Stephanie's Trail Journal

September 29th (Stephen)

Stephanie and I spent the last 4 day's slack packing from the "Cabin" in Maine. The Cabin is a hostel run by hikers Honey and Bear. They are without a doubt two of the most generous people in the world.

The cabin is really not a hostel, its the lower level of Honey and Bears house and large dinning room for hikers. The hiker's area has a large living room with cable tv and a vcr, a full kitchen with refrigerator, and laundry. A typical day at the cabin begins with a full breakfast. Bear wakes up around 5 a.m. and begins cooking bacon, pancakes, potatoes, cuts up cantaloupe melon and brewing the coffee. He leaves a few skillets on the stove so its up to each hiker to cook their eggs the way they like them and sit down to eat. Then the shuttles begin with people loading up either in Honey's van or Bear's old red toyota truck. Honey begins cooking dinner around 3 p.m. and it is served around six. The dinner was awesome every night with bread, home made desserts, salads, wine and the main course.

Stephanie and I slept in the guest bedroom of the main part of the house with a really comfortable bed, our own tv, and a private room rather than the bunk room.

On our last night at the cabin Bear, he never wears shoes, sent me to Mexico Maine to get groceries for dinner. We did a work-for-stay on the last day and Stephanie made a fantastic lasagna for dinner.

The hiking is so beautiful here. The fall colors are more beautiful than I've seen in years. They've really started to change fast now going from green and yellow to deep red and orange just today. If you've never been to Maine you should really come here on vacation soon it's wonderful.

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September 28th, 2004

We have really lucked out with the best weather here in Maine. Serene blue skies, few clouds, cool mornings but warm days. My college friends from the Boston area always cracked jokes about Maine (and the folks here) but its all bunk - I swear! I almost wish we started the AT here rather than in GA because it really is the most beautiful of all the 14 states we've seen.

The forests are a menagerie of colors and scents... Birches and maples are turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange and red and some have begun dropping leaves. Leaves crunch underfoot and it smells like autumn. Its simply beautiful.

Despite the sunny days, Maine seems to be a soggy place. Even mountain tops will have muddy trails, standing water, or "bog boards" (planks of wood that you walk on to get around soggy areas). I keep seeing moose droppings and hoof prints in the mud - I just haven't seen a moose yet. I'm always amazed when I see moose sign near mountaintops - I have a difficult time getting up there and I don't have a 4-ft wide head (aka antlers)! Some of these areas are quite dense.
Well, we are supposed to head out the next day and hike to Rangely, ME to pick up a package, then hike to the next shelter a few miles from the road. However, Bear is currently asking us if we want to do a work-for-stay, so we will see.

Steph

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September 27th

Well, I am starting to feel like the end of the trip is near and I feel a little sad. Some folks at the hostel are skipping ahead to the next town, or a couple of towns north so that they can hike at a reasonable pace through the 100-mile wilderness, an area just south of Mt. Katahdin that feels quite remote. An inspection of the topo maps for this area show a number of unimproved roads within a few miles of the trail and a few bisect the section, so its not as remote as it once was. Having said that, I suspect these roads are rarely travelled so its still remote. The books tell you to bring 10 days worth of food, however most people get through in less time. There are many water crossings so although much of the terrain is flat, a flooded stream could be impassable for a few days.

Ok- got out of track back there. So, I feel a little sad because I am in the most beautiful state and I want to take my time and enjoy every moment. However, we don't have a lot of time to get there and I'm feeling the effects of 1900+ miles in my knees and other joints. My body is tired. We could get to Mt. K without jumping ahead, but only if we pull big miles and I'm not sure if my knees can do that.

Post-trail concerns are also starting to bog me down. I have lots of things going on once I leave the trail - some things that I look forward to and others that I wouldn't mind putting off. And all the people I've been traveling with these last 5-6 months are going to go their separate ways. Its going to feel strange knowing that I won't catch up to them in the next town or vice versa.

I didn't think this email would take a bittersweet note when I began composing it, but sometimes these are things that occupy my thoughts when I hike.

