Running and Marathon Recon on Mt. Desert

After a fun night and a fair amount of beer with the Trail Monsters at Novare Res Saturday day, we didn't roll out quite as early as we had hoped for our drive up to Mt. Desert Island. After all, Snowman had finished off 2 litres of their Oktoberfest beer! :-) However, despite the island seeming so far removed from Topsham, it took us less than 3 hours to reach Jordan Pond House, the starting point for our day's run on the park's carriage roads. We had decided on a 12 mile run on the "Around the Mountain" loop from our "Discover Acadia" guidebook, which was deemed "strenuous" for bikers. Sounded perfect. It was a beautiful blue sky day, crisp and clear with the foliage beginning to turn.

As we've noted when hiking in the park, the closer you are to major trailheads and trail junctions, the more crowded things tend to be. So, as we began to get farther away from the pond, the carriage roads grew quiet and we savored the gradual grades and smooth treadway. It was easy running, and we chatted away, enjoying the quiet beauty of the woods, the brilliant reds of the maple tree leaves, and the nice views. About halfway through the run, we began to realize we were indeed going up, up, up, but it was never too much. With the constant, gentle grade of the roads, we just kept moving along, gaining altitude until we were on the upper slopes of Parkman Mountain, overlooking Somes Sound. It was gorgeous! It was lucky the roads were wide and mellow, as we did a fair amount of neck craning as we ran along, trying to take it all in!

As we crested the upper reach of the ridge, we broke out the Margerita Clif Shot Blocks we had brought along. They had a bit of a strange taste, slightly sour and salty. Just as we had gone up, the road now slowly dropped us down until we were running above and along Jordan Pond, with great views of the "Boobies" (ok, really the Bubbles) and the pond. As we ran back to the car, both of us felt great, and if we weren't tapering for the marathon, would have liked to have kept going. The roads were really a wonderful place to run. We commented that they would be a great place to get a few good long trails runs in in April or early May in preparation the 2009 Pineland Farms Challenge!

We capped off our run with lunch at Jordan Pond House. Everyone talks about their famous popovers, and although we often stop and hike out of the area, we have never eaten lunch there. We figured it was the perfect day for it. We had a table inside with a great view of the pond and the Bubbles, and felt very civilized eating our popovers :-)

Then it was off to Bar Harbor for our marathon course recon. Snowman drove and I read off the MDI mile-by-mile "course preview and insider's tips" sheets. With notes like "Only 25.2 miles to go!" and "The next stretch looks bad with a capital B but it runs much better than it looks," the print-out was full of words of wisdom! Needless to say, our overall impression of the course was that it looked hilly pretty much the whole way. Yes, no doubt the hills in miles 21 through 25 are brutal, but the hills at mile 9, 10, 19 and 20 look pretty rough too. Whose idea was this anyway?! (I do not take credit for this one... it was all Snowman!)

That being said, the course is gorgeous. Lots of neck craning, taking in the views of the ocean, the Rockerfeller estate, Somes Sound, Northeast Harbor, the various tidal rivers along the way. I hope I can enjoy it while I'm out there sucking wind on the hills! Aie....

We were so focused on the location of the finish line in downtown Southwest Harbor that we failed to note the sign for the Claremont, our home for the night. But after a brief wander down a quiet side street, we came upon the hotel entrance. The hotel had a similar feel as the Balsams or other old-time hotels. Beautiful old building, replete with shared sitting rooms full of old books and board games, and the requisite fireplaces; guest rooms with no TV, nice views and a quiet, refined atmosphere. Although I had feared we would be out-of-place, apparently a Bike Vermont group was also staying at the hotel, so the friendly man at the front desk didn't blink an eye at us, sweaty and disheveled, in our running clothes. There were indeed two croquet courts between the main lodge and the Philips House, where our room was located. There was also a beautiful view out onto Norwood Cove from the grounds. A pretty spot.

