Monsen ME, 2060 done, 114 left to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Hi Everyone

We have been enjoying some fabulous weather and are starting to put some miles on even though we are both a little tired.

We left Stratten on the 24th and hiked over the Bigelows. This was one of the last big climbs in Maine. We did a little over 15 miles and tented for the nite.

On the 25th we had another great day of weather and hiked over 17 miles. We even had lunch on the beach and did a little swimming. Check out the photo. They call their lakes "Ponds" in Maine, but, it was a pretty big pond. The hiking is starting to get a little flatter, but the roots, rocks and mud is endless. I don't know how people hiked this during the wet weather we experienced in VT and NH. We have heard stories about people quitting with 50 miles to go because it was so bad.

On the 26th we did a 19 mile day and that included getting ferried across the Kennebec river and picking up a mail drop in Caratunk. Patty really pushed to make the last few miles, but, our options were somewhat limited on where we could camp. I have a picture of the vessel that was used to Ferry us across the river along with it's captain. This ferry was closed for 3 days when the water was high and our captain said the water is 4 feet higher in the afternoon because of the release from a dam up river. Supposedly there are Class 5 rapids on the upper stretch of this river. Patty declined on an offer to go whitewater rafting on the upper stretch of this river stating that she has had enough near death experiences on this trip and did not need to have any more adrenaline rushes this trip.

On the 27th we woke to temps in the 40's and climbed Max Bald. It was a great walk up a lot of nice dry slick rock. We gorged ourselves on what may be some of the last blueberries of the season and then walked all afternoon along a great piece of river. We also had a couple of river crossing thrown in just for fun. We camped along the river in a great spot and listened to the rapids all night long.

This morning we walked 9 miles into the town of Monson ME. Our last mail drop was waiting for us at Shaw's. Shaw's is where we are staying for the night and rumor has it they do a fantastic breakfast. Supper tonight will be at the Lakeshore Pub and an all you can eat Taco feed.

We hiked from Caratunk to Monson in three days instead of four and we will enter the 100 Mile Wilderness tomorrow. We have planned to do this in 6 nights and 7 days and then hope to summit Mt Katadin next Friday or Saturday. I will make sure I post our summit picture. We may stay in Maine for an additional week and do a little vacationing and then head home.

I have posted the following pictures;

1. Patty crossing a small creek.
2. Jeff crossing a small creek
3. Our vessel and guide to cross the Kennebec.
4. A nice river shot.
5. Lunch on the beach.
6. A view of Maine from 3000 feet.

If you have not taken Patty's Ice Cream Challenge yet, Please do so and let us know your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor!!!!!!!!!!!

Red Dog and Lucky Dog.

Ice Cream Challenge Photo

Sorry I had to add the photo of Patty issuing the 2000 mile Ice Cream Challenge. If you want to particpate, just pick up your favorite Pint of Ben & Jerry's and post your favorite flavor in the comments section of the Blog.

Straten ME, 1986 done, 188 to go!!!!!!

Hi everyone

Ok Patty and I are in the homestretch now and can see the finish. It has been really tough hiking the past few weeks, but, I think the hardest of Maine is over. We have a tough climb out of Straten and then it flattens out to Caratek. Looking ahead at the profiles on the maps we only have a couple of hard climbs left and then we just have to deal with the rocks, roots and mud on the trails in the 100 mile wilderness.

I posted a site on You Tube a while back that had Patty and I doing a presentation on Thru Hiking at one of the Huts. In case you missed it, go to You Tube and type in
maryspotpourri and then click on Mary and Laura's A.T. Hike. There is about 5 minutes of our half hour presentation.

This past week has really felt like Fall. We have had some temps in the 40s and it really feels good. We also have seen some maple trees turning red.

We left Andover on the 19th and hiked over a number of peaks. We also picked a fair amount of blueberries. We camped by Bemis Stream with 3 other thru hikers and built a fire for the first time in quite a while. It really felt good in the cool temps.

We did a 16 mile day on the 20th and celebrated our 5 month anniversary on the trail. I also discovered that you cannot always trust a floating bog board, (check out the photo). I stepped on it after testing it with a pole and went up to my waist in mud. I would have been more upset, but, knew that there was a small lake a couple of miles ahead and we stopped there for lunch. We tented at the Piazza Rock Shelter and the weather is staying cool for us.

On the 21st we did a 12 mile day and hiked over Saddleback Mountain along with a couple of other peaks. We had a great lunch on the top of Little Saddleback with some hikers we had not seen in over a month and then continued on down and tented for the night.

On the 22nd we hiked another 12 mile day that was pretty hard. I slipped and broke the bottom of a pole. The pole still works but I need a new tip. We tented at the Crocer Cirque tent site at the base of Crocker Mountain.

