would go and see what happened. I
was, in the immortal advice of AT hikers everywhere, going to "hike my own
hike." Carl and I got seperated (I was hiking faster than he) and I ended
up going about 17 miles. I put my tent up at an empty shelter that night,
and I enjoyed the quietness.
The next day I decided to take it easy, and picked out a nice shelter ten
miles away. It was a wonderful day. I slept late (getting up at 6:30am
instead of the normal 5:45 most mornings), and I took my time getting to
my destination. I rolled into the shelter, the first person, at about 3pm.
It had just started drizzling. There was a nice set of rapids in the
stream in front of the shlter. I stripped down and got a little washed
off. I got back to the shelter, got dried off, and got all of my stuff
organized. It began to pour. I did some journaling, and then six people
rolled into the shelter just about the same time, all dripping wet. The
shelter was small, and was normally fitted for six people. We all piled in
anyway. I sat there, clean and dry, while everyone else stuggled with et
clothing and cramped conditions. I met Tater and Alice, who I would later
see in Monson. They told me they were planning on hitting the same goal
the next day - Tappan Campground, 19 miles and four mountains later. It
was an ambitious day, but I wanted to get to Monson by Sunday night, since
the BBQ place there was only open Thursday-Sunday evenings.
The mountains really took it out of me. When I was doing research and
talking to people about the AT, they would tell me that one of the more
frustrating parts of the AT is that you can check out a topo map of the
area the AT goes through. Find the tallest pile of rocks, and the AT will
go over it. It is one thing to be told, another to live it out. Walking on
the trail on the side of a large hill? Rest assured you will walk to the
top of the hill eventually.
My reward for cresting a peak quickly became the wild Maine blueberries to
be found there. I would get to a rocky outcropping and instead of looking
around at the view, my eyes would be on the ground, looking for blueberry
plants. After I had a handfull, I would look around.
I finally rolled into Monson, very happy with the trail, but with a very
hurt foot. Alice, who I had originally met several days previously in the
crowded shelter, is a Physician's Assistant. She took a look at my foot
and quickly made the diagnosis - infected blister. Trying to keep your
feet and footwear dry when crossing creeks, streams, rivers, and then
dealing with long days (no time to dry anything) and early-morning dew is
an impossibility.
So here I am in Monson, with my feet taped up, trying to figure out what
to do next. I shuffle around town, consuming enourmous amounts of food (my
appetite has grown tenfold on the trail, as has my liquid intake), and
trying not to go crazy sitting around. I have been here a little over 24
hours. I am staying at a hiker hostel.
Alice believes I need to take at least two weeks off. I really want to get
back on the Trail. I have fallen in love. I want to get back right now. I
want to finish it. Two weeks seems like forever!
Right now I am considering my options, but the most liekly one is to get
the hell out of Monson tomorrow and make my way to Bangor somehow. From
Bangor I can get a Greyhound to Boston and hopefully crash with someone in
the Boston area. From Boston I will evaluate my feet again, and either get
a flight back to Louisville, calling off this attempt, or I will stay in
Boston until my foot clears up and then get back to Maine.
I am frustrated. My first couple of days on the Trail were spent wondering
if I really wanted to go through with it. The next five days were spent
enjoying every minute of it. Now that I have been in town, I love it even
more. The idea that towns will now be every three or four days (at most)
is great!
Frustrating, to say the least.
Anyway, the library limits people to 30 minutes at a time, and I am
already over my limit. Rest assured that I am safe, I have made it through
on of the most difficult parts, and I am eager for more.
And anyone in the Boston area - willing to put up with me for a few days?
I made it through the "100 Mile Wilderness". I decided to skip summiting
Kahtahdin, the official start of the Appalachian Trail, for logistical
reasons. I hitchhiked from Medway, Maine to Baxter State Park. I took a
trail that intersected the AT. To my right was the mountain. To my left
was Abol Brige, the 100 Mile Wilderness, and about 2100 more miles of
trail to Georgia. I took a left turn.
The 100 Mile Wilderness is the longest stretch of the AT where you do not
have any easy way of getting off the trail to resupply. There are several
logging roads and other means of entrance, but these roads do not get
regular travel on them, so to resupply using them would require
fore-planning.
At the entrance to the Wilderness, the ATC has put up a warning sign,
saying it was strenuous and recommended carrying at least ten days worth
of food. Most people said it took about seven days to get through it. I
was carrying about enough food for eight days.
