Next Destination

My next resupply/mail stops will be Rangeley, ME, Andover, ME and then Gorham, NH. I may skip Rangely depending on speed and food situations, but I should be in Andover mid next week. Gorham might be a better choice if you want to mail something. (And that's right before I hit the White Mountain range, which is meant to b a very difficult section.)

Serje Robidoux
c/o General Delivery
165 MAIN ST
GORHAM, NH 03581-9998

ETA: 31/07/2016

If you do mail something, send me an email with [TopPriority] in the subject line. If I miss your letter/package, I can call the post office and ask them to forward it on.

Days 10 and 11 - strapping on the feedbag (11-12/7/2016)

I lost 5lbs. Now that we're in Monson I made up some calories:

Lunch- 28 inch pizza with sausage (ate every crumb in a single sitting)
Dinner - 9 chicken wings, fries, beer and a juicy red tomato
Breakfast - 3 eggs, bacon, home fries, 4 blueberry pancakes
Lunch - Black Bean burger, large salad
Dinner - French onion soup, side salad, 12 Oz rib eye with crumbled blue cheese, baked potato with sour cream, and an enormous brownie sundae. And beer.

After a nero and a zero, time to prep for the trail.

Poet, the owner of the hostel here, did a shakedown of my pack and helped me cut almost 10lbs of base weight. It wasn't cheap, but then my knees and hips will benefit as much a if I'd seen the physio (and for the next  2100 miles).

Start: Little Wilson Falls
End: Shaw's Hostel, Monson, ME
Distance: 7 miles (11km)

Day 9 - Winged Flight (10/7/2016)

Got up this morning to a day of rain walking... again. Joey (ex military guy now known as Slip 'n Slide) and Trout caught me after about 5 miles and and they were planning to do the full 20 miles into Monson. I didn't think I could handle that, but just before we all set off Slip 'n Slide offered me a caffeine pill.

Holy F---.

It was like someone gave me wings. All the pain in my legs and feet disappeared, and I drove forward like the roots and rocks were there to help not hinder the walking.

I held with them until the hills and descents got the better of Trout and we had to stop. We were well-short of the 20 miles when we stumbled on Cole (young native guy who accidentally ended up with the very un-PC trail name Eskimo) camped down for the night at Little Wilson Falls. We camped down as well and had a nice evening to warm us up for a chill 7 miles in the sun to Monson in the morning. No rain means I'll take it easier and get there when I get there.

Start: Cloud Pond
End: Little Wilson Falls
Distance: 13.7 miles (22 km)

My right hip is getting worse, so I might look into a physio in Monson/Greenville.

Day 8 - Oh deer. (9/7/2016)

After last night's epic meal, I woke up this morning to dry conditions. To steel myself for the coming rains (and we knew they were coming), I decide on a hot breakfast of hot chocolate and oatmeal. While sipping my hot chocolate, Trout nudged me and said "look straight ahead".

A deer was slowly wandering through our site, maybe 10 yards or so from where we sat. We both watched as it placidly made its way through, munching here and there, completely unconcerned about our presence.

The rest of the day was cold, wet climbing. Cloud Pond was very busy so we squeezed 7 into a 6-person shelter, and still there were about the same or more tenting and hammocking. Cloud Pond is a popular location for NOBOs, since it is only 20 miles from the southern entrance to the 100 mile wilderness. (North bounders don't consider 20 miles long.)

Left knee, and now right hip, very, very sore. I'm falling apart, like a Ford hitting it's warranty date. Monson cannot come soon enough.

Start: West Pleasant Branch
End: Cloud Pond
Distance: 15.4 miles

Day 7 - a taste of oz (8/7/2016)

No actual rain today, but the clouds barely lifted. Despite a lot of hard climbing up White Cap Mountain, the views were only of clouds.

I ran into a couple from Perth that I'd been hearing about. Sidetrack and Jules have two huge Alaska Malamutes with them, and they're slowly trudging through the wilderness doing around 5 miles a day. It was nice to hear that accent again and chat about Aussie life.

They're planning to do the whole  trail (minus the dog unfriendly bits), but at their current pace they'll finish sometime in 2018, so I expect they'll leap frog more.

Most of the trip so far has been hiking with Trout, the 18 year old son of a rabbit* from Georgia. Tonight we shared a 3-course meal of Chicken with Rice from a Mountain House meal packet, tuna casserole with mushrooms and "Asian stir fry spices", and fruit gushers. A terrific end to an otherwise pretty boring day.

Tomorrow we're aiming to cross Chairback gap and camp at Cloud Pond. We'll start with a tough climb up to Chairback mountain.

I'm old, so my left knee is really not happy with all this up and down. Luckily we're getting close to a rest day in Monson so that keeps me pushing through the pain.

Start: Logan Brook Lean-to
End: West Branch Pleasant River
Distance: 11.8 miles (19km)

*This should be rabbi, but Trout asked me to leave it uncorrected because students at Rabbinical School are called Rabbits (Rabbi's In Training)

Day 6 - "be out of the rain" (7/7/2016)

"Be in the moment" has given way to "be out of of rain."

All day rainfall has made for fast hiking, low mosquitoes, but cold breaks and night. I could really have done with a warmer fleece. When I get to Monson I think I'll need to swap some of my warmer gear from my bounce boxes sooner than expected.

Camp tonight was a shelter with Trout, Swiss Miss and One-A-Day. Trout and One-A-day have been around a but for a while, but Swiss Miss is a half-hike North bounder (NOBO). She was terrific for chat and advice and we also met a couple of older Canadian guys doing the 100. Overall a good time with some Jack Daniels, dark chocolate and laughs. A nice way to end a cold day.
Rain makes for business-like walking, but I sure hope the weather breaks soon. Right now we're hearing two more days of rain at least. :(

Start: Jo Mary Road
End: Logan Brook Lean-to
Distance: 15 miles (24km)

Photos

I have been trying to post photos to my One Drive, but it's not easy to find places that can handle an SD card. I'll do what I can.

Here is where the photo album will reside as I find my opportunities to update it:

AT Photo Album

Taipan