2 Days In...

Well, I've completed the first two challenges of the A.T. and I'm definitely feeling the pain. I climbed Mt. Katahdin on Wednesday and it lived up to its fierce reputation. It's a 5 mile climb up, up and up, with 4000 ft of vertical gain to the summit. There's not so much a "trail" up as a "route" through the boulders which requires all four limbs to scramble up, sometimes using handholds screwed into the rock. I eventually did make it to the summit and got the requisite picture with the famous sign that marks the beginning of the A.T. Then was the equally hard task of coming down which took about all the strength I could muster. It took me about 9 hours round trip and I was completely exhausted afterwords. Amazingly, there were quite a few rather "every day" looking people making the climb, including a group of seniors in their 60's from North Carolina who were escorting an 80-year old woman on her "dream climb". She didn't make it all the way to the top but got pretty far along. Unfortunately a few of her party who did make it to the summit were unable to get back down before dark and had to spend all night on the mountain, in the cold & dark. They did eventually make it down, over 24 hours after they started, and were okay.

The next day (yesterday) I had the challenge of hiking my first day with a loaded pack, with legs already sore from the Katahdin climb. It was a 10 mile hike along the West Branch of the Penobscot River to Abol Bridge, which is the last outpost of civilization before the 100-mile Wilderness. The terrain wasn't too difficult but I was feeling the pain by the time I got there, some 6 hours later. The mosquitos were out in force, too, which made it difficult to stop & rest without them swarming you. I eventually was outfitted with long pants, long sleeved shirt and head net, which made the heat of the day that much more uncomfortable. I know I was a bit dehydrated by the end of the day and was not feeling very good. I wimped out and hitched a ride back to Millinocket to take a rest day and let my muscles (or lack of them) heal.

So I'm here in Millinocket, planning on heading back to Abol Bridge this afternoon and either camping there or heading down the trail 3.5 miles to the first shelter by nightfall. I was about ready to call it quits yesterday but feel a bit better today and intend to push on through the "100-Miles". It's rather typical, I believe, to have second thoughts during the first couple of weeks and I'll try to push through the negative thoughts. At some point, though, I need to decide how much I really want to do this thing because from all I've heard it doesn't necessarily get easier.

I've met a lot of fellow hikers, both at the A.T. Lodge in Millinocket, which is a 100-year old boarding house that caters to the A.T. crowd, and at the campground at Baxter State Park. There was a young couple at the campground who had summited Katahdin the day before I got there and were already taking a rest day. They had gear that was donated to them for the trip but was 1970's or 80's vintage and not very light, so they were already jettisoning gear. They headed south a day before me but I ran into them yesterday at the library in Millinocket, since they were also feeling the pain of the hike to Abol Bridge and were taking another rest day. I'll probably run into them tonight or tomorrow, since they're planning on doing very short days (5-7 miles) for a while. Oh yeah, they had both a guitar and violin with them which is nice since I have my mandolin. We have the beginnings of a trail "band" going, although I don't think they're too skilled at this point.

It just rained today and the temps are a bit cooler but that will likely make the bugs worse for the next few days. Oh well, I'll press onwards for now. Now I enter the 100-mile Wilderness for the next 9 or 10 days. Wish me luck...