GoHalls

I hiked through the Wildcats. It took me three days. The weather was cold in the thirty's at night and forties during the day. I was surprised to find that the huts were closing. The Carter notch hut stays open but it is self service. This means that you bring your own food and cook it your self. I asked for and got work for stay. The caretaker had me work for an hour Sweeping the floors of the bunk rooms and checking for items that were left by other guests. I also organized the games.

Well I finished Maine and have 292 miles into my AT hike. Maine is tough everyone says so, and I agree. Maine is root, Rocky, muddy and steep. Maine also has a lot of beautiful views. I think that the view from White Cap was my favorite, but I remember a pond that was just beautiful as well it just wasn't as grand. My left knee hurts and I have other minor aches and pains. It has taken me longer than I expected to get here. I am three fifteen miles a day was hubris. Even the NOBO’S who have hiked around two thousand miles are down to twelve or even ten.

Trail magic. John and Susan
John and Susan Holmes provided me with trail magic. Hot dog and a cheese burger. They are good people. John has just lost a good friend to a heart attack. His friend provided the hamburger. It was sad and I didn't respond properly at first. Good people and took my gaff as I meant it. I need to think before I speak.
He told me to mention his name at the red hen restaurant. That he knows them well.

I stopped for lunch / dinner at the Abol Bridge Dinner they were having trouble with the generator it was going up and down. The generator is the only source of power the grill was not working when I got there So I thought I wouldn't get a burger. They did have beer so I had one (Baxter IPA) I liked it a lot Then they got the generator working so I got a burger after all. The burger was delicious and I had a wheat beer with it. (Alagash White) They have a BBQ sauce that is great. It is a sweet southern style. He should sell it I would buy it by the gallon.

I was nervous about the hundred mile wilderness. I had planned on taking eight days to get threw, but it took me eleven. Thankfully I had plenty of of food. I had carried in six days and ten days of lunches so I didn't have to hurry out. I could have gotten out a day earlier. I did about fourteen miles on day one and day two. This is too much for me to do every day. I climbed chair back and white cap mountains both were very nice and had spectacular views. The day after White Cap my legs didn't come back and they were tired when I started to hike the next day.

I stayed at Shaws just after the hundred mile wilderness. It was a nice place to stay. The poet and hippie chic purchased the place some time after 2014. They are trying to keep the mystique of the 40 year tradition.

Well I have come off trail and gone my sister's cabin. I am thinking that I will get back on the trail after a short visit home. My knees are still hurting some, but frankly I'm home sick and the trail has yet to show me a reason to stay on it. I am told that I will be moving better once I get two hundred miles under my belt I currently have 188 miles. The trip up Bigelow mountain was the first time I felt that I would eventually get trail legs. I won't say it was an easy climb but I got to the top and still had something left. The trip down was tough and my left knee was hurting a bunch.

Never trust a NOBO they don't remember the hills. I was told that there were no more up hill climbs past Avery peak, and there were no long climbs. There were dozens of climbs of a couple of hundred feet though. There were down hills that were cliffs of ten to fifteen feet. I was able to get to the parking spot by 11 am with a half hour rest for lunch that is just shy of two miles an hour. Okay 1 & 2/3 miles per hour. Not a speed record but acceptable for Maine trails. Even the NOBO'S are getting a lot fewer miles many of them are around twelve miles a day

I climbed the Bigelow mountains on the 23rd I was surprised to find that my legs were much stronger. The climb was long and steep, but I was able to get to the top of multiple peaks with out stopping. The peaks were above the tree line so you have a view on all sides. It was spectacular and in August blueberries were abundant.