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.