AT BACKPACK Aug. 4-9, 2015
This year’s section of the AT for Carol, Tom and Steve involved two separate trips, a 47-mile segment from Grafton Notch to Route 4, Rangeley, Maine, and a 130-mile section further south, from Mad Tom Notch, near Peru, VT, to Glencliff NH. Having successfully completed these sections, we have just 175 miles left, mostly through the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine. We were joined on the 5-day 47-mile Maine segment by Dave Green, who completed the AT with this trip, Jay Meyer, a friend of Dave’s from Denali adventures, Rick True, and Bob Livezey. What follows is a day-by-day account of our trip, which may interest only those who participated, but others are welcome to read on if they are desperate for something else, anything else, to do.
8/4 One of the most hair-raising points of our trip was its beginning. Carol hit a deer a few miles from the group’s meeting point on the AT near Rangeley, causing $2300 worth of damage, but the car was still drivable, so she continued on to the trailhead, waiting with increasing anxiety as the rest of the group failed to arrive on time. Bob arrived 3/4 hour late, due to miscalculating the difficulty of his bushwhack earlier that day, and Dave and Steve came even later, 1 1/2 hours late. Once all were assembled, we drove to meet Tom and Rick for dinner, but due to the late hour, the restaurant choices were few, leading Bob into an extended tirade against McDonald’s. We just never know what is going to set him off . . .
8/5 Route 4 to East B Hill Campsite. 10.2 miles, 3970 feet ascent.
We had a lovely hike in cool sunny weather over West Baldpate’s broad summit of rock slabs with great views in all directions. After dipping into a col, we ascended East Baldpate over a series of exposed rock ledges. The fast hikers arrived in camp just in time to set up tents in a downpour in a grassy meadow up a side road. Those of us arriving a few minutes later caught the brief deluge while still hiking and therefore were able to set up dry tents. Jay had scoped out this campsite beforehand, stashing water and an awesome birch-log portable fire pit sold by Walmart. We used this in place of the non-existent fire-ring. Dave pulled out his harmonica and played some of his old standbys, Red River Valley and The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the latter a somewhat shaky performance. But talk about a captive audience . . .
8/6 East B Hill Campsite to South Arm Road Campsite, 10.2 mi, 3450 ascent, 8AM-4PM
Despite a clear forecast, the day dawned overcast with the threat of rain. This day sucked! All the tents had condensation and had to be packed wet. Carol discovered she had left one of her resupply packages at home. ( This did not turn out to be a problem, since she had brought too much food and was able to later pick up a bit more on one of the resupply days). The trail was slow-going, as we navigated around many water-logged mini-bogs, first past large Surplus Lake, then up and over the flat wooded summit of Wyman Mt. Then we descended to Hall Mountain lead-to, where we had lunch with some thru-hikers. After lunch we descended 1200 feet before beginning the short but very steep grueling climb up Moody Mountain, or rather Bad Moody Mountain. Bob and Carol did the climb together, muttering the Mantra, “Lookin’ good, feelin’ good,” which Carol had heard improved the performance of exercisers on a double-blind test reported on NPR’s “Science Friday.” This climb offered almost no relief from vertical climbing over steep slabs, ladders, iron staples and stone stairs, about 1300 feet over slightly less than a mile Plus it rained several times this day! At 3 PM the sun came out, the terrain moderated and all was well. We camped in a lovely site overlooking wide Black Brook, where we bathed in knee-deep water before dinner.
8/7 South Arm Camp to Bemis Mt. Lean-to. 8.9 miles, 3300’ ascent for Carol and Tom. 7:45 AM- 4 PM. 11.9 miles, 4400 ft ascent for bushwhackers 7:45 AM- 5 thru 6 PM.
On this day, we split into two groups. After a 2200 ft. ascent up Old Blue Mountain involving the usual crappy steep ascent over rock involving staples, ladders and railings (but fewer bogs than yesterday), Dave, Jay, Steve, Rick and Bob veered off to bushwhack Elephant Mt, adding three miles to the 8.9 done by Carol and Tom. Old Blue Mt had nice views on its broad rocky summit, which we enjoyed in cool sunny weather. Then we descended steeply over rocks, mud and roots to a broad forested plateau of conifers, floored with lush green moss and lichens, before ascending (again!) along the shoulder of Elephant Mt. Then down to a notch, followed by the gradual climb of Bemis Mt. This section of the trail was lovely, as it wandered over a series of broad ledges, with great views and low-growing bushes of ripe blueberries that we picked and ate along the way. We descended to the 8-person-capacity Bemis Hall Lean-to, where Carol and Tom, arriving first, set up tents, Dave and Jay arriving an hour later. During and after dinner Tom and Jay had a very, very long discussion about the U.S. Constitution, while Carol retreated to her tent, since these discussions give her a headache. A huge number of thru-hikers arrived after us, and Bob and Steve, arriving 2 hours after Carol and Tom, slept in the shelter since all the campsites were taken. They witnessed an altercation between a young woman who refused to remove her dog from the crowded shelter and a middle-aged angry male camper, who insisted she do so, muttering “There will be repercussions.” Early the next morning, the male camper was gone, along with the dog-owner’s shoes.
8/8 Bemis Mt. Lean-to to Sabbath Day Pond. 8.3 miles, 2060 ft. ascent. 8:20 AM-2PM
What a lovely day this turned out to be! The trail was much easier today, beginning with the minor ascents of Third, Second and first Peaks, then a steep descent to Bemis Stream, where trail crews were trying to divert water from a huge and deep depression along the trail; it looked like they were building a retaining wall! Dave commented that it would seem easier to simply reroute the trail. Halfway up the next ascent (Bemis Mt.), we encountered a trail angel at the Route 17 road crossing. James Shram had completed the AT some years earlier, and he had brought coolers of soda, donuts, cookies, Doritos, and Pringles potato chips for any hikers passing through. Steve, arriving a half hour later, enjoyed a sub, which James’ wife had picked up after we left! After completing the 1000 ft climb, we stopped on the trail for lunch, at which point Jay revealed that he had been carrying a surprise - a 6-pack of locally brewed beer! It was rather gloomy to consider that soon Jay would leave us, and there would be no more beer, portable fire-rings, and caches of supplies. Jay is the bringer of all good things, and the remover of our trash, which he later picked up at the cache sites! We are in awe of Jay - lawyer, yachtsman, mountaineer, gleeclub singer, and generally awesome guy! Arriving rather early in camp, we swam at Sabbath Day Pond, or at least Jay, Dave, Carol and Rick did, before discovering that it is filled with leeches. We also drank our beers here, and there were many jokes about Carol’s habit of washing out her underwear and hanging it on tree branches. It was a lovely interlude during five days of rather tough terrain.
8/9 Sabbath Day Pond to Route 4, Rangeley. 9.9 miles, 1500’ ascent? 8 AM to 11:30 (Tom), 12 (Dave, Jay, and Rick), 12:30 (Steve, Carol and Bob)
Even though today started out with a big first climb, after that it was mostly downhill with easy terrain, few bogs, and generally drier terrain, hence the fast travel times. After drinking champagne at the trailhead to celebrate Dave’s completion of the AT, we all headed to the lovely Victorian Rangeley Inn for showers. En route Steve generously bought everyone ice cream, which we thoroughly enjoyed. After a celebration dinner at Forks, and a good night’s sleep in soft beds, Dave, Bob, Jay and Rick headed home, while Carol, Tom and Steve continued their trip, which will be described in a separate report..