After a quick shower, we took a walk around the property and then headed back to Bar Harbor to our most favorite restaurant - Cafe This Way. The past few times we've been up to the island, the restaurant has already been closed for the season, and we figured an early celebration of our 9th anniversary (!) was a good excuse to go back! Yum. It did not disappoint, and was a great day to end a good day.

End of the Week

Finally, a morning filled with sunshine! I headed out a little before 7am to run the powerlines. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the winterberries and rosehips are beginning to show bright red as the rest of the foliage along the lines turns the fall hues of yellow, brown and maroons. It was a good, but uneventful, run and with that, I finish out this week at 38 miles. Easy to do with a 21-miler thrown in :-)

We're meeting up with some of the Trail Monster Runner crew tomorrow night for beers at Novare Res in Portland, which should be fun, and then Sunday morning we're headed up for an overnight to Mt. Desert Island. Snowman really wanted to drive the course beforehand, and as it sounds like there are some decent hills in the last few miles, it will be good to get a feel for the terrain and mentally have an idea of what we'll be facing. Plus, we know that when we're up for the marathon, we won't have the chance to enjoy the park, which is truly beautiful and one of our favorite places. We're planning a 12-mile run on the carriage roads on Sunday, and then some sort of hike/walk on Monday, depending on how Snowman's plantar fasciitis is feeling.

My boss had really wanted to treat us to a night out on Monhegan Island this summer, which would have been great and was really nice of him. Unfortunately, it just never panned out with schedules, etc. Guess, we'll just have to add it to the list to do next year! So, instead, he's treating us to a night at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor, the town where the marathon finishes. Isn't that nice?! Perhaps a bit much for the two of us regular old 30-somethings, but it will be fun, and besides, it's free :-)

Rain and New Shoes

Another soggy morning run this morning. I headed out at 7am from the field house into the Commons. Man, it was dark and spooky in the woods! I felt like I should have had my headlamp on for the first 15 minutes or so, even though in theory it should have been plenty light at that time of the morning. But on the bright side, I did have on a new pair of Inov-8 Roclite 315s, sent to me by Maine Running Company after a long back-order, and so my steps, while splashing through the puddles, were nice and springy!

I had originally intended to run 8 miles, but as it was pouring and I was soaked, I made the decision to cut 2 miles off today's run and tack them onto tomorrow's run instead. At this point in my training, I don't think splitting the miles up is going to make too big of a difference in how I run the marathon. So, 6 miles it was, and then home to take a warm shower and have a big cup of coffee!

What's Next?

As I was running my soggy three miles this morning, I was thinking about the question everyone seems to keep asking us: What's next?

It is a funny thing, this whole 'finished with the AT' state that we are now in. It has been in the forefront of our thoughts and activities for so long now. Four years, and more. And now, there are no more white blazes to walk by. The journey north is done. So, what is next? What will keep us busy now? What will keep us motivated?

Well, for the next few weeks, the MDI Marathon is certainly the focus. I am glad we had this race on the horizon after the 100 Mile Wilderness. It's kept us going. Even though we were tired, our feet hurt, our legs were cut and bruised, we couldn't just plop on the couch and rest. The marathon is coming up fast. There is no time for relaxation :-)

I do plan to rest a bit after the marathon, but not for too long! There's nothing worse than sitting around during the dreary dark days of November. Although I do like Thanksgiving, I'm not that fond of the rest of November. The days get shorter, the beautiful fall foliage is gone, and it's getting colder, but not cold enough that the ground is covered with snow. Snowman and I are planning to run the Feaster Five in Andover, MA on Thanksgiving Day, and are hoping his sister will join us and run the 5k option.

OK, so that takes care of short-term goals and plans.

And for 2009? For now, the following races and ideas are rolling around in my brain as things I'd like to do...

