Rangeley

So after 3 days of solid rain, I've decided to take a day off in the town of Rangeley, Maine (220 miles from the start of the trail and roughly 70 miles from the NH border).

Stayed at a rather "posh" vacation hotel of sorts called the Rangeley Inn. Best way to describe it: a rather old looking (but well kept) lake side hotel with oversized smoking/lounge chairs in the lobby, impressionist art on the walls, classical music playing in the background, and a clientele of snooty new englanders who are up in maine for a weekend of boating/fishing.

Then imagine someone walking through the front door of said hotel who is dirty, wet, tired, and whose clothes and large bag are covered in dirt/mud and watching them ask for a room for the night.

Such was my experience with this hotel, and I don't think I've been given more dirty looks all at once in all my life.

Strangely enough, the resort had a dumpster fire around 1 am last night, but i was sound asleep and didn't hear a thing. Spoke to one of the locals who was on the fire dept. team that put it out. The cause was determined to be "spontaneous combustion"...well, I'm sure that's a cheaper and easier way to put it than calling it "arson"...

Hung around town for most of the day, and lucked out that this one had a movie theater. saw Thor for $4. can't beat it.

I will say that the last few days on the trail have made me appreciate the simple luxury of being both warm and dry, though. Previously in the time I had been out here the weather hadn't been that bad...rain maybe once or twice a week, but usually overnight after I was already in camp or only for a short time during the day...never for days on end.

Luckily the sun is out, and the bad weather seems to have passed (at least for now). Will be getting back on the trail tomorrow for a day of relatively flat terrain; a welcome change from the mountains I've been climbing...seven peaks over 4,000 feet high in a span of 30 miles (and climbing mostly in the rain above tree line) gets old after a while. but I suppose it's good practice for the upcoming white mountains of new hampshire.

And since I'm hiking in the mountains, here's a picture of what a ski slope looks like in the off season when it's not covered snow.

I asked the locals about this seemingly random airstrip in the middle of the mountains. apparently, it's for landing private planes of the corporate executives who fly out to the ski resort when it's in season

And to top it all off, I am more than 10% done with the whole trail. Check out the 2000 mile marker

And now I am off to bed to hopefully get am early start on the trail tomorrow.

--Adrian

Risk Management: AT Style

So for those of you who haven't heard, my hiking buddy Overload has left the trail. Here's the story:

6/17/2011
Moxie Bald Lean to ~132.4 miles from Katahdin.

Green Thumb, Overload, and I all arrive at the lean to around 5:30 pm after hiking roughly 17 miles. Average end of the day activities ensue; i filter clean water for dinner/breakfast, Green Thumb builds our fire, and Overload goes to clean his feet in a nearby stream. The water gets filtered, the fire gets made, and tents get set up. Yet after a while Green Thumb and I both notice that we haven't seen Overload in quite some time...

20 minutes later, he comes hobbling back into camp, barely able to walk. We ask him what happened, and he sits down and takes off his shoe.

An entire portion of one of his toes had been washed away, exposing soft tissue and nerves.

Apparently, his feet had been in REALLY bad shape before this, but all the time he spent in Monson, ME the two days before babying his feet weren't enough to save them...he had accrued enough dead skin on one of his toes to make it "washable"

Long story short, he could barely stand, he couldn't walk, and he couldn't even get his shoes back on. he tried cleaning it, but the slightest touch on the exposed toe caused him serious pain. so he figured he would sleep on it and see how it felt the next morning.

The next morning, it looked worse. And he still couldn't walk or put his shoes on. And after staring at it for about 45 minutes, Overload decided that he needed to leave the trail and get to a doctor.

Only problem was that we were in the middle of nowhere, and had no cell phone service. The closest road was 7 miles away, but it was through the way we already came, and wading through swamps with that kind of injury would almost guarantee infection.

There was however, an advantage to the lean to where we were; it was on the water. It was totally possible to have a boat come in and ferry him out if we could somehow arrange it, so I gladly volunteered to set it up.

I hiked 2 miles north of the lean to to the top of a mountain, and luckily got full cell phone service. I then started calling what few numbers I had...mainly from the AT thru hiker's guide.

I first called a ferry service (which we would encounter several days ahead). Turns out the "ferry service" was one guy with a canoe 20 miles away...not helpful at all.

The second number I called was for an outdoor lodge nearby...I figured they might have some people with boats staying there who could help out, but it was a no-go. I did get the number for the local game warden from them, though, and called that number right away.

No answer.

The ferry guy then called me back to see how things were going. Told him not very well. He then advised me to call 911 since all other options had failed and the local game warden wasn't responding. I reluctantly agreed, and called 911.

As soon as I identified myself as a hiker, the 911 operator almost immediately knew what i needed. after only a few questions, she transferred me directly to a game warden. 

Just by his voice and the way he talked, it was easy to tell that the game warden had plenty of experience rescuing hikers. After explaining the situation and where Overload needed a ferry to pick him up, the warden said simply "oh yes, we've had several rescues out of that lean-to...it's a popular place to call for help"....I don't know whether that's good or bad, but it's certainly not what I expected to hear...

