A week until the Autumn Equinox, the woods are changing daily. Brown squirrels, mice, and chipmunks are on the move forging for food and being little nuisances by stalking hikers, eating through unguarded packs, food bags and tents. Streams and river that would usually have bridges in other states, require fording. Mud, water crossings, rock hops and broken bog bridges are a big part of the terrain. Changing into my crocs every hour is pointless, my feet are bound to get wet anyway. I romp through the water and muck in my boots, stop periodically to ring out my socks, my feet look like prunes at the end of the day. Damn it Maine! Even the “easy” sections are a filled with uncomfortable obstacles. Waking up daily to the dreamy cry of the loon has been surreal. I’m sitting at Shaw’s a trail famous and awesome hostel in Monson Maine. The town is packed with excited hikers preparing mentally and stocking up on supplies for the next and for most final section of trail ” The Wilderness”. The Hundred Mile Wilderness requires delicate planning, food and supply restock, plus the awareness that there are no easily accessible roads or towns for a hundred miles. The Wilderness is the home stretch for most northbound thru hikers leading into Baxter State Park, home of Mt. Katahdin the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.
Pleasant Pond
Scramble up Pleasant Pond Mountain.
Climb up Pleasant Pond Mountain.
Rocks climbing up Moxie Bald.
Trail up Moxie Bald.
Tall Grass, Great Lakes, and The Old Buzzard, on Moxie Bald.
Moxie Bald summit.
Bald Mountain Pond.
Bald Mountain Pond.
Mud
Tall Grass and Great Lakes fording the Piscataquis River.
