Southern Maine 1

Andover to Rangeley Trail Fest Gray Beast Hiker Hostel

2000 Miles

Somewhere, on the side of Bigelow Mountain, we pass 2000 miles today. We have been on the trail for 6 months.
185.9 miles to go!

The Presidential Range

What? You mean the trail goes up there? Seriously? No, really. Oh my......

We walked 1800 miles to get here, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and suddenly things are insanely hard. 15 mile days have become 5 mile days. Wow. Simply, wow. Along with the increased difficulty is the increased beauty. There is a 15 mile stretch above treeline which we will never forget, with Mt Washington in the middle. Amazingly gorgeous. The pictures do not do it justice.

We have roughly 320 miles left to go in 30 days, and are concerned about having enough time to make it to the Big K...the trail in Maine does not get easier, and suddenly we feel crunched for time. Do we care about making it to the end? From the start this was as much about spending six months in the woods as it was about making it to the Big K. We never expected to make it this far, honestly. But now, we are so close and yet so far. I don't know what to think.

Of course the answer, the only answer, the answer to everything on the AT, is to keep walking. We will get as far as we can get.

Hanover to Franconia Notch

New Hampshire is a whole new ballgame. In the roughly 70 miles since Hanover it has gotten progressively harder every day. Crazy steep climbs and descents. This is the White Mountains. Below are most of the peaks in order so far:

Moose Mtn
Smarts Mtn
Mt Cube
Mt Moosilauke
Mt Wolf
Kinsman Mtn

We are at Franconia Notch, resuppling for a 5 day stretch in the Whites.

Mile 1812.8 - 373.1 to go.

Into New Hampshire

Vermont Part II