5% Done!

We made it!  We hiked the 100 mile wilderness and arrived to Monson in two pieces.  It was a quest to see a moose (we did not), a chore to slog through the rain in some of the toughest terrain (draining on morale), and in the end, we ran on pure determination to reach the mighty hiking Mecca of Monson, ME (pop. 666) and pulled out a 20 mile day to get to the world renowned hiking hostel Shaws.  Some of the highlights included eating mountain blueberries at the top of peaks, seeing two snakes and hundreds of toads, and meeting all the fantastic people we have on the trail.

We've been hiking with a couple from FL, Jared and Traci and they've been great company through the tough spots and to enjoy the peaks as well.  We meet a great couple from MA Bob and Amy who treated us with such hospitality, you would have guessed they were family.  We also meet the two Carolin brothers from CT and PA and they were a blast to chat to around the camp before turning in.  Bob and Amy as well as Sean C. have been gracious and generous enough to offer to meet up with us and offer us a hand as we get closer to their homes.  The trail really shows you a great part of humanity and you get to meet some really genuine and awesome people along the way.

As far as hikers go, we've meet NOBOs, SOBOs, flip-floppers, section hikers, and even some overweight, baby-carrying day hikers  walkers.  We've met Girl with 4 Dogs, Scrubbs, Dirty Bobby, Jo Hee, Dustin, Elvis (Tigger),  Superdave, Backflip, Grad School, Lego, Cologne, WhyJayBrave, Wolverine,  and Challenger just to name some off of our heads.  They have all been great company and have made the hike more enjoyable and the 100 mile wilderness less lonely.

Our favorite place to stay was the second lean-to we visited, Rainbow Stream.  It was overlooking a small valley in which the stream ran by the lean-to and up a short hill was soft pine-needle campsites.  We swam in the stream before falling asleep to its continuous babbling.  We were also grateful to hole up in Cloud Pond lean-to to escape the day of rain before even heavier showers mounted an onslaught on us.

Our legs and feet are sore, our joints need oil, have a small infection on a cut (getting treated), but after these two good nights of sleep and stuffing our faces with good food, we're ready to march on to the mighty metropolis of Caratunk (pop 108 but has a post office). 

The 100 mile wilderness was quite an adventure in and of it's own, but the trail awaits for us to find more.  Here are some pictures from our hike:

Us at the official Northern terminus

State campground at sunset.  Not too shabby.

Cloud pond? Really? What a creative name

One of the tallest waterfalls on the AT.  Pic cuts off about half

Some sign saying how super badass we are for rocking the most remote section of the entire trail when half of us never even hiked before.  No biggie.

 Till next time, happy trails!

Day 9

Not posting much, just some photos from White Cap mtn. Hardest climb with packs yet is done. Four more days to Monson! That means real food and shower.


We got fogged in at the summit of White Cap.


Reboot eating delicious hummus and tortilla wrap for the 8th day in a row. Still yummy.


Our wonderful view of Katahdin!


The road ahead...

Location:Lookout Bluff,Greenville,United States

Day 1 through 4

We're hiking! We summited Mt. Katahdin 3 days ago with our friends Hendrik and Roger. We had gorgeous weather for the 5.3 mile up and down hike that gained 4162 ft in that span. It was fun to see 4 hikers finish their thru there (one couple had champagne). We also meet a mom and dad of a hiker who finished who surprised him when he came off the trail. At the ranger station we found out how heavy our packs were. For the 100 mile wilderness we had 10 days worth of food and fuel. That translated to a 45 lbs pack for Reboot and a 35 lbs pack for ohMEGA. That's heavy, but the vast majority of the weight was food.

After our friends left for home, we began our 13 mile trek to Hurd brook shelter. We stopped by some nice waterfalls in Baxter park before leaving the boundaries. At Abol bridge we meet the section's ridgerunner who helped us shed some weight. Here we also bought hotdogs and sugar water. From there we went 3.3 mi to the shelter.

You might be wondering how it felt to hike up and down the mountain and then go so far with heavy packs? It hurts. We were pretty sore and banged up. OhMEGA's knee was bothering her pretty badly, and we decided instead of pushing on for 97 miles into wilderness, that we would drop off her and supplies, leaving Reboot just enough food to get through the section. The plan was for her to get a ride from Abol Bridge and wait for him in Monson. While hiking back, we decided to try to eat through some of our food reserves for two days, and reassess her knee then. After eating like fat kings and resting up for two days, that is where we are now. We think we should be good to go, and hopefully our packs will be significantly lighter. The only downside to staying at Hurd brook shelter is the number of mosquitos that have depleted our blood supply by 5%. Seriously these suckers are huge and vicious.

We still plan to make it to Monson in 8 days, averaging 12 miles a day with lighter packs. See you on the other side of the 100 mile wild!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Baxter Park Rd,Northeast Piscataquis,United States

We're on our way!

Today we're driving from Boston to Baxter State park.  We're all packed and we think we have everything we need.  We've got 10 days worth of food to let us get through the 100 mile wilderness, and it looks like the weather will be pretty nice.  The only hiccup is Reboot taking a dive down some stairs yesterday just for fun.  Turns out it was less fun than originally planned.  Fortunately ohMEGA's 80 lb pack* isn't enough of a challenge for her, so she'll be carrying him up most of the way to the Katahdin summit. It's not too bad so the hike is still on.

Plan is to camp out tonight in Katahdin spring campground and summit tomorrow bright and early.  This will be the start of the adventure to come.  Wish us luck!

*not actual weight