Steph

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September 24th, 2004

Wow! Today we completely the most difficult section of trail we are to encounter along the entire length of the AT - Mahoosic Notch. This section is only 1 mile long and can take 35 minutes to 9 hours to complete, depending on the hiker. It has also been referred to as "natures jungle gym" because there are sections that you have crawl through, over, under, around, etc. Its the low spot between 2 mountain ridges where accumulated boulders from ancient rock slides present challenges to hikers. The quickest time I heard was Millipede at 35 minutes. I took 2 hrs and 15 minutes. I stowed my trekking poles and that might have been a mistake in retrospect because I felt like Sampson without his hair. After the first hour, I didn't have as much fun and just wanted to get through. Blackfoot, Mickey, Mallory and Magnet had fun though.

Immediately following that was Mahoosic Arm, a 2000-ft climb to the peak of Mt. Mahoosic. This was a STEEP climb up slickrock and mud and tree roots. I actually enjoyed this more than the notch - not sure why. In many places you had to put your toes in one crevice and your fingers in another and pull your way up. It can be pretty difficult with your pack on (throws off your center of gravity) and the steeper it is, the more prone you are to sensations of vertigo (at least for me).

At any rate, we finally reached the peak. It was another beautiful day and we ended it by making camp on top of Old Speck Mountain near an observation tower. We were able to view a fantastic sunset, followed by a similarly striking sunrise. I feel so so lucky to be able to do and see things like this.

Steph

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September 23rd (Stephen)

Had a really hard walk today but great pay off with views. Started the day with a climb up Success Mtn. from Gention Pond. The climb was 1500 up with no switch backs and it was painful. Then we hit a hugh mile stone, the Maine New Hampshire State Line! After nearly five months and 1897.6 miles, seeing the welcome to Maine sign was just overwhelming.

So the forest here is starting to change colors for the fall and the forest floor is covered with sponge green moss. The first fifty miles of Maine are rumored to be among the hardest on the trail and after today I believe it. Lots of slick steep rock to slide down. Stephanie pretended she was at Disney world and let out a big wheeeeeee.....when she slid down one stretch on her bum.
good night.

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September 19th - 21st

After Stephan proposed, everyone congratulated us and we received some special attention from the croo. They made up separate sleeping quarters for us above the kitchen where it would be warm (well, warmer than the drafty dining hall) and comfortable. The following morning we were allowed to sleep in and then eat breakfast with the guests. Nice! It was frigid cold though and the water pipes froze during the night.

After the guests ate, the croo made breakfast for the rest of the hikers, and in my opinion, the hiker breakfast was better - giant pancakes with chocolate chips, walnuts, coconut, dried apples, whatever you wanted on them. Then the work began. I mentioned in the last email that the night we arrived was the last night Madison Hut was open. We bonded with this croo and agreed to help them with the closing chores all day in exchange for food, bunks and a party that evening. I think 8 hikers stayed and 3 were given the task to hike 4 miles to a croo members car then go to town for the liquor run and hike it all back up the mountain. Just to put things in perspective, the weather on Mt. Washington was 30 degrees or 6 degrees with wind chill and 30-40 mph winds. It took them most of the day. We did everything from wash dishes to bleaching mattresses to bagging up pillows to inventorying food and items for sale. It was cold in the hut all day and only brisk taskwork helped me stay warm. A thermometer read 45 degrees in the hut at one point in the afternoon. Very busy day and maybe a little more work than we bargained for. But finally the big payoff - a dinner feast and then some adult beverages. Perhaps it was the altitude or maybe the smorgasbord of beverages on the table, but most everyone was tipsy to drunk. We had a dance party in the kitchen complete with flashing lights (thanks to "flash" mode on headlamps) until the boombox batteries gave out. Then it was bedtime.

The following day was sunny but cold and the wind gusted pretty hard. It made our walk along the ridgeline a little precarious; I often stutter-stepped during high gusts. Inch and a half long ice crystals were still frozen to the north sides of cairns and shrubs and they grew in interesting swirling patterns.