The first day started off in the rain. I did about 15 miles on the AT, and
hiked for a good chunk of it with a guy named Carl. We ended at a full
shelter right as it was getting dark. As I learned, bedtime on the AT is
"dark", if not a little earlier. It gets too dark to see in Maine at about
9pm in July to give you some idea of when people go to sleep. We quickly
set up our tents and made our respective dinners.
The next day Carl wanted to do an ambitious 19 miles. I was not sure I
wanted to go that far, but figured I would go and see what happened. I
was, in the immortal advice of AT hikers everywhere, going to "hike my own
hike." Carl and I got seperated (I was hiking faster than he) and I ended
up going about 17 miles. I put my tent up at an empty shelter that night,
and I enjoyed the quietness.
The next day I decided to take it easy, and picked out a nice shelter ten
miles away. It was a wonderful day. I slept late (getting up at 6:30am
instead of the normal 5:45 most mornings), and I took my time getting to
my destination. I rolled into the shelter, the first person, at about 3pm.
It had just started drizzling. There was a nice set of rapids in the
stream in front of the shlter. I stripped down and got a little washed
off. I got back to the shelter, got dried off, and got all of my stuff
organized. It began to pour. I did some journaling, and then six people
rolled into the shelter just about the same time, all dripping wet. The
shelter was small, and was normally fitted for six people. We all piled in
anyway. I sat there, clean and dry, while everyone else stuggled with et
clothing and cramped conditions. I met Tater and Alice, who I would later
see in Monson. They told me they were planning on hitting the same goal
the next day - Tappan Campground, 19 miles and four mountains later. It
was an ambitious day, but I wanted to get to Monson by Sunday night, since
the BBQ place there was only open Thursday-Sunday evenings.
The mountains really took it out of me. When I was doing research and
talking to people about the AT, they would tell me that one of the more
frustrating parts of the AT is that you can check out a topo map of the
area the AT goes through. Find the tallest pile of rocks, and the AT will
go over it. It is one thing to be told, another to live it out. Walking on
the trail on the side of a large hill? Rest assured you will walk to the
top of the hill eventually.
My reward for cresting a peak quickly became the wild Maine blueberries to
be found there. I would get to a rocky outcropping and instead of looking
around at the view, my eyes would be on the ground, looking for blueberry
plants. After I had a handfull, I would look around.
I finally rolled into Monson, very happy with the trail, but with a very
hurt foot. Alice, who I had originally met several days previously in the
crowded shelter, is a Physician's Assistant. She took a look at my foot
and quickly made the diagnosis - infected blister. Trying to keep your
feet and footwear dry when crossing creeks, streams, rivers, and then
dealing with long days (no time to dry anything) and early-morning dew is
an impossibility.
So here I am in Monson, with my feet taped up, trying to figure out what
to do next. I shuffle around town, consuming enourmous amounts of food (my
appetite has grown tenfold on the trail, as has my liquid intake), and
trying not to go crazy sitting around. I have been here a little over 24
hours. I am staying at a hiker hostel.
Alice believes I need to take at least two weeks off. I really want to get
back on the Trail. I have fallen in love. I want to get back right now. I
want to finish it. Two weeks seems like forever!
Right now I am considering my options, but the most liekly one is to get
the hell out of Monson tomorrow and make my way to Bangor somehow. From
Bangor I can get a Greyhound to Boston and hopefully crash with someone in
the Boston area. From Boston I will evaluate my feet again, and either get
a flight back to Louisville, calling off this attempt, or I will stay in
Boston until my foot clears up and then get back to Maine.
I am frustrated. My first couple of days on the Trail were spent wondering
if I really wanted to go through with it. The next five days were spent
enjoying every minute of it. Now that I have been in town, I love it even
more. The idea that towns will now be every three or four days (at most)
is great!
Frustrating, to say the least.
Anyway, the library limits people to 30 minutes at a time, and I am
already over my limit. Rest assured that I am safe, I have made it through
on of the most difficult parts, and I am eager for more.
And anyone in the Boston area - willing to put up with me for a few days?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Tough luck
Date: 2005-08-02 04:05 am (UTC)Keep us all posted on what you decide. I was just about to start shopping around for stuff to put in a care package.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 03:58 pm (UTC)...and how long did you take looking at the Nutritional Facts of those granola bars?
..grin..
no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-04 04:07 pm (UTC)