Hey all,
I am writing from Lincoln, New Hampshire after traveling up to Maine and hiking through to the Whites. There is a lot to say, being that this stretch of the AT is both the most difficult and beautiful. Firstly, we hiked up Mt. Katahdin on a perfect Friday morning, when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the cool breeze massaged our faces. We took the Helon Taylor trail up the mountain, eventually climbing on a two-way cliff called the Knife's edge to get to the top. I can't begin to explain the incredible rush of scrambling over boulders and sharp rocks while three feet on either side of you large cliffs beckoned. Eventually, I'll post pictures so that you can see how truly magnificent this mountain is. At the top, we sat soaking in the sun for a couple of hours, while watching thru-hikers get to the top and complete their journey (some of them having taken 7 months to walk the whole thing!). Watching the looks on each of their faces as they stood an took in their accomplishment with a mixture of glee and sadness reminded me a lot of seeing people end a marathon race and placing their hands on their knees with relief. Also, it kind of felt like being in an airport, and watching people come off the plane after a long journey somewhere. Needless to say, it made us a little jealous that they were finishing while we still had 750 miles to go.
Afterwards, we hiked through the 100 mile wilderness- a stretch of forest that we were told had no places to resupply, no roads, and no help. In other words, no civilization. On the contrary, we were able to stay the night at a hostel right in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness, but it was an unusual way of getting there. We had to hike to a large lake where a sign was posted. Then we blew a foghorn once, and a man drove a boat across the lake to pick us up, and take us back to his place. His hostel was a bit of paradise in the middle of the wilderness, with beautiful cabins overlooking the lake and seats situated on the water's edge. He also served us 1 pound hamburgers which solidified in my mind that Shangri-La does exist and it can be found in Maine. We also saw moose in the 100 mile wilderness, eating the weeds growing at the bottom of lakes. Once, we sat and had lunch with one, watching it dive underwater to emerge with a mouthful of plants.
After the 100 mile wilderness, the trail became extremely difficult, with massive mountains looming each day for us to hike. It seemed that whenever we got to the top of a mountain we could see other large peaks and know that we would probably have to climb those as well. It was here that my other brother, Zach, joined us for a little over a week. The only word I can use to describe him is TOUGH because I believe that no mere mortal could have survived what he did. Without any warm up, any preparation, Zach bested some of the largest mountains that gave us experienced hikers nightmares just thinking about. Worst off, I failed my brother in his greatest time of need. On his second day out, I decided that we could push on for a few more miles before the day's end. It was getting dark, and we had already climbed two massive peaks almost a mile up. As we marched on, Zach started to become rapidly ill, clutching his stomach in pain and complaining of a mindsplitting headache. Now hiking with our headlamps on in the dark, I tried to urge him on while looking for the shelter that we were planning to camp at. To my utter most shame, I began to fear that I had missed the sign for the shelter. After what seemed like hours of hiking, I became convinced that we did miss the shelter, and turned to Zach to tell him that we had to hike backwards to try and find it. His only reply was, "are you effing kidding me," but he obliged, trudging back up the mountain cloaked in blackness, stopping every ten feet to attempt to puke. It was Isaac and Jake who eventually saved us, coming to find us and saying that the shelter was literally ten feet from the spot that we had stopped to turn around and go back! When we finally got to camp, Zach went immediately to bed without a word. Anyone who experienced what he did would probably have taken the next ride home the next day, but Zach responded like a pro, hiking the very next day, and eventually covering almost 100 miles in a little over a week (among these miles is the mile considered the toughest on the AT). He also hurt his knee, but trooped on , epitomizing the phrase, "that that does not kill you makes you stronger." I am extremely proud of my brother, and am glad that for better or worse he got a chance to experience the trail with me.
Lastly, this past week Isaac, Jake, and myself hiked the Whites, a range of mountains in New Hampshire known for their beauty and awe. The majority of the range is above treeline, so you spend a lot of time hiking with 360 views. 2 out of the 3 days we've spent in the Whites have had nice weather, however the day we hiked Mt. Washington was not so pleasant. On the summit, winds were whipping at us at speeds of 60mph, rain was pouring down sideways, and the clouds made visibility approximately 10 feet in front of you. We spent the night in an emergency shelter on Mt. Washington known as the dungeon, because it was too dangerous to try and walk to the next shelter before nightfall. At night, the temperatures dropped to below freezing, so we burned all our fuel in one of our pots to try and keep warm.