We hiked 7 miles into Stratten this morning and are staying at the Stratten Motel. We picked up a mail drop and picked up a few things that we were short on. We are only 3 days out of Caratek and then a couple more days and we will be in Monson. After Monson we figure we have about 6 days to finish off the 100 mile wilderness and then it is up Katadin.

We are still undecided if we will spend some time in Maine or if we will come straight home. We have plenty of time to discuss this over the next two weeks.

Being with each other 24/7 can be trying at times, but, we each find ways to find our own time and our own space. Like Patty says, "sometimes we can't live with each other and we can't live without each other"

I have posted the following pictures:

1. Patty and I on our 5 month anniversary on the trail with Saddle Back Mtn in the background.

2. Bog Legs

3. Filtering some water.

4. Lunch on Saddleback

5. Patty issuing an ice cream challenge to all in honor of our hitting 2000 miles.

If you want to participate in this challenge pick up your favorite Pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, (The official ice cream of the A.T.) and after you finish it off post your favorite flavor in the comments section of the blog. We have gone through many "Pints" on the trail and have tried quite a few flavors. We hope you enjoy the Ben & Jerry's as much as we do.

Take care.

Red Dog and Lucky Dog.

Andover ME 1928 done, 246 to Go

Hi Everyone

Just a quick update on our progress.

We left Gorham on 8-14 and hiked 12 miles in "Sunshine". It was really great to have the sun on our shoulder instead of rain.

The miles are still pretty hard and it was no different when we entered Maine on the 15th. We only did 10 miles but it was all either straight up or straight down. We constantly ask ourselves if we are hiking or climbing. There are many stretches where they have placed rebar or steps to help you up the slickrock, but there are an awful lot of places where you just have to hang on to the trees and roots and hope your boots hold as you walk up rock. Of course when you add rain and mud it only complicates things. I don't think pictures will ever be able to explain how tough this hike really is. We would both rather go up than down, because going down slick rock is much harder then going up. We had a little rain the afternoon of the 15th, but it was dry when we set up the tent.

More thunderstorms on the 16th and we started early as we had to cross what they say is the toughest mile of the A.T. The Mahoosic notch is only a mile long with 1000 foot walls on both sides and huge boulders all the way through. We had our packs on and off many times as we pushed them through, over, and under openings. It took us 2.5 hours to do the mile stretch which is pretty average and then we had to go another 1500 feet straight up the Mahoosic Arm. We worked with a friend from FL as we went through this stretch and it helped both of us out. By 5pm we had both had enough fun for the day and camped just before we crossed the road and started another climb.

On the 17th we woke to a very sunny day but one that was also very windy above treeline. We crossed a mountain called Baldpate that was pretty much all rock. I was able to practice my first aid skills as a hiker named Wingit fell and dislocated her shoulder. I secured it as best I could and we split up her pack and got her down another 6 miles to the road. We were pretty spent after that and we hiked another 2 miles to a small lake and camped in the pines. We were in the tent and sleeping by 8 pm. We sleep much better in the tent than in a shelter or even in most hotels. There is just something about the wind blowing through the trees and waking to the birds singing. The area we camped in last night is home to some rare types of Wood Warblers and I think we heard them this morning.

Today we hiked 8 miles to a road crossing approximately 9 miles from Andover Maine. We had one very steep up with lots of rock, rebar, and mud and one rock slide to cross that wiped out the trail for about 50 yards. We had no problem getting a ride into town. Town is not very big, just a couple of small gas stations/grocery stores and a couple of small eateries and a Post Office where we picked up box # 15 of the 18 boxes we had prepared. Thanks Amy for the special treat!!! We are staying at the Andover Roadhouse. It is a very large house that rents out rooms and has everything we need. They will also give us a ride back to the trail tomorrow.

I have posted a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure:

1. Patty coming through a section of the notch, I already have her pack.
2. Jeff in the notch looking at the remains of a moose who didn't make it.
3. Steep section of trail
4. Don't fall off the walking boards the bog is deep.
5. Another steep section of trail where they added a ladder for assistance.

Take care all, we are a little tired but doing fine and being cautious and safe.

Red Dog and Lucky Dog.

Photo's and U tube link

I added some photo's

1. A small stream crossing
2. Patty and I on Mt Wash.
3. Pres. Range
4. Looking up to Mt Wash.
5. Sunset at Lake of the Clouds hut

The You Tube site for our thru hike presentation is at maryspotpourri under Mary and ?? hike the Appalachian trail

Take care.

Gorham NH 1876 done and 298 left to go

Hi everyone.

