Monday June 24, 17.9mi/28.8km

Route 27/Stratton (2003.8) to Flagstaff campsite (2021.7) (ME)

I slept in a little, it was nice to have dark windowshades to block out the 5am sunrise. I got packed up, finished my quart of ice cream, and the motel owners drove me back to the trail. It was another perfect hiking weather day!

Since it was warm and sunny, I saw many forest friends today too.

So many reptiles! A few miles in, I passed a sign for the 2,000 mile mark. The trail changes distance every year (usually increases), so this sign must be from a few years ago.

Maine seems to have many ponds and lakes, and today was no exception.

The Horns pond, in front of South & North Horn mountains.

I climbed up to 4000ft elevation for the last time, hitting both of the Bigelow summits. West peak is 4144ft/1263m high.

Looking ahead to Avery peak, which is 4088ft/1246m high.

The descent down was steep, as the trail dropped off the ridge.

Just after the summit, there was a plaque for Myron Avery, one of the founders of the AT, and for whom this summit was named.

Up on the ridge, the trail was surrounded by these nice white flowers. There were thousands of them, so it also attracted lots of bugs.

After the descent, I passed a ridiculous trail junction with a typo. The viewpoint was certainly more than 10cm from the AT!

I also passed thru Safford Notch, which was filled with dozens of house-sized boulders.

The final descent of the day was nice, heading down towards Flagstaff lake.

I hiked a couple of miles along the lake, and setup camp at an official spot. The water was nice and clean.

I was soon joined by another hiker, a SOBO named Claire (no trail name yet). It was fun to talk to other hikers, and swap trail stories. We even setup a food hang, which I haven’t done in many weeks!

After dinner, we sat by the lake and watched the sunset, and tried to go for a swim, but the mosquitoes prevented that…darn.

Sunday June 23, 14.7mi/23.7km

Spaulding Mountain shelter (1990.3) to Route 17/Stratton (2003.8) (ME) + 1.2mi side trails

I was awake before 6am, since everyone else was already up for some reason. I packed up, and was the last person out of the shelter at 6:15am! The first climb was easy… I think. I was only half awake. Spaulding Mountain is 4009ft/1222m high, and a view less summit.

On the hike to the next peak, there was a small break in the trees with a view of the upcoming peak, Sugarloaf.

There was also a cool plaque on a boulder in the middle of the trail, commemorating the final link built to complete the AT.

Saddleback mountain was up a half mile side trail, and since the vegetation was removed from the top, had great views. It is 4236ft/1291m high.

It also had a few ugly towers, and a ski resort too.

The descent from Sugarloaf was nice, and it skirted the Carrabassett Valley.

I was expecting a ford of the Carrabassett river, but somebody placed a single board, and I was able to kepp my feet dry. Brilliant!

The climb up to the two Crocker mountains was a steep climb UP.

But the views from the top of South Crocker mountain were nice, and it was a perfect hiking day, sunny with a nice breeze to keep the bugs away.

There was a short descent and re-climb to get to North Crocker. I ran into another hiker on top, and she took my photo.

The last few miles into town were easy. And I also passed the 2000-mile mark! Sweet!

I made it to the trailhead at 1pm, and read the signs while I figured out my town strategy.

I decided to hitch into town, and it seemed like a long shot since no cars came for 5 minutes. But then two cars came, and the second one picked me up! I got dropped off at the usual motel that hikers go to, Stratton Motel.

After getting laundry and a shower, I went next door to the White Wolf Inn. It was probably the best burger I’ve had on trail, it came with almost every vegetable, and even horseradish!

I spent the rest of the day either swimming in the river, eating more, or planning for my next trail… the PNT (Pacific Northwest Trail)! More details coming soon…

Saturday June 22, 20.1mi/32.3km

Piazza Rock shelter (1973.4) to Spaulding Mountain shelter (1990.3) (ME) +1.6mi side trail to Mt. Abraham

We got moving up the trail at 7am, and I warmed up quickly on the climb. The ascent was nicely broken up by a flat section with some ponds.

It was a nice sunny morning to be in the forest.

The last part of the climb up Saddleback mountain was steeper, with ladders…

And wet slabs of rock…

The trail broke out if the trees, and I spent the next three miles walking above treeline!