The fall foliage is in full bloom these days, so stay tuned for more stories about our travels through Vermont, Conn., Mass. , and New York as we complete the last 500 miles of our trip! it is unbelievable that we are only about 5 weeks away from the end. Hopefully, there are still a ton more experiences to be had before we return to the "real world."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hey all,
I am writing from Lincoln, New Hampshire after traveling up to Maine and hiking through to the Whites. There is a lot to say, being that this stretch of the AT is both the most difficult and beautiful. Firstly, we hiked up Mt. Katahdin on a perfect Friday morning, when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the cool breeze massaged our faces. We took the Helon Taylor trail up the mountain, eventually climbing on a two-way cliff called the Knife's edge to get to the top. I can't begin to explain the incredible rush of scrambling over boulders and sharp rocks while three feet on either side of you large cliffs beckoned. Eventually, I'll post pictures so that you can see how truly magnificent this mountain is. At the top, we sat soaking in the sun for a couple of hours, while watching thru-hikers get to the top and complete their journey (some of them having taken 7 months to walk the whole thing!). Watching the looks on each of their faces as they stood an took in their accomplishment with a mixture of glee and sadness reminded me a lot of seeing people end a marathon race and placing their hands on their knees with relief. Also, it kind of felt like being in an airport, and watching people come off the plane after a long journey somewhere. Needless to say, it made us a little jealous that they were finishing while we still had 750 miles to go.
Afterwards, we hiked through the 100 mile wilderness- a stretch of forest that we were told had no places to resupply, no roads, and no help. In other words, no civilization. On the contrary, we were able to stay the night at a hostel right in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness, but it was an unusual way of getting there. We had to hike to a large lake where a sign was posted. Then we blew a foghorn once, and a man drove a boat across the lake to pick us up, and take us back to his place. His hostel was a bit of paradise in the middle of the wilderness, with beautiful cabins overlooking the lake and seats situated on the water's edge. He also served us 1 pound hamburgers which solidified in my mind that Shangri-La does exist and it can be found in Maine. We also saw moose in the 100 mile wilderness, eating the weeds growing at the bottom of lakes. Once, we sat and had lunch with one, watching it dive underwater to emerge with a mouthful of plants.
After the 100 mile wilderness, the trail became extremely difficult, with massive mountains looming each day for us to hike. It seemed that whenever we got to the top of a mountain we could see other large peaks and know that we would probably have to climb those as well. It was here that my other brother, Zach, joined us for a little over a week. The only word I can use to describe him is TOUGH because I believe that no mere mortal could have survived what he did. Without any warm up, any preparation, Zach bested some of the largest mountains that gave us experienced hikers nightmares just thinking about. Worst off, I failed my brother in his greatest time of need. On his second day out, I decided that we could push on for a few more miles before the day's end. It was getting dark, and we had already climbed two massive peaks almost a mile up. As we marched on, Zach started to become rapidly ill, clutching his stomach in pain and complaining of a mindsplitting headache. Now hiking with our headlamps on in the dark, I tried to urge him on while looking for the shelter that we were planning to camp at. To my utter most shame, I began to fear that I had missed the sign for the shelter. After what seemed like hours of hiking, I became convinced that we did miss the shelter, and turned to Zach to tell him that we had to hike backwards to try and find it. His only reply was, "are you effing kidding me," but he obliged, trudging back up the mountain cloaked in blackness, stopping every ten feet to attempt to puke. It was Isaac and Jake who eventually saved us, coming to find us and saying that the shelter was literally ten feet from the spot that we had stopped to turn around and go back! When we finally got to camp, Zach went immediately to bed without a word. Anyone who experienced what he did would probably have taken the next ride home the next day, but Zach responded like a pro, hiking the very next day, and eventually covering almost 100 miles in a little over a week (among these miles is the mile considered the toughest on the AT). He also hurt his knee, but trooped on , epitomizing the phrase, "that that does not kill you makes you stronger." I am extremely proud of my brother, and am glad that for better or worse he got a chance to experience the trail with me.
Lastly, this past week Isaac, Jake, and myself hiked the Whites, a range of mountains in New Hampshire known for their beauty and awe. The majority of the range is above treeline, so you spend a lot of time hiking with 360 views. 2 out of the 3 days we've spent in the Whites have had nice weather, however the day we hiked Mt. Washington was not so pleasant. On the summit, winds were whipping at us at speeds of 60mph, rain was pouring down sideways, and the clouds made visibility approximately 10 feet in front of you. We spent the night in an emergency shelter on Mt. Washington known as the dungeon, because it was too dangerous to try and walk to the next shelter before nightfall. At night, the temperatures dropped to below freezing, so we burned all our fuel in one of our pots to try and keep warm.
The fall foliage is in full bloom these days, so stay tuned for more stories about our travels through Vermont, Conn., Mass. , and New York as we complete the last 500 miles of our trip! it is unbelievable that we are only about 5 weeks away from the end. Hopefully, there are still a ton more experiences to be had before we return to the "real world."
