Snowman Says: On the AT - Unnamed Woods Road to The Birches

September 17, 2008 | Miles: 19.7
Start: Unnamed woods road
End: Sand Beach, Lower Jo-Mary Lake

Fueled by Muleskinner’s coffee…wooooo!...we rocked out 19.7 miles today. Oh yeah! Real hiker miles! Ok, it was pretty flat, but that’s still a solid day. We had heard that once you get out White Cap, it’s clear sailing, and so far that’s true. I wouldn’t call it easy, but it is flat. Still rooty and rocky in spots, but we’re not complaining.

Pond, stream, pond, stream, logging road, stream, pond, logging road, lake…that pretty much sums it up. Weather is great: blue skies and great hiking temps. Good stuff.

We stopped at Antlers Campsite, and it looks like one of the nicer campsites on the entire trail. But, we decided to push on another 2 miles or so based on the information we had from our friend, Clearwater, about an even better spot. I doubted that there would be a better camp spot than Antlers, but pushing those extra miles would put us back on schedule. I was wrong. We found the best campsite ever. Ever. We stopped right on the beach at Lower Jo-Mary Lake, and set up our tent. The beach is maybe 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep. And, we have it all to ourselves. Yup, Team Snowplug loves the Hondo!

September 18, 2008 | Miles: 15.9
Start: Sand Beach, Lower Jo-Mary Lake
End: Crescent Pond

The best campsite ever got even better this morning as a pair of loons swam by “our” beach. Oh, and the sunset was killer. The AT…it’s nothing but rainbows and candy. Don’t forget the gumdrop trees!

Speaking of food, we had pizza for lunch today! (My hiker hunger has pretty much set in, and I’m pretty happy to eat anything in sight.) We need to resupply, so we headed into White House Landing. So, yeah, the 100-Mile Wilderness isn’t really “wilderness,” but there really isn’t any wilderness on the entire AT, anyway. To get to White House Landing, you take a side trail .9 miles to the shore of Pemadumcook Lake and blow the air horn. At the sound of the air horn, a boat comes across to pick you up and take you to pizza! White House Landing is in an amazing spot, and the owners, Bill and Linda, are two of the nicest people we’ve met on the entire trail, which is saying a lot. We spent about 3 hours there eating, resupplying for the next stretch and chatting with them. If we weren’t on a schedule, we definitely would have stayed. They have a bunkhouse and cabins, showers…it’s basically a north country oasis. It’s awesome. We’d really like to get back there some day. It might be a bit pricey for some hiker budgets, but I think the hospitality and location are well worth it. Plus, the resupply was waaaayyy better than we had expected. They had everything a hungry hiker needs to get through to Abol Bridge or even Katahdin. For Sobos, there’s plenty to get to Monson. Can you tell I liked this place?

Oh yeah, the hiking…more of the same: flat but not easy. Our planned stop was Wadleigh Stream Lean-to, but we decided to push on a few more miles. The theory being that if we pushed, we could get to Abol Bridge tomorrow and then have a 10-mile day before we summit Katahdin. (Oh yeah!!!) The only problem with that plan was the up and over of Nasty-Butt (Nesuntabunt) Mountain in the late afternoon. D is not a happy camper if we’re hiking after 5:00pm. So, today, she was not a happy camper. But, the views of Katahdin from the top of Nesuntabunt boosted her spirits, and we ended up finding a sweet camp spot just above Crescent Pond. Now, we’re ahead of schedule and 19 miles from Abol Bridge. If the weather stays beautiful (another perfect day today…well, a bit windy and cool) and the terrain mellowish, we should be in good shape.

Where are the thruhikers? We haven’t seen a single northbounder since lunch 2 days ago. Are we actually moving that fast? Cool.

September 19, 2008 | Miles: 19.1
Start: Crescent Pond
End: Abol Pines Campsite

Moose do not exist. I no longer believe in them. We’ve passed 15,000 “moose perfect” ponds, and we’ve started tiptoeing up to them. Still no moose sightings. They don’t exist.

It was 39 degrees inside the tent this morning, and I still got out of the sleeping bag. Have I mentioned that we’ve neither showered or done laundry since we left Monson? The aroma inside the tent is fairly amazing. My socks alone could kill a small herd of livestock. Oh, I think this trip is going to kill my boots. I’m starting to blow out of the left one. I think they hate hiking.

Well, we pushed to Abol Bridge today, and it was a great decision. We caught up to K-Bomb, Mocassion, Enoch and Orangedust, which surprised the bejezzus out of them. They were set up at Abol Pines, which is a sweet spot right on the Penobscot River, when we strolled in. We hung out with them drinking beer and laughing about the trail. Oh yeah, there’s a private campground at Abol Bridge…beer, Doritos and microwaved bacon chesseburgers for me for dinner. I’m going to need detox when this trip over.

The view of Katahdin from Abol Bridge is legendary, and it did not disappoint. We could practically reach out and touch it. It’s only about 15 miles away. We walk into Baxter State Park tomorrow. Holy crap!

September 20, 2008 | Miles: 9.9
Start: Abol Pines Campsite
End: The Birches Campsite, Baxter State Park

The big push yesterday was definitely the right call, as the short day today was perfect. We “slept in”: 7:30. (Another 39 degree morning, though…brrrr.) We had coffee from the Abol Bridge Campground store. We started hiking at 9:15. Ah, the AT.

The trail today was awesome. We were along the Penobscot River for a long stretch, then we followed the Nesowadnehunk Stream, which was beautiful. We took a long lunch break on a big rock in the middle of the stream in the sun. We checked out the falls along the way. We terrified the dayhikers with our stench. It was great. Really, it was a perfect day.

We arrived at Katahdin Stream Campground at around 2:00, signed in for the Birches—the long distance hiker campsite—and relaxed all afternoon and evening. The Birches is a bit strange, as it is fairly far away from the rest of Katahdin Stream Campground. I’ve dubbed it the “Leper Camp.” Luckily, it’s a great crew, and very little can dampen the excitement of climbing Katahdin tomorrow. Yup, tomorrow is the last day of our four-year journey. Hard to believe to say the least.