Once we got out of treeline the winds no longer chilled us or knocked us around. Instead, the sun had its chance to fry us once again. All the layers of clothing that kept me warm on the way down were now too hot to wear; only one shirt and my shorts were necessary. The trail continued in a steep descent that bothered everyone's knees and caused each in our group to slip and fall - some repeatedly. The walk was beautiful but longer than we thought.

We finally arrived at Pinkham Notch and found a ride into Gorham. We all felt ill-affects from last nights party and wanted some TLC that only a hotel stay can provide... pay-per-view movies!

Steph

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Saturday, September 18th

Where do I start for today... Waited for the rain to stop before leaving Lakes of the Clouds. It was quite cold which was why we didn't want to leave. Finally, we made a break for it and climbed up to Mt. Washington. The highest windspeed on record there is something like 230 mph or something crazy like that. We stayed up at the top for awhile and I'm glad we did because the sun was shining and we were above the clouds. It was so beautiful there.

We left around 3 pm with 6.5 miles to go before the next hut. The first half of the hike was gorgeous, sunny, walking above the clouds. Then the weather turned nasty and the winds kicked up and the sun was obscured by clouds... they spilled through gaps between the mountains. It reminded me of Stephen King novels - which one... The Fog... maybe. Creepy. The winds had to be gusting above 50 mph and they were knocking us around. Mickey and Mallory were still hiking in shorts and only Dan had gloves on. The trail was 2.5 miles of boulder fields... which slows us down to 1 mph. We were very glad to see Madison Hut Round 6:30 pm.

There we saw a bunch of our hiker friends and met a few others. It was the last night of their season and they had about 40 guests - a full house. We sat like waifs in the back of the dining hall while the paying guests ate their dinners. At the end, the croo introduced themselves and then asked if the guests had questions for them. After a few rounds, Stephan stood up and said he had a question - but not for the croo.

He told everyone that he met me early on the trail and that he loved me (and then made me stand up at this point) and he wanted everyone in the room to encourage me to marry him. Then he kneeled and asked if I would marry him, and presented a beautiful ring. I said yes!

We don't have firm plans yet, but I can tell you this much; Stephan is moving to Florida after the trail and we are hoping to be married in late summer next year. We are both very excited!

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September 17th (from Stephen)

The Whites are the most beautiful hiking we've had. If you ever get a chance to do some of the AT I think any past thru-hiker would say this is the place.

Walking along Franconia Notch between Liberty Peak and Mt. Lafayette was a fantastic walk. We had panoramic views of surrounding country side.
Dan and Stephan did a work for stay at Lonesome Lake Hut. They stirred the food compost. So picture in your mind two sweaty guys shoveling a months worth of decomposed food onto a screen and then sifting the dirt out. Safe to say they stank worse than they normally do. Fortunately they used the hut's croo shower to get the smell off.

We spent the night on Webster cliffs cowboy style last night. Sleeping under the stars is one of the best things about the trail. You get a great sunset and sunrise along with stars all night.

The best scenery was while walking Franconia Ridge the other day. We had a gorgeous day and didn't have to do big miles so we took our time and rested at every peak. These trails are busy with dayhikers and some overnight hikers and we always run into them at trail junctions.

Okay enough for now.
Stephan

Friday, September 17th

The Whites are so amazing! We are thoroughly enjoying our time here. These mountains have proven to be the most strenuous and the most exciting trails we've encountered thus far. Our cumulative mileage is 1840 and I can almost smell and taste Mt. Katahdin.

The trails here are an amalgamation of just about all conditions we've experienced including plain dirt treadways, mud, creekbeds for trail, slickrock/rock climbing and rock scrambling. There are times when the trekking poles save me from falling and there are times when I chuck them up/down the trail ahead of me because they get in the way.

Today is the first cloudy day since we started the Whites and I now understand the reasoning behind their appellation. We hiked into Lakes of the Clouds Hut inside a cloud, and most of the mountain peaks we summited today were socked in. We had beautiful vistas from every mountain peak replete with blue skies... until today. We were told that weather here is usually poor so we definitely felt lucky for all our good weather.