I was on top of the mountain for about 2 hours making phone calls and coordinating with various officials. But within hours of getting off the phone, a boat showed up at the site to get Overload out. I had since moved on to the other side of the mountain, but I got a call from the warden the following day letting me know everything went off without a hitch.

...Even in the wilderness, I am still the Risk Manager.

Shaw's-hike Redemption

So now that I’m through the “100 Mile Wilderness” and at a hiker hostel in Monson, Maine, I have access to a computer and can do some serious blog updating (with pictures). I know I could split these up into individual days and posts, but I feel like that's kind of fake since timestamps should reflect the actual date and time of the event they log. So I’ll start at the beginning and go in chronological order.

Mount Katahdin-6/6/2011

Trail start, 0-5.2 Miles

At the start of day 1 I was picked up from the Bangor, ME airport hotel at 7 am and taken to Baxter State Park to finally begin my journey. It was about a 2 hour drive, most of which I spent talking to the shuttle driver about what I could expect in the coming hours. He said that he had hiked Katahdin multiple times, and gave me a heads up on the trail on the mountain. Apparently, I didn’t get the memo that HIKING the mountain meant actually doing some rock climbing…the mountain is a mile high, and the entire 5.2 miles from the campground to the summit and back took me 9.5 hours to complete. And I ran out of water on the way down. 5 liters just wasn’t enough. Still, the view was pretty awesome, and there were lots of cool things to see on the way up/down Katahdin. (see pictures of waterfall and landscape). I also met “Overload” that day coming down the mountain, and we’ve been a team ever since.

Sign at summit

"Overload"

White House Landing-6/10/2011

~45 Miles from Katahdin

As explained in my previous post, the White House Landing is a wilderness lodge about halfway through the 100 mile wilderness. You get there by hiking off the trail for about a mile and a half around a lake and ending up at a boat dock with an air horn hanging from a tree. A sign next to the air horn prompts the hiker to use the air horn to signal a ferry pick up. A rather unorthodox way to get to a lodge, but fun nevertheless. And the burgers, of course, were amazing.

The one pound burger!

Only downsides: a creepy hiker named Ron who had already been there for 3 days when Overload and I showed up (he snored like crazy, but he dropped out of thru hiking a couple of days later) , and that my phone failed to charge when the people who owned the lodge offered to plug it in overnight. My battery was dead for 5 days after, and cloudy/rainy days made my solar charger nearly useless for bringing life back into it.

The lodge complex

The view from the lake shoreline

Main dining hall

Clothes line (with clean clothes)

The 17 Mile Day-6/14/2011

88.5 Miles from Katahdin

It was a day of mountain climbing. Literally. In the 17 mile stretch of the trail we covered that day, there were 5 mountains Overload and I summated; totaling 11,757 ft of elevation (counting just the peaks; not including random ups and downs encountered on the way from one mountain to another). We started at 6 am and finished at 9:45, ending at the shelter on Chairback Mountain (which we climbed entirely with headlamps in the RAIN). We both admit it was a VERY stupid idea, and while we were climbing it I started to think to myself “shit, this is usually how bad survival stories start.” Luckily, we made it safe to the shelter, but we were dog tired and didn’t get up until late the next day.

Monson, Maine-6/15/2011 through 6/16/2011

114 Miles from Katahdin

Thank God. Overload and I had been talking about getting here since White House Landing. We REALLY needed a break. The terrain in Maine is no joke, and after being on the trail working hard for 9 days, it was nice to just be in a town and have a bed to sleep in and what not.

We’re staying at a hiker hostel called Shaw’s. Great place. Quiet sleepers, warm beds, showers, foot care, shuttles to major outfitters, grocery shopping, etc. Well you gotta pay for it of course, but geeze…even though it’s a small town that’s admittedly (by the locals) and obviously dying, it’s still great to be in a place where the simple luxuries of “the real world” are present.

The hiker hostel

Breakfast

I used the SHIT out of the post office. I mailed home a BUNCH of stuff, and lightened my pack drastically. I overloaded her for the 100 mile wilderness (since there aren’t really any reliable re-supply points along the way and I packed in most of my food) and she’s starting to break down a bit. 45 pound load in a 35 pound pack…part of the frame broke off. I used my tent pole repair kit to fix it though, so hopefully it won’t give me too much trouble.

Here’s a list of all the stuff I mailed home:

Heavy military poncho (replaced with pack cover from outfitter)

Camo pants (replaced with lighter pants from outfitter)

Solar charger (almost useless)

North face jacket (replaced by light rain jacket from outfitter)

Cloth food bag (replaced by dry sack from outfitter)

Large compass (found smaller one out on trail)

Deodorant stick (completely ineffective)

Leather belt (taking heavy damage from sweat. replaced with nylon belt from outfitter)

Pistol (kept it at the bottom of my pack, unloaded and inaccessible. useless for defense purposes and extra weight)

Passport (“You don’t need a passport for a domestic flight, dipshit”-Overload)

Bandoleer (planned on using it to store small items, but never actually did it)

Extra 550 cord (I was just carrying too much of it)

AKL fraternity lettered shirt (planned on taking it up to Katahdin, but forgot. Been carrying it ever since, but it’s made of cotton and therefore not very optimal)

I also swapped my heavy boots out with some trail shoes (basically heavy duty sneakers). I’ll give them a shot for 3 days, but I mailed by boots ahead of me to the next town. If the shoes work out, so much the better. If not, I’ll have my boots back. The main issue is that my boots get sweaty and then turn into mini cesspools, and no matter how often I change my socks, the boots stay wet. With the shoes, I am hoping that my feet are happier.

