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it is beautiful out there in Maine
Made the annual trip to Baxter this year. Due to health issues, Derien couldn't go along.
The lean-to we stayed in was new and big. It had sufficient overhang that it wasn't really necessary to put up tarps. In case of rain we could do everything under the front of the lean-to. The weather was fairly cool and overcast for the most part. There were few blackflies and mosquitoes this year, most years it feels like we are only prey animals for the local insects.
The equipment: I was trying out some new stuff. The Mountain Hardware Down Jacket seems like an awesome way to replace my fleece. It's light. It is versatile. I found I could stay comfortable in the cool of evening or morning, but didn't feel smothered as I started to warm up moving around. Packs small. It's a winner. The Feathered Friends 32 degree down sleeping bag was also a winner. It was down in the low 40's the first night, we weren't sleeping in a tent, but an open lean-to, and I was just a little chilly, still able to sleep through the night. I didn't have the head of the bag snug around my head, so I could have probably been even warmer. The next night was just slightly warmer and I was very comfortable. The bag weighs half of what my other one weighs (a 0 degree synthetic) and packs to half the size. I think this will be a winner for any time we don't expect temps around freezing.
The food: I didn't get a chance to try my pumpkin/carrot soup mix on site because of the shortened schedule, so that and the other recipes will have to have further examination at home. I did try out my caffeine alternate, tangy tea mix. It is not tea, but as long as you don't expect it to be tea, it's not bad at all. It doesn't have the pack in/pack out problems of used tea bags. It packs dense and is easy to deal with when you want something hot: 1pt lipton tea mix, 1pt tang, 1pt sugar, just a bit of cinnamon powder.
Wednesday the weather near the mountain was cool and there was the occasional spit of rain. It was easy to ignore though and not worth pulling the rain gear out. We took a hike up to Katahdin Stream Falls. It is the easy part of Hunt Trail (the first mile) and it was a nice shakedown walk. There was a new log bridge spanning a couple of the rocks just before the bridge over Katahdin Spring. My short legged hiking partner was grateful for the addition because those rocks could be vertically challenging. The real rock scrambling starts much further up.
Thursday morning I got up and got on the trail a little after 6am. I had decided to walk a loop of the Appalachian Trail (AT) south from the campground then back via the Abol Pond and Blueberry Ledges trails. All told it was about 13.5 miles.
The AT portion was the majority (8.2mi) and it was just perfect. It starts passing through some wet areas on log bridges then ascends and passes above one pond and around the edge of another. The only sound was a loon being eerie. After skirting one of the campgrounds the rain changed and started following the rushing river. After passing a couple of falls the trail descends onto a valley floor by the river. There the river alternated between rushing in rocky places to either wide or deep and utterly quiet. The forest varied nicely and there were plenty of examples of trees perched atop boulders reaching down around them to get to the ground. I saw a few different colors of ladyslipper and other typical woodland flowers. The trail continues along the river getting gradually more level passing over a couple of stream crossings, which were easy. A couple of times it passed through areas with runs up to my shoulders. The trail condition varied: sometimes open forest, sometimes stepping around over stones, other times feeling like you were just sneaking through the undergrowth. There was only one very short piece that was picking through the mud looking for a solid bit. The portion of the trail I was walking finished up in a birch grove which suffered a wildfire last year, so there were many leafless birches waiting to fall on unsuspecting hikers.
When I reached the intersection with Abol Pond Trail there was a nice bench, so I sat down and had a feeding frenzy with the various things in my pack. Maybe I should have eaten a bit more on the way. It was beautiful to sit in the dappled sun, just past the dead birches. I was pretty tired after walking 8 miles, but it felt good to be sitting down to rest and most of the way through the mileage for the day at just after 10am (so about 3 1/2hours in). I hung out and rested for about 15 minutes then got the pack on and started up Abol Pond Trail.
I only stayed on Abol Pond Trail for about .2 miles just long enough to go into and out of the dead birches again. Blueberry Ledges Trail branched off to the left uphill. Not steep, but steady uphill. This is where the hard part of the day began. Did I mention I was already tired? Did I mention the sun was out in earnest now for the only time the whole day? Did I mention that I haven't done any hiking in two years and no proper training this year? And I was digesting a big ball of food. And I didn't take off the extra layer I had on when I took my break. And maybe I might have hydrated a little better in the first leg of the journey. Yeah, the next mile and a half did not go well. I got progressively more miserable. Finally, after a very slow mile or so, I sat down again for a proper rest, drank a liter of water, removed the extra layer, and munched a bit of chocolate just for good measure. Once I restarted, the uphill began to moderate a bit and being a bit cooler I started to feel considerably better. I slowly worked my way back to my proper tired pace. The final part of the trail was descending for a bit back down to the campground. I made it back a little after 1pm, so overall pretty good time, but less than graceful. If I was a bit fresher, Blueberry Ledges Trail might have been more pleasant and I would have notice more pretty spots, but I don't think it could hold a candle to that chunk of the AT.
While I was doing that, my camping companion sprained her ankle on a short hike. She was able to get back to the campground and rested for the remainder of the day, but as a result we returned to civilization a day early. Today I'm sore. I feel good when I'm moving, but if I sit very long I get stiff.