I hit the summit just after 9am, and it was a little windy, but nice views in all directions!

Saddleback mountain is 4121ft/1256m high.

There was a small descent between Saddleback and the next mountain, and a junction with a strange trail.

A mile later, I was on the summit of The Horn (4042ft/1232m), looking back on Saddleback.

The descent off the top of the Horn was crazy steep, and slow going with wet slabs. Once I was down, it was a nice easy cruise thru the forest. And then, the butterflies were everywhere!

And lots of stream crossings, and small river fords.

This one was called Sluice creek, makes sense.

The forest was so warm, and so green.

The last summit for the day was off a 1.6mi side trail, to Mt Abraham (4049ft/1234m). It was an easy trail, and the last quarter mile was above treeline, where it got really windy.

Some other day hikers were up there too.

I backtracked back down to the AT, on the trail I came up.

I arrived to the shelter just as rain was starting. The shower only lasted 15 minutes, and I settled in and made dinner, and chatted with another NOBO thru-hiker, Merry Miler. She was fun to talk to, and her dog was hilarious. Two SOBO hikers arrived as well, Smokey and Bruiser. Lots of people tonight!

Friday June 21, 19.5mi/31.4km

Bemis Mountain shelter (1953.9) to Piazza Rock shelter (1973.4)

Happy Solstice day! The SOBO hikers in the shelter got up early, before 6am. They were quiet packing up, but since the sun rises so early, I was awake shortly after 6am. We got slowly packed up, and noticed that the rain had stopped, so we left the shelter at 7am. The first peak was the Lower Bemis Mountain, and it was completely foggy up there.

At the bottom of the descent, we had our first river Ford!

Maine is supposedly known for not having bridges, so I expect this will be the first of many. Then after a short but steep climb, we had our first real view of the day. I think these are the Rangely Lakes.

We had a road crossing, and there were dozens of stickers on the guiderail, this one was my favorite.

Maine was also living up to its reputation as a wet state, we had many sections of the boardwalks today. We also saw two SOBO (southbound) hikers, but since they weren’t wearing clothing, I didn’t take a photo.

And some of the boards weren’t in very good repair.

Today was a shift from summits to flat valleys, and we walked by many ponds and small lakes. A few even had rowboats or canoes left on the shore for anyone to use!

At the end of the day, we got a good view, and a preview into tomorrow’s climb, Saddleback mountain.

We saw 3 more SOBO thru-hikers, and again most of them were hiking in birthday suits, haha! Gotta love Solstice day hiking.

The last couple of miles were easy, and crossed a couple of streams.

Just before I got to the shelter, I passed two more SOBO hikers. So many today, I think eight total! And of course they weren’t wearing anything except backpacks and smiles. I guess SOBO thru-hikers take the Solstice day tradition seriously!

We stopped at Piazza Rock shelter for the night. I went to check out the namesake rock feature. It was huge!

It was fun to walk around inside the jumble of boulders too.

There was also an area nearby called “the caves”, so of course I explored that as well.

The privy at the shelter was ridiculous. The name..

And it was a dual-seater! Do people hold hands? Or play cribbage, using the board installed between the seats?

The caretaker, Sleepy Pete, came over and we chatted for an hour about trail, gear, life, and of course food. Tomorrow, we get to climb some 4000-footers!

Thursday June 20, 8.7mi/14.0km

Andover/S Arm Road (1945.2) to Bemis Mountain shelter (1953.9) (ME)

I’ve been on a streak of great town breakfasts here in Northern New England! We had huge pancakes with syrup (real, of course) and fresh Maine blueberries.

Then after a quick resupply trip in town, we got dropped off at the trailhead at 9am and hiked up a steep climb. It was a foggy day, with raumin expected later, so the views were nonexistent.

The summits here aren’t very high, so they have signs to mark them.

We hit two summits today, both in the fog. Rain is expected to come in the afternoon, so we didn’t linger.

The forest up here is very green and mossy.

Some of the moss (reindeer moss?) is even very fuzzy.