Trail Names:

Out on the AT, there are unofficial stoppage points composed of named lean-tos (best described as a small shack) spaced roughly a day’s walk apart. At each lean to or shelter, there is a notebook officially called a “trail register.” Each hiker that visits the shelter is encouraged to write in the notebook just to make their presence their known to the world so a record of their progress can be consulted should anything happen to them. Yet, like the average internet forum, the most random postings show up in these registers, and each person goes by a “trail name,” or name given by other hikers to a person based on an aspect of themselves.

For instance, “Overload”. Overload is Overload because he started with a 75 pound pack (which he happily mailed home today).

And “Columbus”. Overload and I named him because we saw him coming the opposite direction on the trail, and after talking with him for several minutes, realized that he believed he started the day heading south when he was, in fact. heading NORTH. Good thing we stopped and talked to him…he would have kept going all day and ended up right were he started.

“Green Thumb.” a "horticulturalist" shall we say. But also knowledgeable in using plants to address immediate needs. For instance “Here, Vitamin C should make you feel a bit better. Grab some of those pine needles and we’ll make some tea.” Or “Damn, that’s a deep cut. Here, use this moss…it’s antibacterial.”

And there’s mine. I am Foot-Z (but anyone reading this whom did not meet me on the trail is discouraged from calling me that). The name comes from the following scenario:

Hurd Brook Lean-to- 6/7/2011 ~6:45 pm

~18 miles from Katahdin

Overload: Whaddya say whaddaya know? You look deep in thought.

Me: Yeah, actually…I’m looking for a good spot to dig a hole

Overload: Okay…why do you wanna do that?

Me: Well I mean, my feet are kinda hurting…I feel like making a foot bath.

Everyone at camp site: -intelligible inquisitive mumbling-

Overload: Yeah, you’re gonna have to elaborate on that…

Me: Well I’ve got this poncho here and soap and clean water and everything…all you have to do is dig a hole, put the poncho inside it so it holds water, add some soap and some hot water, and then bingo, you got a foot bath.

Everyone at camp site: -intelligible mumbling of approval-

Overload: I gotta say…in all the camping trips I’ve been on and all the years in the military, I have never seen anyone make a foot bath before.

And the name stuck with me ever since.

Oh, and the procedure for making that wash basin in the scout manual. Which is probably the only reason I remember it.

Until next time

--Adrian

A Maine Attraction

So it's four days in. 45 miles completed, yet still a long ways away from my first concrete stopping point in Monson, ME. Lucky for me, there's a small lodge not too far from the trail where I stopped for today called Whitehouse landing. (sorry no pictures this post, don't have the battery power)

They say going southbound is a hard and lonely route, but a crew of people started the same day I did, so we've all sort of formed a party of sorts. 2 couples (one couple on a through hike, the other just along for a week section hike), myself, and an ex marine (bronze star winner, 11 years in) with a 75 lb pack we've nicknamed "Overload." I gotta say though, he's got a really sweet water filter system; 4 liters in 3 minutes, a far cry from my 4 hours per liter with tablets. Sticking with him, clean water is never in short supply.

Him and I have become fast friends, and today we both decided to take a detour to the lodge while the other couples pushed on farther into the wilderness. We'll probably see them again in Monson, but it didn't take much to decide to opt for a short day once we heard the lodge sold 1 lb burgers.

We also get to shower, do laundry, pick up supplies, stay overnight in a bunk house AND get an all you can eat breakfast! $45 for the burger, room and amenities, but hey, after 4 days on the trail, definitely worth it.

I'll update as often as I have cell phone service, and post pictures when I can. but that probably won't be for another few days from now.

But I am still alive, and have not encountered any bears as of yet. Since, let's face it, that's what people expect from me out here :-P

Later peoples,

--Adrian

Let the journey begin

Greetings all,

This is my first post to my shiny new AT blog, and one of the last things I had to do before I left Richmond. I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off these past few days wrapping things up...and I've come to the realization that the saying from Fight Club still holds true: "The things you own end up owning you."

Almost everything I've been doing to get ready to leave for the trail this past week has been related to THINGS that I own/have (canceling my Xbox live/Netflix account, closing out my lease at my old apartment, making sure all bills are paid, etc). I hate to sound like a dumb hippy, but it will be nice to not have to worry about all that stuff for a couple months.

But I'm leaving for the airport in half an hour, and still have some things to do, so I will be cutting this post short...my next one should be much more interesting.

P.S. That is NOT an Indiana Jones fedora. Note the folded brim.