Aug 8 Carratunk to Moxie Pond

We are doing a key swap hike today. We are the southbound group and there is another group going northbound on the AT. We have swapped cars back at Colby College before the hour and half drive to the trailheads. Our group of 8 is led by Maniac David, a low key guy. His counterpart, leading 9 going north, is a bit confused on the key swap concept and a couple of us roll our eyes as he tries to figure it out. We get that part right and we are off. Things go well on the drive until we get off blacktop. I am driving a Toyota Corolla with 150,000 miles on it. It is underpowered for this car of 4. When we leave the blacktop, we, once again, have a sheet with cryptic instructions. Look for this landmark and turn. We stop at almost every junction to talk it through. Along the way, we pass many ponds and see 3 moose and many ducks. We manage to find the AT right where it should be. 

Now we are on the trail. Somehow, my vision of this trail is much different than what I am seeing. We are climbing much more than I thought we would. We have a 12 mile hike lined up and somewhere about half way we will meet the other group and switch keys. I have a spare set of mine but they wouldn't do much good if my car isn't parked where it should be. How could that happen?

Just a couple hours into the hike, I am shocked to see we are meeting the other group. They must be incredibly fast hikers. No, their leader has led them to the wrong trailhead and cut the mileage by 5 miles. So now we are doing only 7 miles for the day. My eye rolling buddy and I glance at each other for the obligatory eye roll once again.

We swap keys and are on our way. It is close to noon so we are looking for a lunch stop. We decide it best to hike to the top of this mountain and get the climb over with before we eat. We reach what we think is the top and David points through the trees at the real summit, far above and away. Another 30 minutes and we settle down on the bare rock and look out over northern Maine. What a great spot to leisurely eat lunch. We have 5 less miles to hike so might as well linger.

The after lunch hike down is a steep one. It ends at a a pond where we take a break. Several of us get in the water to cool down. David wants to see some AT skinny dipping. That is not forthcoming.

After cooling off and getting geared back up, we are on the trail again. However, due to the snafu with the wrong trailhead, we are at the parking area in minutes. The drive back was uneventful and we arrived back on campus about 4:30, the earliest time yet.

Aug 7 AT South from Monson Maine

Our hike today is 10.5 miles, south on the AT from Monson. Jeff is our leader and we have a group of 8 from all up and down the east coast. Jeff thru hiked Maine in 2006 and that was the last time he was on this section. The drive to Monson had the normal number of wrong turns as I have experienced on each hike here. With little delay we arrive in Monson and turn onto Pleasant Street where the well known hostel, Shaw's is located. Looks like they had a full house as we drive by. Then we pass the sign for the start of the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Jeff says it is 107 miles but that doesn't have the same cachet as Hundred Mile. We park the cars for the key swap. We have already swapped cars with our counterparts headed the opposite way. The plan is to run into them on the trail and swap keys.

I spot many Lobster mushrooms on the trail. Never having seen one before, this is exciting. Of course I have no way to cook them while here, so they remain in place to be foraged another day. The woods are lush and the mud is thick. We walk on level trails for much of the mid morning. I am excited because we have two wet crossings. They are always fun.

Here is the crossing of the East Branch of the Piscataquis River. Say that five time fast. No problem here. Everyone made it without mishap and it was great to relax a bit pulling boots back on. 

The trail now follows the West Branch of the Piscataquis River for several miles. We don't get a clear look at it until miles later when we cross it. It is always obscured by tree trunks. It sounds happy as it bounces its way toward the confluence. Henry keeps us entertained with his bad jokes and sophomoric wit.

It isn't long before we reach the only leanto on this section. We flop on some rocks well away from the leanto to eat lunch. At this spot is a sign advising hikers of the Kennebec River Ferry. Jeff says the boat has a white blaze painted on its floor so the purists will be on the trail when they are in the boat. We find our counterparts eating in the shelter and the all important key swap is made with little fanfare.

We were a peloton for all morning but just after lunch it takes over a mile for the peloton to regroup. During this time, I slip off trail to this great swimhole and take a photo.

The 2009 map which seemed to be in ubiquitous use by our group, turned out to be inaccurate in that the route no longer followed streamside. It went up and down like a yoyo, requiring more of our energy. Finally, we made it to the second wet crossing. We were told it could be rock hopped but it would have been a wet rock hop.