The Mid Winter 10 Mile Classic on February 1.
The Pineland Farms Trail Challenge 50k on May 24. This is no doubt bound to become a tradition. Team Sonic Death Monkey will hopefully be out there in rare form again this coming year! And yes, I plan to run the 50k. Snowman does too. Yes, we are crazy. But really, why not?
I'm also intrigued by The Stone Cat Marathon, which is in early November. It's supposed to be a cool race put on by a crazy bunch of runners.
Certainly, Ian's Trail Monster Running races at Bradbury will be in the list too. And likely, the Merrimack River 10 miler in April.

So to make a long story short, a fair amount of running and racing.

But although I do love running, I can't give up on hiking. I've always been proud of the fact that Snowman and I have made a point of getting out hiking and exploring new areas, and don't just hang around on the weekends. With that in mind, we plan to hike the newly opened Grafton Loop Trail at some point next summer and would like to go back to the Gulf Hagas area. I'd also like to check out the new Maine Huts and Trails system that is being built. And I am already pushing for us to work on our now remaining 170 or so miles on the Long Trail (the AT and LT coincide for the first 100 miles). We've done a good chunk of it, why not do the rest?!

Needless to say, I don't think there's too much fear of us becoming lethargic and sitting around too much on the couch eating bonbons. OK, well, maybe just a bit... but only after a good run or hike :-)

21 in 3

Well, 3:04:24 but close enough.

The plan was to start at 8am, which is the MDI start time. The morning did not go quite as planned, as Snowman came downstairs complaining of foot pain and did not want to run. Well, he wanted to run, but was pissed that his foot hurt and thought this was going to be his last run ever. Ah yes, morning running with Snowman :-)

Anyway, we eventually got out the door. It was a nice slightly overcast morning. Good temps but humid. Our plan was to do two loops that went through the Bowdoin field house lot. That way we would have access to the car, extra water, gels, etc. Loop #1 was the Highland Road loop with the slight modification I made to make it 12 miles. We set out at a good pace, and headed up Pleasant Hill Road. The fields along Highland were full of purple and pink asters. The maple trees along the field edges were beginning to turn brilliant red.

As we hit Maquoit Bay, we passed a couple out walking. The man said, "Stop talking! It sounds like you're having too much fun!" Guess we fooled him :-) But seriously, I was feeling pretty good, and it was a beautiful morning. I never tire of looking out onto the bay.

The last stretch along Maquoit Road heading back into town is long and flat. It seemed to stretch on forever, but we finally were back in the parking lot at 1:47. Snowman stopped at the car to refuel. I needed to pee! As I'm sure I've mentioned in previous posts, the field house is, like the rest of Bowdoin, under construction. They are building a new hockey arena. There are lots of port-a-potties on the construction site. One was right at the edge of the parking lot, and I was in luck. Much better.

I ate a few Clif Shot Bloks and we were off. The 9 miles in Loop #2 took us down Rt. 123 and out into Pennellville. The Pennellville fields were pretty quiet, but we did get some great views of a beautiful American Kestrel. At the end of Pennell Way, we turned left and ran down to Simpson's Point. Another beautiful ocean vista. We were both feeling good, and Snowman commented that if he kept feeling good, he might try to hammer out the last few miles. I kept chugging along, and though maybe, I could even keep up! Ha! With two miles left, Snowman took the lead and he was gone. I tried my best. I was running as fast as my little legs would carry me at this point, but there was just no way I could catch him. Oh well. I'm still pretty happy with my time, which, at 8:47 a mile, seems pretty solid. Overall, a good long run that leaves me with a good feeling going into the last few weeks before the marathon. Of course, who knows if I'll be able to walk down the stairs tomorrow morning :-)

Burn After Reading and Hurricanes

We never go to the movies. But Snowman really wanted to see Burn After Reading, it was playing at Brunswick's groovy independent movie theatre, the Eveningstar and we are home this weekend with plans for a lazy wake-up tomorrow. So why not?