It has been a while since I was last able to post and all I can say is we have just about had our fill of wet weather. This is supposed to be the wetest July and Aug in 50 years for VT and NH. We have also had some very tough hiking.

We left the Hikers Welcome hostel after a great steak dinner with a group of other hikers. We did our first big climb in the White Mtn's on Aug 2 and climbed up and over Mt Moosilauke. We actually had a pretty good view from the top and after hiking straight down a waterfall on the north side of the mountain we decided to call it a day. We set up camp and the ski opened up. We actually had to move the tent to a side hill as everything was flooding around us. On the way up the mountain we met the group of skiers we had met at Dartmouth who were doing a 24 hour run. Their support crew gave us blueberry pie. One of the crew was a pretty good skier from MN named Kati Bono.

On Aug 3 we hiked a super hard 8 miles up to a shelter and the rain started again so we decided to stay as did a number of other hikers who all thought the hiking was very hard.

Aug 4th saw us starting our hike with a bootless river crossing in Crocks. The river really came up. The highlight of the day was stopping for lunch at the first Appalachian Mountain Club hut and having soup for lunch. In the state of NH the AMC maintains the trails and has a series of huts along the trail, that I can discuss in length when I have more time.

Aug 5 saw another rainy day and was extremly disappointed after hiking up a number of very high mountains without the benefit of being able to see anything because of the clouds and fog. We stayed at the AMC Galehead Hut on a work for stay basis and our work was telling other guests about our "thru hike" experience. We were filmed by a lady who was going to post our presentation to U Tube under "mary's potpourri" or something like that. I have not found it yet.

On Aug 6 we left the nice warm and dry hut and hiked in the rain all morning. We had a stream crossing just before lunch and it was really roaring. There was a rope tied to a tree on one side and to a small bush on the other. To make a long story short, Patty just about went over a falls. If I could post a picture of this I would, but the library I am at does not allow uploads. She came out fine after getting a little wet up to here waist. After this we decided we were not having quite as much fun as we could have and decided we needed a vacation. We hiked out to Crawford Notch and stayed the next 3 nights at the Mountain House Cabins in Bartlet NH. It was a great break and we just read and watched a little TV to include the opening ceremonies of the olympics. The owner is a skier and grooms 40K of ski trails.

On Aug 9, we hiked up to Lake of the Clouds Hut just below mt Washington. We had a great sunset.

Aug 10th saw us climbing Mt Washington. We were on top by 7:30 am and had a beautiful clear view. We then hiked around the rest of the presidential range and had a very scarry afternoon while coming down off of Mt Madison in a thunder storm.

Aug 11th and more rain. We hiked down from a wet campsite to the Pinkham Notch Visitors center and decided we needed another day off or at least half a day. This area is way too tough to hike without having to be wet constantly. We just stop to wring out our socks every now and then.

Yesterday we hiked over the Wildcat mountains and today we came into Gorham to pick up our mail drop. We also met a guy who is trying to trail run the entire trail in 40 days. Check out www.whereskarl.com

I only have a half hour of computer time so I am going to sign off for now. Others waiting. If I can find another computer to get on I will add a few things and also some photo's.

Take care

Red Dog and Lucky Dog

Glencliff NH, 1775 done, 398 to go

Just a quick note from the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff NH. Patty and I are ready to head into the White Mountains where the climbs get a little higher and steeper. Actually looking at the maps they are similar to some of the elevation gains and losses we experienced when we first started. Mt. Moosilauke is at 4800 feet and we have a 4000 foot climb and then a 4000 foot down. We can see it from where we are at and it is a lot rockier then what we have been doing. It will be good to get out of the mud.

After a great breakfast at Lou's in Hanover we left the Dartmouth campus and headed out on a 17 mile hike that we did under partly cloudy skies and about 75 degrees.

The last day of July was a great example of how the entire month went for us. After 3 very long climbs and desents, the ski opened up and we were totally drenched right down to our socks. We decided to shorten our day by about 3 miles and camped at a great spot with lots of nice pine needles, (keeps everything clean). We fixed supper and crawled in for the night by 8 pm.

We hiked 10 miles into Glencliff this morning and are deciding if we want to stay at this hostel or move on to the next shelter about 2 miles away with more pending rain. We have a drop box at the post office across the street and were just going to go over and get that.

Sorry I can't post any pictures. Some of the computers just will not allow it and this is another one. It will take us about 8 or 9 days to get through the White Mountains and I will not be able to post until we are done with those. We hope to shoot some great pictures while we are in the Whites and hopefully I will be able to post some once we are done with this next stretch.

We are both hoping that August will be a much cooler and drier month for us and are looking forward to getting above treeline in the White's.

Until next time.

Red Dog and Lucky Dog.