I am writing from Lincoln, New Hampshire after traveling up to Maine and hiking through to the Whites. There is a lot to say, being that this stretch of the AT is both the most difficult and beautiful. Firstly, we hiked up Mt. Katahdin on a perfect Friday morning, when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the cool breeze massaged our faces. We took the Helon Taylor trail up the mountain, eventually climbing on a two-way cliff called the Knife's edge to get to the top. I can't begin to explain the incredible rush of scrambling over boulders and sharp rocks while three feet on either side of you large cliffs beckoned. Eventually, I'll post pictures so that you can see how truly magnificent this mountain is. At the top, we sat soaking in the sun for a couple of hours, while watching thru-hikers get to the top and complete their journey (some of them having taken 7 months to walk the whole thing!). Watching the looks on each of their faces as they stood an took in their accomplishment with a mixture of glee and sadness reminded me a lot of seeing people end a marathon race and placing their hands on their knees with relief. Also, it kind of felt like being in an airport, and watching people come off the plane after a long journey somewhere. Needless to say, it made us a little jealous that they were finishing while we still had 750 miles to go.
Afterwards, we hiked through the 100 mile wilderness- a stretch of forest that we were told had no places to resupply, no roads, and no help. In other words, no civilization. On the contrary, we were able to stay the night at a hostel right in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness, but it was an unusual way of getting there. We had to hike to a large lake where a sign was posted. Then we blew a foghorn once, and a man drove a boat across the lake to pick us up, and take us back to his place. His hostel was a bit of paradise in the middle of the wilderness, with beautiful cabins overlooking the lake and seats situated on the water's edge. He also served us 1 pound hamburgers which solidified in my mind that Shangri-La does exist and it can be found in Maine. We also saw moose in the 100 mile wilderness, eating the weeds growing at the bottom of lakes. Once, we sat and had lunch with one, watching it dive underwater to emerge with a mouthful of plants.
After the 100 mile wilderness, the trail became extremely difficult, with massive mountains looming each day for us to hike. It seemed that whenever we got to the top of a mountain we could see other large peaks and know that we would probably have to climb those as well. It was here that my other brother, Zach, joined us for a little over a week. The only word I can use to describe him is TOUGH because I believe that no mere mortal could have survived what he did. Without any warm up, any preparation, Zach bested some of the largest mountains that gave us experienced hikers nightmares just thinking about. Worst off, I failed my brother in his greatest time of need. On his second day out, I decided that we could push on for a few more miles before the day's end. It was getting dark, and we had already climbed two massive peaks almost a mile up. As we marched on, Zach started to become rapidly ill, clutching his stomach in pain and complaining of a mindsplitting headache. Now hiking with our headlamps on in the dark, I tried to urge him on while looking for the shelter that we were planning to camp at. To my utter most shame, I began to fear that I had missed the sign for the shelter. After what seemed like hours of hiking, I became convinced that we did miss the shelter, and turned to Zach to tell him that we had to hike backwards to try and find it. His only reply was, "are you effing kidding me," but he obliged, trudging back up the mountain cloaked in blackness, stopping every ten feet to attempt to puke. It was Isaac and Jake who eventually saved us, coming to find us and saying that the shelter was literally ten feet from the spot that we had stopped to turn around and go back! When we finally got to camp, Zach went immediately to bed without a word. Anyone who experienced what he did would probably have taken the next ride home the next day, but Zach responded like a pro, hiking the very next day, and eventually covering almost 100 miles in a little over a week (among these miles is the mile considered the toughest on the AT). He also hurt his knee, but trooped on , epitomizing the phrase, "that that does not kill you makes you stronger." I am extremely proud of my brother, and am glad that for better or worse he got a chance to experience the trail with me.
Lastly, this past week Isaac, Jake, and myself hiked the Whites, a range of mountains in New Hampshire known for their beauty and awe. The majority of the range is above treeline, so you spend a lot of time hiking with 360 views. 2 out of the 3 days we've spent in the Whites have had nice weather, however the day we hiked Mt. Washington was not so pleasant. On the summit, winds were whipping at us at speeds of 60mph, rain was pouring down sideways, and the clouds made visibility approximately 10 feet in front of you. We spent the night in an emergency shelter on Mt. Washington known as the dungeon, because it was too dangerous to try and walk to the next shelter before nightfall. At night, the temperatures dropped to below freezing, so we burned all our fuel in one of our pots to try and keep warm.
The fall foliage is in full bloom these days, so stay tuned for more stories about our travels through Vermont, Conn., Mass. , and New York as we complete the last 500 miles of our trip! it is unbelievable that we are only about 5 weeks away from the end. Hopefully, there are still a ton more experiences to be had before we return to the "real world."
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