Bob and I arrived to the shelter at 1pm, just as rain was starting. We found two other hikers there… SOBOs! Zuzu and Gritz started a couple of weeks ago, and have also hiked the PCT. We killed time all afternoon, talking, playing games, napping, and watching the rain fall from a nice dry shelter.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice weather, so it should be a normal mileage day.

Wednesday June 19, 18.1mi/29.1km

Baldpate shelter (1927.1) to Andover/S Arm Road (1945.2) (ME)

Bob and I left the shelter at 7:15am, and did the 1000ft/300m climb up Baldpate mountains. The first peak had a nice preview of the second Baldpate.

The walk between the two peaks was in a shallow saddle, and felt like a sidewalk!

Going up the second Baldpate was steep granite slab hiking. Photos don’t really show the steepness well.

The summit had great views in all directions!

And it was even a perfect weather day to see. It seems many hikers end up here during a foggy day, so it was fun to have good timing.

And then, a steep descent on slab rock, some of it was wet. After that, we spent all day in the forest.

At the bottom of the descent, we crossed a river, and Dunn Falls. It dropped off just a few feet below the trail’s river crossing!

And then, UP steeply to another peak, this one was wooded with only one small view.

And finally, a knee-crunching descent back down to a small river, and the road crossing where the hostel would be picking us up.

“Yukon”, the hostel owner, picked us up just before 5pm. And then it started to rain! The ride was long, and it took 30 minutes to get to town and the hostel. But it’s so cool! I’ve never slept in a geodesic done before…

The storm in the mountains.

Even the inside of the hostel was fancy.

There were 3 other NOBO hikers there, and 2 SOBO hikers. We have seven total people! I haven’t seen this many since Virginia. It was a fun night!

Tuesday June 18, 16.9mi/27.2km

NH/Maine border (1910.2) to Baldpate shelter (1927.1) (ME)

I got an early 7am start hiking, since I knew there would be a couple of extremely slow sections today. The first climb was up to the Goose peaks.

Some of the sections were steep enough to require ladders. It was fun, but I don’t understand how this trail is accessible to dogs.

Between the West Goose peak and East goose peak, there were boardwalks. For added excitement, some of the planks would sink into the mud when stepped on.

I took a break for second breakfast at a shelter. Full Goose shelter! What a great name.

Each shelter has a logbook for hikers to sign in. Someone made an entertaining cover for this book.

After the break, I descended into Mahoosuc notch, which is a mile of scrambling thru a large boulder field. It took almost an hour to cover a mile!

It was a very deep notch, so not much sunlight gets in, and it felt much colder. There was a surprising amount of snow remaining from the winter.

Some of the boulders had to be navigated by squeezing in between .

Or going underneath.

Or crawling thru…

I finally emerged on the other side of the notch, and after a very steep climb up to the Mahoosuc Arm, I stopped for lunch at a shelter on Speck pond.

The meal was good, but the mosquitoes were not. So, I got moving again, and took a 0.3mi side trail to Old Speck mountain. There is a fire tower to get a view.

On the descent from Old Speck, there was an option to take an alternate trail. Eyebrow!

I stayed on the main trail, and it was nice walking by all the waterfalls on the descent to the road.

The trailhead parking lot was empty, so I took a break and sat in the middle of it – no mosquitoes there! It also had some signs about the history and location.

After leaving the trailhead and crossing the road, there was a cool AT sign. It was huuuge, like fuccillo-sized.

The last few miles up to the shelter were a nice easy uphill, on trail that was surprisingly not rocky. Often there will be short side trails labeled “View”. This side trail was a little different, I think it was bragging.

I arrived to the shelter early, just before 5pm. I had planned to continue to the next shelter in 3mi/5km, but Bob hasn’t caught up yet. So I setup camp and had a nice relaxing afternoon and evening chatting with a couple Maine locals doing a Mahoosuc loop hike.

Monday June 17, 16.4mi/26.4km

Gorham/Hwy 2 NH (1893.8) to NH/Maine border ME (1910.2)

I slept in until 7:30am, and then went downstairs to make pancakes. But, I already had made a cake yesterday, so I ate that instead. And I had to finish my ice cream too. I watched a few episodes of “Last week tonight”, and finally left the hostel at 10am.

There was a short roadwalk, and I crossed the Androscoggin River.

Surprisingly, much of the trail today was long slab by sections of rock. And even the low summits had views!