I am not a movie critic so my analysis will be short and sweet: Sick, very sick, but incredibly funny. Some seriously dark humor. A bit of violence. I laughed out loud more than once. And of course, the cast was great.

In other news, Maine is having it's first hurricane warning in 17 years (Yes, 17 years. Way to go Maine!). It's currently raining quite hard. Tomorrow's run might be a bit wet. Than again, Monday's might too. But I guess they don't cancel marathons if it's raining so either way, we'll be out there running.

Misty Morning

The room seemed extra dark when I woke up this morning, and I wondered if I had set the alarm correctly. But yes, it was 6:30am. The low clouds, fog and steady mist were just making it look extra dreary out there. I set off to run 5 miles in the Commons, and had the woods to myself. It was quiet and a bit soggy, but not too bad. Actually I got the most wet in the middle mile, where the trail narrows and winds through a field. The grasses and undergrowth were holding the water and from my legs down I got soaked as I went out to the end of the Commons and headed back in.

My legs are still a bit stiff, and I think I need to do a better job of stretching, but overall, I felt good during the run. Hopefully one more mellow run tomorrow, and I'll be set for our long run on Monday.

Tomorrow also involves a trip to the Maine Running Company. I ordered a pair of replacement Inov-8 shoes 6 weeks ago, and they are still on back order. Yikes! I don't know when they'll be in but I hope it's soon. In the meantime, I think I need to go check out their other Inov-8s. Mine are pretty much done for, and I don't know how much longer I can wait without getting a new pair. Perhaps I can also find new running tights there. I've been wearing tights that were Snowman's at some point, and they are from our Bowdoin days. As we graduated over 10 years ago, I think it's officially time to retire them!

Vote John McLane

This was just too funny not to post.

Thanks to Tank for the link.

Long 10

Today's run felt long. It was the same route I ran the week before we left on vacation, but the miles seemed to stretch on forever. I am not sure that is a good thing...

I was up and out on the roads a bit before 6:30am. I headed out of town to Maquoit Bay, where the newly hayed fields along the water were being hit by the golden early morning light. Gorgeous. A number of ducks were out on the calm waters.

As I eventually turned onto Casco, I passed a pond where 5 mallard ducks were all butts-up in the water, searching for food below. Always funny to look and see the bottom half of a duck sticking up! Made me smile :-)

Other than that, not much to report. I felt OK. No trouble cardiovascularly, but my legs just felt a bit stiff, like they didn't want to move. Creaky knees through mile 5, and overall just a feeling of not much juice. Still, I was glad to see that my time was essentially the same as the last time out on the route. 1:25. So who knows?

I'm hoping a mellow 5-miler on Saturday in the Commons will give my legs a final loosening up and get me back in the groove of running, so I'll be good to go for our long run either Sunday or Monday.

Creaky 5

I headed out across the street at 6:30am. First time running in long sleeves, tights and gloves since sometime in early spring. As I crested the first hill on the powerlines, the bright orange orb of the sun was beginning to rise over the trees, casting a pink glow along the horizon. The berries on the trailside bushes, which a few weeks ago were blush/pink colored have now turned a deep, rich purple. As I neared the final flat stretch along the powerlines, a low mist was rising and the red blueberry leaves along the side of the trail were frost covered. I guess fall has arrived.

Lots of birds flitting in and out of the bushes. I flushed out a number of sparrows, three robins, a chickadee and an Eastern Towhee as I ran by.

I felt a bit creaky throughout the run, perhaps because in the past 12 days, I've run two, hiked eight in a row, and then taken the past two off. But it was nice to be out, and get the blood flowing through my legs. Desipte the my creakiness, I ended with a solid time on the route, nothing slower than I've been doing in previous weeks, which is good.

The plan is for 10 road miles tomorrow and then another 5 either Friday or Saturday. Sunday brings our last long run - 20, 21, 22? - before the marathon. Yikes! It's getting close!