Being out has reminded me of just how much I miss getting out into the woods and camping.
The lean-to we stayed in was new and big. It had sufficient overhang that it wasn't really necessary to put up tarps. In case of rain we could do everything under the front of the lean-to. The weather was fairly cool and overcast for the most part. There were few blackflies and mosquitoes this year, most years it feels like we are only prey animals for the local insects.
The equipment: I was trying out some new stuff. The Mountain Hardware Down Jacket seems like an awesome way to replace my fleece. It's light. It is versatile. I found I could stay comfortable in the cool of evening or morning, but didn't feel smothered as I started to warm up moving around. Packs small. It's a winner. The Feathered Friends 32 degree down sleeping bag was also a winner. It was down in the low 40's the first night, we weren't sleeping in a tent, but an open lean-to, and I was just a little chilly, still able to sleep through the night. I didn't have the head of the bag snug around my head, so I could have probably been even warmer. The next night was just slightly warmer and I was very comfortable. The bag weighs half of what my other one weighs (a 0 degree synthetic) and packs to half the size. I think this will be a winner for any time we don't expect temps around freezing.
The food: I didn't get a chance to try my pumpkin/carrot soup mix on site because of the shortened schedule, so that and the other recipes will have to have further examination at home. I did try out my caffeine alternate, tangy tea mix. It is not tea, but as long as you don't expect it to be tea, it's not bad at all. It doesn't have the pack in/pack out problems of used tea bags. It packs dense and is easy to deal with when you want something hot: 1pt lipton tea mix, 1pt tang, 1pt sugar, just a bit of cinnamon powder.
Wednesday the weather near the mountain was cool and there was the occasional spit of rain. It was easy to ignore though and not worth pulling the rain gear out. We took a hike up to Katahdin Stream Falls. It is the easy part of Hunt Trail (the first mile) and it was a nice shakedown walk. There was a new log bridge spanning a couple of the rocks just before the bridge over Katahdin Spring. My short legged hiking partner was grateful for the addition because those rocks could be vertically challenging. The real rock scrambling starts much further up.
Thursday morning I got up and got on the trail a little after 6am. I had decided to walk a loop of the Appalachian Trail (AT) south from the campground then back via the Abol Pond and Blueberry Ledges trails. All told it was about 13.5 miles.
The AT portion was the majority (8.2mi) and it was just perfect. It starts passing through some wet areas on log bridges then ascends and passes above one pond and around the edge of another. The only sound was a loon being eerie. After skirting one of the campgrounds the rain changed and started following the rushing river. After passing a couple of falls the trail descends onto a valley floor by the river. There the river alternated between rushing in rocky places to either wide or deep and utterly quiet. The forest varied nicely and there were plenty of examples of trees perched atop boulders reaching down around them to get to the ground. I saw a few different colors of ladyslipper and other typical woodland flowers. The trail continues along the river getting gradually more level passing over a couple of stream crossings, which were easy. A couple of times it passed through areas with runs up to my shoulders. The trail condition varied: sometimes open forest, sometimes stepping around over stones, other times feeling like you were just sneaking through the undergrowth. There was only one very short piece that was picking through the mud looking for a solid bit. The portion of the trail I was walking finished up in a birch grove which suffered a wildfire last year, so there were many leafless birches waiting to fall on unsuspecting hikers.
When I reached the intersection with Abol Pond Trail there was a nice bench, so I sat down and had a feeding frenzy with the various things in my pack. Maybe I should have eaten a bit more on the way. It was beautiful to sit in the dappled sun, just past the dead birches. I was pretty tired after walking 8 miles, but it felt good to be sitting down to rest and most of the way through the mileage for the day at just after 10am (so about 3 1/2hours in). I hung out and rested for about 15 minutes then got the pack on and started up Abol Pond Trail.
I only stayed on Abol Pond Trail for about .2 miles just long enough to go into and out of the dead birches again. Blueberry Ledges Trail branched off to the left uphill. Not steep, but steady uphill. This is where the hard part of the day began. Did I mention I was already tired? Did I mention the sun was out in earnest now for the only time the whole day? Did I mention that I haven't done any hiking in two years and no proper training this year? And I was digesting a big ball of food. And I didn't take off the extra layer I had on when I took my break. And maybe I might have hydrated a little better in the first leg of the journey. Yeah, the next mile and a half did not go well. I got progressively more miserable. Finally, after a very slow mile or so, I sat down again for a proper rest, drank a liter of water, removed the extra layer, and munched a bit of chocolate just for good measure. Once I restarted, the uphill began to moderate a bit and being a bit cooler I started to feel considerably better. I slowly worked my way back to my proper tired pace. The final part of the trail was descending for a bit back down to the campground. I made it back a little after 1pm, so overall pretty good time, but less than graceful. If I was a bit fresher, Blueberry Ledges Trail might have been more pleasant and I would have notice more pretty spots, but I don't think it could hold a candle to that chunk of the AT.
While I was doing that, my camping companion sprained her ankle on a short hike. She was able to get back to the campground and rested for the remainder of the day, but as a result we returned to civilization a day early. Today I'm sore. I feel good when I'm moving, but if I sit very long I get stiff.
Being out has reminded me of just how much I miss getting out into the woods and camping.