For a couple of hours today, the trail was surrounded by these small white flowers. I don’t know their name, but they made the forest smell clean.

Along the way, there were many small alpine lakes. I think this one was called Gentian Pond. I tested the water, it was WAY too cold to swim!

This was just a funny sign. I’m still looking for the corresponding other half, “Failure trail”

And then, things got slow and steep. Steep enough to require a ladder. My pace dropped to 1.5mph, as I climbed 1200ft in a mile to the summit of Mt. Success.

Another great summit view, looking east.

Panorama photos never look as good as I hope they do…

After a couple more miles of hiking, I arrived at the Maine border! It’s the last state, and there are only 282 miles to Mt Katahdin and the finish!

It was also 6pm, so I decided to setup my tent nearby. I am camped about 20ft/6m into the state of Maine. I love their motto – “the way life should be”.

I am camped alone tonight, Bob had to wait for some new shoes to be delivered, and he will catch me tomorrow. The next few days will be rough terrain and lower mileage days. So, that combined with another zero day, and I expect to get to Baxter state park (where Mt. Katahdin is located) on July 4th!

Sunday June 16, 2.0mi/3.2km

Rattle River Shelter (1891.8) to Gorham/Hwy 2 (1893.8) (NH)

The sun rises so early these days, and it was shining directly into the shelter by 6:30 am. So I was awake before the big group that was camped nearby, and got moving by 7:15am. It was an easy cruise down a wooded trail. That, combined with the swarm of mosquitoes, and I didn’t stop to take any photos.

I got to the Rattle River hostel by 7:45am, and checked in and showered by 8am! The rest of the morning was filled with chilling at the hostel. We went into town for lunch at a BBQ place.

When we got back to the hostel (their shuttle picked us up), I had a package from my friend Aaron! So much delicious food…

Later, I baked a cake with stuff I had bought in town. The magnet on the fridge was a little too true.

Not much else exciting happened today, and that’s perfect. A relaxing nero (near-zero) day. Tomorrow… we leave New Hampshire and enter Maine!

Saturday June 15, 19.2mi/30.9km

Pinkham Notch/Hwy 16 (1872.6) to Rattle River Shelter (1891.8) (NH)

We started the day with a big breakfast, and Bill and Jill had made homemade bread too. They even had a huge (3kg) peanut butter jar… Ruben would be jealous. 🙂They dropped us off at the Pinkham Notch visitors center, and we started hiking at 9am. The trail went by Lost pond, then started the steep climb up to Wildcat mountain.Steep rocks!An hour later, we had covered the 2 mi/3km to the top. There is a ski lift here for Wildcat resort.And the views back to the Presidentials and Mt Washington were pretty spectacular too.After an hour of ridge walking, we started the steep descent into Carter Notch. You can see down to the hut, and across to our next mountain, Carter Dome.After 1000ft/300m of descent, we were at Carter Lakes and then stopped at the hut for lunch.I had one of the best trail lunches ever… a huge sandwich on homemade bread with tons of veggies.I was pretty full, so the next climb went very slowly. The top of Carter Dome was nice, with a cairn to mark the otherwise unremarkable summit.As we were descending the north face of the mountain, snow patches started appearing. It was quite surprising to see so much snow in mid June.The next summit was Mt Hight, and it felt more summit-y, with views and a prominent rock to mark the top. And Bob!Going downhill…Between the summits it is often wet and boggy. The section between Mt Haight and Mt Moriah was no exception.On the way up the climb to Moriah, I took a break at a junction to a campsite with a hilarious name. Imp!The climb up Mt Moriah was really fun, withlots of smooth slabby rock, so I could just walk right up like a ramp. It would be terrifying when wet though.Good views from the top!I had tried to hike this section back in 2015, with PCT friend Cheshire Cat. We ran out of daylight in that attempt, so it was nice to finally tag Mt. Moriah.The “descent” down from Moriah to the shelter was slow and steep, I would call it “controlled falling”. I arrived to the shelter quite late at 7pm.

There was a large group there, they were AMC youth program instructors doing a group training trip. I actually knew a couple of them! Small world. I’m looking forward to my super-nero tomorrow… only 2 miles to town!