The food situation isn't quite what we expected... I think its because we are here at the end of the hut season. SOBOs and former thru-hikers told us that we would be able to buy soup and bread for $3 at the huts, however only some huts sell soup for lunch and only one hut had bread to go with it. We also heard that work-for-stays (where we conduct chores in exchange for food and a night's stay) were easy to get. All SOBOs told us they carried minimal amounts of food - like enough for 2 days - and didn't need to eat their own food. So, we brought 4-5 days' worth and called ourselves prepared. The hut croos (aka crew) give thru-hikers the leftovers after the paying guests have eaten. We appreciate this very much because they aren't obligated to give us the food,... however, we do earn our stay and food in my humble opinion and sometimes we aren't warmly received by the croos. Having said that, some croos make sure the hikers get enough to eat (thanks Lizzy at Zealand Falls Hut for the awesome tortellini!). Okay, I'm gonna wrap the food soapbox talk up by saying that we should have brought more lunch food because we had several days without enough calories (thus we were getting a little 'testy' with one another).

The chores haven't been bad. Most often they involve washing/putting away dishes or cleaning the bunkrooms. This chore is interesting... We get to sweep out each bunk and wash the mattresses with bleach water, refold all the blankets, and sweep the floors. They tell us they have 2 hours worth of stuff to do, but there are 5 of us traveling together so we get a lot of work done quickly. It isn't bad and we like the exchange (dinner, hot cocoa, tea, and breakfast in the morning).

Okay, enough for this email. Happy hiking!
Steph

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Monday, September 13th

One word - WOW - to describe the Whites. We are getting views now that we haven't seen since the smokies. And we've had fantastic weather to boot. The climbs are definitely more difficult, but fun - with the right attitude. We've had lots of rock scrambles and slickrock so far... fun getting up and over but sometimes a little scary on the downhills.

We were hooked up with good trail magic from Dan's friends and his girl, Jen. They hiked up Mt. Moosilauke heading north and stayed at a shelter up there; Stephan, Hans, Brittany and I took their car and ran errands, then left the car at Kinsman Notch and slackpacked Moosilauke heading south. We met them at the summit and hung out for awhile. The hike was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The next day Jen treated us to a BBQ feast in N. Woodstock. Thanks so much to Jen, Todd, and Jay!

We finally began hiking around 2:45, which normally wouldn't be a problem with only 7 miles to hike. The terrain was more difficult than anticipated however, and we hiked for 4.5 hours, arriving to camp in the dark! Sunset occurs around 7pm these days and sunup is around 6:20 or so. We thought we could get ahead of Swedish, Odie, Big Sky Sister, and Atlas, but we didn't make it very far and they arrived moments after we did. It was good to see them again - I enjoy their company. Odie is 18 and recently shaved his head but left the enormous scraggly beard. His appearance now is... um... slightly homicidal-looking. He might have serious troubles hitch-hiking alone.

The views from these mountain peaks are amazing... this morning we climbed Mt. Kinsman and had a perfect view of the hillsides - for about 10 minutes or so. Then a cloud blew over and obscured the landscape and the temperature dropped by 10-15 degrees.

The trail is taking its toll on my knees, especially with all the rockhopping of late. I've been hitting the vitamin I (aka ibuprofen) consistently at lunch and before bedtime; they seem to help. Stephan and Dan have noticed some soreness as well.

Well, I just don't have enough time and space to say everything I'm thinking about... I'll try in emails to come.

Steph

September 12th, 2004

Hi Everyone,

I'm doing great in Glencliff, NH! We are 389 miles from Mt. Katahdin and are so excited!! Yesterday we slack-packed over Mt. Moosilauke and saw our first peak above treeline (4400 feet). We had a gorgeous day for this climb complete with cool fall weather and blue skies. Blackfoot had some friends from home visit and we did a car/key handoff at the summit. Thanks for letting us borrow the car, guys! Beginning today, we are planning to do 10-15 miles per day in the Whites as the terrain allows. We've been hiking with Blackfoot and Mickey and Mallory since Sept 1 or 2.