100 Mile Wilderness & Katahdin Photos

For photos of our hike through the 100 Mile Wilderness and up Katahdin, click here

Snowman Says: On the AT - Katahdin!

September 21, 2008 | Miles: 5.2
Start: The Birches Campsite, Baxter State Park
End: Mt. Katahdin

We did it!



After a fairly sleepless night, we hit the trail at 7:15. I felt like crap. I was excited, but my body was not. I was dragging. D pratically left me in the dust. After a “discussion,” we slowed down, and I started to hit my stride.

Fittingly, the mountain was in clouds. It was a misty, raw, breezy day on the mountain. It made the climb up less than comfortable as a good deal of the AT is exposed, but once we hit the Tableland and a mile to go, we didn’t care. That final mile is the longest mile on the whole AT. I never thought we’d get to the summit.

At about 10:15, the sign appeared out of the mist. As I took the last couple steps towards the summit sign, I tripped on a rock. I crashed into and ended up underneath the summit sign. It seemed appropriate.

Laughter, tears and cheers ensued. K-Bomb, Mocassin, Enoch, Orangedust, Easy Does It and Slow Train all finished their thruhikes. We had finished our section hike. Four years. We were done.

It was really hard. It was a lot of fun. It was terrible. I wouldn’t change any of it. Honestly, I’m grateful. I owe so many people thanks for getting me all the way through to Katahdin. Obviously, D deserves the lion’s share of the thanks. Without her, I wouldn’t have made it out of Georgia, and I certainly never would have had the persistence to finish this section hike. Of course, without me, she would have had to eat cold dinners the whole way, as she never learned to use the stove. We owe thanks to so many people, it would literally be impossible to list them all. From our closest friends and family who supported us every step to the people we never met who left coolers of soda at trailheads, so many people made this journey possible. No one can do it alone. Really, the AT is all about the people. The Trail doesn’t care about you, but by hiking the Trail, you realize that so many people do. And, you find yourself caring about so many other people. I was just as happy to finish my own hike as I was to see the others that summited that day finish theirs—and 2 of them I’d only met 12 hours prior. The goal was to hike from Georgia to Maine, but it ended up being the people we met along the way that made the journey so worthwhile and so amazing.

Oh yeah, I’m never hiking again.

On the AT - Katahdin!

September 21, 2008 | Miles: 5.2 (plus 5.8 non-AT miles)
Start: The Birches, Baxter State Park
End: Katahdin

Despite the fact that it was THE day, it did not get off to a good start. We had planned to get up and on the trail extra early, around 7am. Snowman was not in a good mood. But everyone was up and the positive energy must have turned things around, as we were off at 7:15 with the rest of the pack, heading up the Hunt Trail in a single-file line, chatting and laughing along the way. It was quite a change from our previous days in the Wilderness, where the two of us would hike along, sometimes not seeing anyone. But this was a fun group of hikers, and we were glad to be in their ranks. Hell, we would have been glad anyway, we were going up Katahdin, but it was fun. As the trail got steeper after Katahdin Stream Falls, we separated from the group a bit, slowly making our way up and over the boulders, with Snowman having to give me quite a few boosts as we got into exposed terrain and onto the stretch I remembered from our previous journey 9 years ago up this mountain – lots of big rocks with few handholds. As we neared treeline, we were in a cloud. It was cold and windy. No views from the top today. But oh well, we had had grand views of Katahdin on our way through the Wilderness. And who cared, we were going to the top, to the end!

Finally, after climbing and climbing and climbing, we reached the Tablelands. Only 1 mile to go! But it had to be the longest mile yet. I was practically running, wanting to get to the top. We couldn’t see much, we were in the swirling clouds and mist. We could see the other hikers a short ways ahead, and we just kept going, until finally there were shouts of joy and then we could see it. The sign! The top! We had made it.

The next 30 minutes were a mix of tears, smiles, whoops of joy, laughter and a whole lot of photographs.

