at long last…

i know, i know, can you ever forgive us??? yes, we realize it’s been over a week since we posted our triumphant summit picture, promising to update soon. and we’ve meant to update, really we have. things just seem to have happened so quickly since finishing – it’s been a lot to take in. i’m writing this from the safe haven of my family’s cabin in northwestern wisconsin after leaving my dear burglar in cleveland with his folks. it took a while to get here from katahdin, but this is exactly where i want to be right now, just trying to fully take in all that we’ve experienced over these past five months. there are still so many thoughts swirling in my head right now as i try to process everything, but for now i’ll just update ya’ll on how the last bit of our trip went. it was quite a ride and there’s much to tell so i’ll do this in parts. my eyes can’t look at a computer screen for very long!so when i last posted, we were in caratunk, me, having just shuttled around the kennebec river. it had been raining for most of the summer up in maine, leaving everything just saturated and the rivers at unsafe and often uncrossable levels. the forecast facing us was of even more rain – no end in sight. folks, we were defeated. at this point we considered just packing it in, heading directly up to baxter state park, climbing katahdin, and either calling it a hike, or hiking south from there – pulling a mini “flip-flop.” we had contacted the hostel in monson (the last town before entering the 100-mile wilderness) and they informed us that the only safe trail at that time was about halfway through the wilderness. therefore, they were shuttling hikers up further north so they could climb katahdin and then hike south. it looked like our best bet so we headed out to the road to hitch to monson. it took three rides, but we got there. and who should we see sitting outside the corner store but sage, sailboat, and ginger. we’d been hoping to be with these guys at the end, but figured with everyone hopping around so much and things being such a mess, the chances of seeing them again were pretty slim. we had another happy reunion when we found stripe at the hostel – yet another of our favorite hikers we didn’t expect to see again.

 

well, from there things pretty much started to look up for us. some southbounders had recently come out of the 100-miles and reported that since it hadn’t really rained for the past two or three days, water levels had dropped and the fords were doable. things were still pretty muddy and wet, but it wasn’t as unsafe as it had been earlier. after some discussion, we decided to just go for it. right away. it was already almost 5:00 but we just wanted and needed to get moving – too much sitting around was making us crazy. so we bought a few more food items, stuffed them in our packs, got a quick hitch along with sage and sailboat, and hiked about a mile into the woods and found a spot for camp. we were officially in the 100-mile wilderness, it wasn’t raining, we were reunited with friends, we’d packed out a few beers, things felt good!

 

(not sure if hammy explained previously, but the 100-mile wilderness is the last section of trail before entering baxter state park, home of the much anticipated mt. katahdin. it is the most remote section of the trail and as there are no towns to hitch to for resupply, hikers are advised to carry enough food for the entire section (anywhere from 5-10 days’ worth). there is one place to resupply, but it requires some extra hiking and a $3 boat ride to get out to a small wilderness “resort” with a camp store. we were hoping to avoid it, but glad to have it in case we needed it.)

 

so, moving along, our first day out was mostly dry, with the sun even greeting us throughout the day. we had three fords and made it safely across them all. the water was never higher than mid-thigh and though it was flowing pretty fast and strong in spots, we were careful with our footing and made it without any spills. though it was a bit nerve-wracking to watch little ginger bravely swimming her way across, trying to not get pulled too far downstream – that dog is a wonder dog! and while the trail was still wet and mucky at times, and still gave us some steep climbing challenges every so often, it felt good to be hiking on an actual trail and not just a series of roots, rocks, streams, and sheer rock faces. we no longer had to choose between the oh so tempting options of  sliding down on our butts or slipping down on our feet every 50 feet along the trail when we came to yet another steep drop-off.

 

yessir, things were improving. after a quick break at a shelter about 15 miles out, we decided to push on just 4 more miles to the next shelter. as we climbed to the top of the mountain (forgotten the name…) we were greeted with clouds and rain, just starting to spit on us. and with just about one mile left to go before the shelter, the skies opened up. and just when we thought maine was going to play nice! instantly, the trail was a muddy river yet again and we were soaked. ah well, it was a full night in the shelter, we had to once again don our drenched duds in the morning, and the trail was a mess once again, but the sun soon burned through the clouds and we had another decent day ahead of us…