Here's a brief recap of the past week:
9/3 We took the Sherburne Pass (aka the historic AT) into Killington and stayed overnight at the Inn at the Long Trail. The Inn was pretty cool and I had my first taste of Vermont beer... Mmmm, good. Long trail lager is tasty, and the nachos at the Inn were awesome. We also sampled the Magic Hat No. 9 - so yummy!! There are tons of ski trails in this area and they look awesome. Wish I had time and money to come back this winter...

9/4 We busted out 17 miles after a late start and finally stumbled into our destination - a privately owned cabin about .2 mile from the trail that offered our first view of the Whites. This would have been an awesome place to stay, however there was a family of 10 there before we arrived and I have to say, in 1700 miles of travel, these were the rudest people we've encountered. I have never felt so unwanted during my trail travels. The 3 adults never once reprimanded their 7 kids during this time and dictated to us where we were "welcome" to sleep. Of course, their german shepherd needed prime real estate before we got space. Well... still a little steamed about that.

Later this week we hiked into Hanover (9/6) and enjoyed our stay very much, especially thanks to Alexandra and the Dartmouth Outing Club! Alexandra hooked us up with a place to stay and showers in the AM. Good luck with your studies Xandra! Hanover was a cute, albeit expensive town. We enjoyed our visit at the 5 Olde, a little basement bar off of Main street, as well as breakfast at Lou's Diner. I had the Greek Omelet and it filled me up until dinner. That doesn't happen often to an AT Hiker, I can assure you.

The next night was Brittany's (aka Mallory) birthday and we celebrated by hiking a bunch of fresh food to Velvet Rocks and grilling over an open fire. I have to give accolades to Hans (aka Mickey) for his mad skills with back country cuisine! We had fajitas with chicken, portabellas and tropical fruit, squash, bell peppers, garlic, and cheese for the main course... We had mixed greens with apples, goat cheese, walnuts, red onion and balsamic dressing, and for dessert, Jello No-bake chips ahoy pie. SO Yummy! I'm still reliving the memory.

Then we ran into some rainy foul weather and shortened our mileage considerably. We hiked 12 miles in the rain to Trapper John shelter that was FULL of NJ policeman out for a long weekend. They didn't offer to vacate the shelter and apparently weren't aware that shelters are for thru-hikers, not weekenders. We didn't feel like rocking that boat, but never-the-less, we were a little miffed. It rained all night long and into the morning.

The next day we hiked a solid 6 miles to Smart's Mountain and stayed in the firewarden's cabin. The trees were whipped around by the wind and rain all night long and we were glad to have a shelter with 4 walls and a door that closed! We are all addicted to a new card game that Mickey and Mallory carry called Skip-Bo... so much so that we have house rules.

We needed to make it to Glencliff before friday night because Blackfoot had friends and his girlfriend meeting us there so we banged out a 20 mile day!! Might be the last one in a long time... Dan woke us at 6 am, then 6:15, and the final call at 6:30. We were out of the cabin by 7:45, a very early start for us, and we hiked 4.2 miles downhill in a little over an hour! pretty good. The rest of the day wasn't too bad either. We've been playing a word game to help pass the time but it's biased against Hans and Stephan. It helps to pass the time.

Well, thats about it. Hope you are all doing well at home and staying out of the path of hurricanes and their foul-weather friends!

Steph

September 2nd, 2004

Today we awoke in a nice warm house... the lows were in the 40s this morning. We watched the weather channel while we packed up and saw Hurricane Frances off the coast of Florida. It looks really big - like the state of Texas big - and my thoughts are with all my family and friends in Florida. The storm is predicted to make landfall tomorrow at Jupiter Inlet, about 30 minutes south of where I lived.

Today was a beautiful blue-sky day with few clouds. The forests of Vermont continue to impress me (despite the muddy trail)... and there are views from most of the uphills, too. Today we had the best view in a long, long time. We climbed Killington Peak after dinner to watch the sunset and it was phenomenal. This is the reason people climb mountains. We had a 270 degree view of the area from the top. To the west are the Adirondack Mountains, and to the northeast is our future destination - the White Mountains of New Hampshire. All around us were mountain peaks and ridgeline after ridgeline.