It had taken us 4 years, but we were there. We did the whole trail, together, all 2174.9 miles, northbound past the white blazes, and this was it. The End. Done. Woohoo!

We took a blue blaze down. After all, we weren’t hiking the AT anymore :-)

P.S. Our friends Mindy and Pete rock! They met us down at Katahdin Stream campsite, fit us, K-Bomb and Mocassin and our stinky packs into their car, dropped K-Bomb and Mocassin off in Millinocket and then drove us the 2 hours back to our car in Monson. They did not complain about our hiker smell. They wanted to talk trail. We laughed and joked and had fun chatting. They were awesome and it was just an awesome thing for them to do. Thanks guys!

P.P.S. Special thanks as well to everyone who made this hike what it was, a great journey! We couldn't have done it without help from our family, old friends, new friends and those who helped us along the way. Thank you!

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.

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

Our longest day yet. We were starting to feel like thru-hikers again! Our day was fueled by a serious cup of coffee made by Muleskinner and we were off like rockets at 7:45am. There were a few minor climbs in the morning, but it was mostly nice, easy walking. By noon, we had hiked 10.1 miles on what was the flattest stretch of trail yet, and stopped lunch at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to. The trail continued along in a similar manner, as we passed a few ponds and followed the contour of Lower Jo-Mary Lake to what was to be our best campsite ever on a sand beach at the edge of the lake. Another Clearwater tip, this was just an awesome spot! We set up our tent in the coarse sand and enjoyed the late afternoon sun on the beach. We even had cell phone reception, and made a few calls. Maybe it goes against the spirit of the 100 mile wilderness, but hey, there is really no wilderness along the AT anymore.

Sunset was beautiful and we were psyched with our spot, and with our trip so far. Beautiful vistas, calm lakes, mossy woods, sunny skies and quiet woods. What could be better?

Flora and fauna notes: 1 frog, blue jays, chickadees and juncos.

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

A bit of rain fell in the night, but I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and we spent a few quiet minutes watching a pair of loons float by on the lake before packing up to head out. Our packs were relatively light, as we were headed to White House Landing, a camp along a lake out in the middle of nowhere, to resupply for the next few days. To get there, we had to take a side trail 1 mile to a boat dock, where we blew a horn and a boat sped over to pick us up. It was a quick 5 miles to get there, and we arrived around 10:30am. It was another beautiful day, but cool.

We enjoyed chatting with Bill and Linda, the owners of the place. They have a sweet set-up, with grass sloping down to the lake’s edge, several cabins and a bunkhouse, a grill for B,L,D and a small but more than adequate hiker supply closet. They are totally geared to hikers, and were so nice. We wished we had had more time so that we could have spend the night! However, we did spend a restful 3 hours there, sitting and chatting in the sun, resupplying, enjoying a wonderful pizza, snacking on cherry tomatoes from their garden. Finally, at 1pm, Bill took us up the lake and dropped us off so we could begin hiking again.

With a full stomach, I found the next stretch to be a big pain. It was “flat”, along a river, but instead of being a nice path it was all roots and rocks and ridiculous ups and downs. I couldn’t get in a rhythm and was really annoyed. However, after a brief snack, and once we got to the section along Nahmakanta Lake, where we had great views of Katahdin from the rocky ledges, my spirits lifted a bit. We got to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to at 4pm, and decided to push on. I didn’t really want to, but knew that going on a bit would give us the option to get to Abol Bridge tomorrow night, which would then give us an easy 9.9 miles into Baxter the day after that. So up Nesuntabunt Mountain we went and down to Crescent Pond, where we found a nice campsite in the pines off the trail. Another stealth site, and another quiet night on the trail. We hadn’t seen a northbounder all day. Where was everyone?