Now, this is retirement living!

The rest of the route was an easy walk out. Check out this fearsome bunch, led by the alpha orange shirted Maniac. We loved this hike and are grateful to Jeff for taking time off to guide us.

Alas, the day is not over. We must find our vehicles and negotiate our way out of the timber company land. We were handed cryptic instructions which listed such landmarks as a purple bug box and a sign facing the opposite way. Almost immediately we were lost and made many turns this way and that, down roads we had to back out off and other fun stuff. Even with Garmin GPS, Maine Gazetteer, Siri and the cryptic instructions, we had a hell of a time solving this puzzle. Finally on blacktop, it became clearer but we did have to add a couple wrong turns, because that is just the way you do things here. 

Aug 6 AT Little Bigelow Hike

Just south of the Hundred Mile Wilderness is the Bigelow Range. We are hiking Little Bigelow today, beginning on a 3 mile side trail, then 6 miles on the AT heading north. Our leader, Steve, is the maintainer for this section. He lives in Portland and makes the 2.5 hour drive to clear trail, often carrying a chainsaw. He is happy not to have to carry it today. Three of us are from North Carolina and there are three from Pennsylvania. Jane, whom I have hiked with before at other events, is from Georgia. Steve's son rounds out the group and we are ready to go. Based on yesterday's hike, I am expecting a grueling 9 miles. That turns out not to be the case. We have a gradual hike up for 3 miles to the AT and nowhere near the number of rocks we saw yesterday.

Aug 5 AT Sugarloaf Mtn Hike

Marianne from Derry NH is leading our hike up Sugarloaf today. It is the first day of the 2017 Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Biennial event, held at Colby College in Waterville Maine. There are just 7 of us on this hike but it is a wonderful group with lots of hiking and outdoor experience.

The hike begins at the end of a 4 mile dirt road. We pass around the gate and hike up the road a bit further. Shortly, the AT crosses and we turn left toward the mountain. There is a short walk downhill to a very rocky river. Immediately, we all wonder how we are going to cross this river. Then we see that a board crosses half the river. The rock hop was not difficult and shortly we are all on the other side. Now we head uphill.

The wonderful weather we started in has flipped to the dark side. Clouds drape the mountains and begin to move down the ravine above. The trail turns into a scramble in a section just past here. We move in a birch/spruce forest, then out in the open in heath bald, then back into forest. We are moving very slowly at a rate of about 1 mile per hour. That is what my Vermont Long Trail experience has been. The last glaciation left a mess of rocks all over these mountains.

Finally we reach the spur trail to the summit but we have all decided to forego this final leg since the views will be obscured by clouds. It is also raining lightly.

The spur trail, above, is only .6 mile long but it rises between 500-600ft. Look at the mess of rocks going up. It is hard to make time here.

We turn back to return the way we came after donning rain gear. It isn't much easier going down but just not as tiring as headed up.

It is very windy here. The photos may not show that. Flower close ups were impossible.

One of group, Tony from Reston Virginia, called this section the Hillary Step of Sugarloaf. Named for Sir Edmund Hillary who first summited Mt Everest with Tensing Norgay, the step is a near vertical rock about 200 feet below the summit. It has been reported earlier this year, the step is gone. I don't know if this makes the climb easier and don't plan to find out.

The downward journey continued under less threatening skies. The light rain had subsided but the wind continued.

We are back on the gated off road here and just a few minutes from the cars. Thanks to Marianne for taking time to lead us today.

Aug 4 Baxter Woods

Percival Baxter, the same fellow that donated Baxter State Park to the State of Maine, also donated his estate in Portland to the city. It is now a city park. It was an odd mixture of some hardwoods, mature Hemlock and White Pine along with many invasive species. The invasives must have moved in during the transition from fields to forest. Although I did not see any evidence, the kiosk board indicated HWA was present. I can recall when my parents in Connecticut, lost their wonderful Hemlocks about 40 years ago. It is hard to imagine the adelgids moved South so quickly but did not effect this area.

Monet would have found this place appealing. Water Lilies choke the top of a pond on the property.

Healthy looking Hemlock

For fans of Linnaeus, Tsuga Canadensis

Neither are original Latin words