Today was also a good day because Blackfoot and Mickey and Mallory caught up with us. Its really good to be back in their company. Blackfoot - ever the consummate planner - informed us he had reservations for a double room at the Inn at the Long Trail for tomorrow night in anticipation of meeting up with us. We missed our Blackfoot!

The weather is turning quite cold and its caught some of us a little off guard. I might need my long johns sooner than I thought. Hot tea and cocoa are definitely on my horizon.

Thats all for now,
Steph

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September 1st, 2004

Had another great day in VT. We slept at the Big Branch Shelter and swam in the river before making dinner. We had the shelter to ourselves so we spread our things out and lived large. The next morning we had a short hike to Little Rock Pond which was too inviting to ignore... so we stopped for another swim and then snacked on gorp and Cliff bars. The lake was beautiful and surrounded by tree-covered mountains.

We passed by a cool area near White Rocks overlook... there were tons of rock cairns of all shapes and sizes. Some were suspended from tree limbs.
In the afternoon we met Tom, a.k.a. "Plans Too Much", who hiked last year and lives in Rutland. He was really cool and after hiking with him for an hour or so, he invited us back to his house for showers, laundry and a warm place to sleep. He and his wife were very kind and generous and we enjoyed our visit with the Shanahans. Thanks!

Thats all for now,
Steph

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August 30th, 2004

We heard loons calling last night and again this morning. I don't think I've ever heard them 'live' - only recordings. It wasn't the full call but they are quite distinctive. Bourne Pond was pretty but we didn't go swimming because the pond edges were chocked with vegetation and we didn't feel like fighting them.

We hiked towards Manchester Center on the Lye Brook trail, approximately 7 miles to Rt. 7 and then road-walked into town. The first half of the trail was poorly maintained (to put it mildly). Sticker bushes and shrubs scratched our arms and legs while spiderwebs (with giant spiders) were constantly in our faces. After a few hours the trail opened up and became amenable for travel - and once I was able to look up, the views of the forest were quite nice. We've been seeing some large droppings that look like mule deer origins... not sure. They are in the area, as are moose I'm told. Hopefully I will get to see both before the end of this trip.

Once in town, we stopped at Zoey's for lunch and they whipped up some awesome sandwiches on giant slices of homemade bread. One sandwich would feed 2 regular appetites I think. Then we cruised around town to EMS where I purchased a new pair of board shorts to replace the ones I ripped (loved 'em to death, I'm afraid), a hat and a new pair of socks. I love outfitters!

Then we did some grocery shopping. We ended up more than we probably need (as usual). I bought some instant mocha cappuccino that weighs 16 ounces! Ugh. I plan to share it with Swix, Squatter and Momma's Boy tomorrow morning.

The 2-mile hike back to the trail was an easy one. Stephan wanted to stay in town at a motel but I persuaded him to return to the trail and we were rewarded with a new shelter. This one is very spacious with upper and lower sleeping platforms and a covered eating area. Lots of benches, too. And its raining again, so we are quite happy to be nice and dry.

Thats all for tonight!
--Steph

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August 29th, 2004

Captains Log:

First Mate Stephanie and I awoke at Goddard shelter where we rode out a terrible rain storm and the snoring of several Klingons. Some hikers refer to Vermont as Vermud and today we found out why. The trail is beautiful but really wet. We slogged through to Kid Gore Shelter a whopping 4 miles before we stopped for lunch. After some quick cheese and crackers we were off to explore more of this (un)charted trail. We were rained on for much of the next 5 miles. When we arrived at Story spring shelter I hatched a cunning plan to shave six miles off the tail by taking a blue blaze short cut through Lye Wilderness Area. We hopped off the A.T. and onto some less traveled trails for a even muddier hike to Bourne Pond shelter about 6 miles away. After I made a delicious pasta alfredo sauce dinner for us, Stephanie made the perfect bowl of pudding. We should hit Manchester Center around Lunch tomorrow and then back onto the A.T.
That is all.

Stephan

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