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

It was 39 degrees in the tent at 6am, which meant it must have been closer to freezing outside. Brrr! I kept my longjohns on under my skirt until a few miles into the hike, as it was just too cold to take them off. The hike took us along Rainbow Stream, another beautiful stretch, and then to Rainbow Lake. The trail was pretty mellow, but still relatively rooty and messy along the deadwaters leading to the lake. After we hit the end of the lake, we ascended Rainbow Ledges, which really reminded me of Acadia. Beautiful rocky ledges with grey lichen and deep red blueberry bush leaves. And another view of Katahdin under crystal clear skies. We reached Hurd Brook Lean-to at 3pm, and knew we would push on through the last 3.5 miles of the Hondo and out to Abol Bridge. 6 days through the Wilderness. That seemed pretty darn good to us! Like real thru-hikers. Except where were they? We were alone in the woods. Strange. We knew the four that we had stayed with back on the first night were likely only a few miles ahead, but we couldn’t seem to catch up… perhaps we would tonight. We were both feeling tired, but good, and we hit the Golden Road at around 4:15. The 100 Mile Wilderness was behind us! And ahead was Abol Bridge, with a gorgeous view of Katahdin. It was close now!

We stopped at the store and then headed over to Abol Pines, a state-owned site, across the road and along the Penobscot. A pretty spot and for only $4 per person per night. Not bad. We set up beneath the pines and went over to say hello to K-Bomb, Mocassin, Enok and Orangedust. I think they were surprised to see us!

The night ended with us resupplying for the next day and a half, eating microwaved sandwiches for dinner – mine made palatable only by the large quantities of BBQ sauce I drenched it in! – and drinking beer and talking until it got dark with our four thru-hikers friends. A good day.

Flora and fauna notes: 1 Brown Snake sunning itself on the Rainbow Ledges, great blue heron seen across from our campsite along the Penobscot, 1 Wood Thrush hopping around at Hurd Brook Shelter.

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

We knew we only had a 9.9 mile day, and it was yet again 39 degrees in the tent at 6am, so we stayed in our bags for another hour before leisurely packing up and heading across the street to the store. There we enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee in the sun, watching the world roll by - buses loaded with white river water rafting customers, big pick-up trucks, moose tours. We headed out around 9:15am and stopped to chat with the Baxter State Park ridgerunner near the park boundary. Coincidentally, this was someone else we had met in the past, Bluebearee, a former thru-hiker whose AT journal I had read before our hike. We ran into her on the Wildcats in 2004, and here she was again It is a small hiking world. We stopped at the kiosk to sign ourselves in for a spot at the Birches, a site set aside within the park for long-distance hikers. Then we meandered our way along the trail, enjoying the flat treadway along the deep, swift Penobscot for four miles. From there, we turned, following the Nesowadnehunk River. We stopped for lunch on a flat stretch of rocks along the shore, enjoying the sunshine.

Later, we visited Big and Little Niagara Falls, noting that as we got closer to the park road, we were seeing actual people! Not hikers, but people that smelled good. And let me tell you, we smelled bad. No shower or laundry for 7 days. Ugh! But we smiled and said hello, and continued along our merry way. After the falls, the trail followed the shores of several ponds, Daicey, Eddy, Tracey. No moose, but some pretty woods and nice views of several of the park’s peaks.

We arrived at Katahdin Stream campsite around 2pm, checked in with the ranger and made our way to the Birches. It was a bit set off away from it all. I mean, I know we smell bad, but really! Couldn’t they have carved out a small site at the edge of the main campground? Instead, we had to walk a quarter mile down the road and haul water that far too. Snowman decided he was in training for the strongest man competition as he lugged our water bag down the road!

We passed the afternoon leisurely chatting with the others, and after an early dinner, we all went off into the woods to gather firewood. Mocassin got a roaring fire going, we had some music playing off a tiny MP3 player, life was good. Only 5.2 miles to go! This was it! Amazing. Two other thru-hikers arrived just as it was getting dark, so there would be a merry band of 8 of us tromping up the mountain tomorrow morning. Time to get some shut-eye for an early start!