Speck In The Woods

So here’s Danny take on the AT.

They Stink
I hiked a section of the A.T. with Renea in North Carolina, a section with her in Pennsylvania and a few miles in Maine so I’m certainly not an expert on the Appalachian Trail. Combined I’ve probably traveled less than 100 miles on the trail. So any insight I have is based on the few people I’ve met, the few miles I’ve traveled and the countless stories I’ve heard Renea tell.

While driving to Portland yesterday I asked what she had learned on the trail. She said she didn’t do it to learn anything. I asked her what she thought about on the trail and she couldn’t remember. So why would anyone do this and what did I learn from my limited experience? Here are a couple of observations.

What do hikers do in the summer? They stink. Their clothes stink, their backpack stinks, their shoes stink and they stink. Trail folk come form all walks of life. Short, tall, rich, poor they are all different. The only thing they all have in common is that they all stink. You don’t always hear them walking down the trail, but you always smell them. Yesterday we met a man on Katahdin who said that he had just found a noodle in his long red beard. He said that he hadn’t eaten noodles in two days.

The trail in 2,189.2 miles. Most people take 2,000 steps in a mile. That would indicate that the average hiker takes around 4,378,400 steps in their journey. That’s a lot of exercise. So do people do it for their health. I met a fellow yesterday who was over 70. He had just finished the entire trail. He said he had two broken toes and a triple hernia. When I asked him what his next adventure was, he said “surgery, I guess.” There is no doubt that these folks are in unbelievable condition. While hiking in Pennsylvania for two days, my blisters started to develop their own blisters. Between the aching knees and blisters on their feet I have to believe there are easier ways to get in shape.

Are A. T. hikers searching for something? I met a man in Pennsylvania from North Carolina, who had just lost his wife to leukemia. I met a man in Maine from New Hampshire a couple of days ago who had just lost his wife to pancreatic cancer and I met a fellow in North Carolina from Ohio who had just lost his wife to a used car salesman from Cleveland. We all live two lives, the one we learn with and the one we live with after that. Clearly, there are some people out there who just need to work some things out before moving on with their life.

Do they do it to be at one with nature? I see more wildlife in my yard on a given day than most people see on the trail. Most days, I see deer, rabbits, squirrel and a flock of buzzards circling over my patio. The buzzards only circle when Renea is “airing out” her shoes and backpack after a hike. Renea has seen a couple of moose, some rattlesnakes but not a single bear. Did you know there has never been a case of an A.T. hiker being attacked by a bear. That’s because they stink. The hikers… not the bear. They say that it’s wise to keep bear repellant on you at all times. Most hikers prefer to use a natural repellant, their own B. O. The average hiker could take down a grizzly by just removing one of his shoes.

After thinking about it, Renea said the reason that she did the trail was that after starting it, she didn’t want to be a quitter. I was expecting something more profound.

After we got close to Portland, Renea said that the most impressive thing she had seen along the trail was that kind gestures seem to come from complete strangers. Maybe the only real lesson from the 2,189 miles is that deep down, most people are pretty good folks.

Danny

Taking Danny back to the airport today (if I’d known he was going to talk about how bad I smell, I’d have taken him back sooner) and will head back to Millinocket to finish my 46.1 miles. Will keep you posted.

September 1. BIG K
My take on the day: 🎼 I’m on top 🎶 of the world, hey🎶🎼. That’s what I was singing to myself on the way up and while on top. What an amazing day!!!!! The weather could not have been nicer. It was low 60’s and windy to start which made it a cool climb. The wind died down once we were on the summit and it was in the Read More

August 31. Ahhhhhh. I really enjoyed our short, but great excursion to Bar Harbour. It was sooooo nice to have a comfortable bed, not to mention a clean one, a nice private room with a private bathroom, and food at our fingertips. Twice as nice was to have Danny along. We had a great time driving and walking around Acadia National Park and the town of Bar Harbour. We enjoyed a delicious lunch oceanside, and then Read More

August 28-30. So, so happy to have Danny here. Picked him up from the airport Friday and we made the 2-1/2 hr. drive back to Stratton for the night. We got up early and he drove me 45 mins. to the trailhead and I hiked 16.7 miles in to Pierce Pond. Danny then drove back to Stratton for a shower and breakfast and after checking out of the hotel he drove to Caratunk to the AT trailhead there and hiked 3.7 miles in to Pierce Pond to meet me. He had to take the canoe ferry across the Kennebec River which Read More

Rangeley Lake

August 26-28. I headed out on my own Wednesday from Rangeley. It was a tough hike up Saddleback Mountain, then The Horn, then Saddleback Jr. All climbs and descents were pretty hard. Everything was wet and slippery due to the rain last night. The rain today held off until about 1-1/2 miles before I got to the Read More

August 23-25. Made it over the river and through the woods and wish I was going to grandmothers house, but back to the hostel I went. The trail was wet and muddy, but what’s new. The fords were still rough, but doable today. After the hike today I joined up with Pilgrim and Joyce again to hike two more days of the 100 mile wilderness with Pilgrim. He missed these two days earlier and had to hike Read More

I’m giving you a short synopsis of the last 4 days because I didn’t keep daily logs and I don’t have very good service where I am in Monson. We hiked 2 days in the wilderness and popped out at the end of the second day at Abol Bridge where there is a great view of Katahdin. The clouds were hanging low, so we couldn’t see the summit. Joyce picked us up in my rental car and we went to Millinocket for the
Read More

Flying High

August 18, 2015

Today was a travel day. You know that saying, “You can’t get there from here.” Well, it kind of feels that way. It seems to take forever to get to these little trail towns. When I came home from Rangeley, I left the hostel that morning a little before 9 am and got home a little before midnight. I had to use pretty much every mode of transportation with the exception of a boat. I took an hour shuttle ride via car to the bus station. Then, I took the Concord bus for over Read More

Two thru-hikers in the making.

August 17, 2015

Happy anniversary to us! Danny and I have been married now for 35 years. We’re not that old. I don’t know how it can be 35 years. Hopefully, we’ll make another 35. However, if I don’t hurry and finish this trail, we might not make it to 36 (just kidding–NOT–no really, just kidding). I had originally hoped to be finishing my hike with him on Katahdin today, but since I was off schedule by a few days anyway, I’m glad I was able to be home. Read More

Well, this knee needs rest for a little while. I think it’ll be fine, but I need to let it rest and heal. Hopefully, it won’t take too long, but I know it will be several days before it can take the weight of Olfrie and all the downhill that’s ahead. Also, I really want to enjoy Katahdin and don’t want to be hobbling up it. I’ve decided to go home for a bit and let it heal and hopefully get back here in short order to finish. Katahdin is open until Oct. 15, so I have time.

Thanks for following, and I’ll let you know when I head back out.