07/12-07/20 The 100 Mile Wilderness

Day 2: (07/12) katahdin stream campground to herd brook lean to mile 5.2-18.6 = 13.4


Day 1, setting off from Katahdin Stream Campground, in Baxter State Park. Distance to Georgia listed on the sign is is no longer precisely accurate, but it’s about 2,180 miles.
Following Nesowadnehunk Stream out of Baxter State Park
Nesowadnehunk Stream

Big Niagara Falls of the Nesowadnehunk Stream in Baxter State Park

Riding down a stone water slide at Pine Point in Baxter State Park





Then we got to watch a pack of rafters take turns riding down.

Walking along the Penobscot River just after where Nesowadnehunk Stream flows in

View of Katahdin from near Abol stream 

Abol bridge store, where we ate canned pineapple 

View of Katahdin from Abol Bridge with the Penobscot River flowing underneath 

Entering the 100 Mile Wilderness 
Toads are plentiful 


Day 3: (07/13) to mile 30 Rainbow Stream Lean-To = 11.4



View of Katahdin from the Rainbow Ledges 

Rainbow Lake 

Rainbow Stream Crossing near Rainbow Stream Lean-To


Day 4: (07/14): to 44 Nahmakanta Steam Lean-To = 14 miles 



Pollywog Stream 

Nahmakanta Lake from Nesuntabunt Mountain's north peak 
Nahmakanta Lake from Nesuntabunt Mountain's north peak


Day 5: (07/15): to 56 Jo-Mary Road = 12 miles



Nahmakanta Stream Lean-To 

Copper Brook, right next to where we camped, near Jo-Mary Road. Very nice cascades down big smooth rock slabs made for a nice place for dinner and breakfast. 


Day 6: (07/16):  to 67.8 East Branch Pleasant River Lean-to  = 11.8 



Many boardwalks through boggy areas. We are very greatful for them, as it means we don’t have to walk through the muck.

Are rare flat stretch. This is what we wish the trail was like most of the time!

View at Cooper Brook Falls Lean-To

An afternoon thunder shower 

Neat plants we keep seeing. They are called Clintonia and although they look like tasty like blueberries, they are not edible!

Nasty swollen ankle after a yellow jacket sting yesterday. I had a 1 inch bulge coming out of my shin!

A partial view from up on Little Boardman Mountain, these are the mountains coming up, the big one is White Cap


Day 7: (07/17): to 78.6 Carl Newhall Lean-To = 10.8



Sloppy summer moose poop! Much different than the neat little grape sized winter pellets, when they are on a diet of sticks and twigs.

Stairs on the way up White Cap 

Up in the alpine zone on White Cap

View from White Cap, looking back North 

Top of White Cap, highest point in the 100 Mile Wilderness

Looking South from White Cap 

More stairs on the way down White Cap 


Day 8: (07/18): to 88.5 Chairback Gap Lean-To = 9.9 miles



Gulf Hagas Brook

Side trail in Gulf Hagas area. It is known as the Grand Canyon of Maine, and we want to come back!

Getting clean in one of the nice clear pools in Gulf Hagas Stream. Freezing cold. I am “washing” my hair in this photo.

Beautiful birch forest 

East Chairback Pond from a side trail. Not really worth the trip, but allowed the rain to pass before we got to the top. 

Alpine environment going up the Chairback Mountains 

View from the first and lowest of the Chairback Mountains 

Up on the first Chairback Peak 

View of Long Lake from Chairback Mountain


Day 9: (07/19) to 100 Long Pond Stream = 11.5 miles 



This is what the trail has looked like for a lot of the way, steeps ups and downs and rocks and roots 

Lots of nice signage 

Trail through a mountain bog 

Plentiful frogs 

Carnivorous pitcher plants 

Pitcher plant flowers 

Old fire lookout tower from on Barren Mountain, the final peak of the Chairback-Barren Range 

View from the fire lookout, down to Lake Onowa 

View from fire tower on Barren Mountain 

Neatly frosted fir cones 

Beautiful view of Lake Onawa and Boarstone Mountain on the way down Barren Mountain,

A fine portrait of Jeff at the view point 

We passed the 100 mile marker just before making it to camp for the evening 


Day 10: (07/20) to 111.5 Leeman Brook Lean-To = 11.5



Big Wilson Stream ford. Sometimes there is no dry crossing of rivers and we have to get our feet wet. It’s no problem for me with my hiking sandals!

Another nice flat stretch. Jeff and Jay in the distance.

A smoky view from Big Wilson Cliffs

Little Wilson Falls in a canyon of slate

Cool view down little Wilson Falls into the slate canyon.

A neat type of fern that I had never seen before our hike on the AT. There are a lot of them out here.

North Pond at the end of the day. It was temping to swim, but we were too tired!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

09/16 - 09/21 Southern Massachusetts and Connecticut

Image
Day 68 Thursday September 16th North Mt Wilcox Shelter  639.9 - 655.7 = 15.8 We tear ourselves away from The Berkshire Lakeside Lodge relatively early because we have a long way to go. It’s about 8:30 by the time we are walking. We want to go 15.8 miles today and for us that takes focus. We have to stay focused on walking and not take super long breaks and not get distracted for too long, dilly dallying, looking at trees and mushrooms, etc. Dilly and Dally should be our trail names, haha.  Try as we may we are not crushers of miles.  Today ends up being a particularly good day for mushrooms and they distract us. We find lions mane mushrooms and it’s the only day we have seen them. They are mesmerizingly beautiful! We stop to cook some for lunch and a cooked lunch is always time consuming. The only way we have to cook anything is boiled in the jet boil, so that’s what we do. Lion’s manes are often compared to lobster or crab meat. We eat them in our bean burritos with a l...
Read more

07/26-07/29 Caratunk to Carrabasset Valley

Image
Day 16 Monday 7/26 Kennebec River to West Carry Pond Lean-To 151.2-165.2 = 14 miles  Breakfast at the lodge is fairly vegan friendly. I make a mixed bowl of cereals, frosted mini wheats, Honey Nut Cheerios, Raisin Bran clusters and cascadian farm granola. These are all more sugary than I’d ever eat at home. I top it with orange juice since there is no non-dairy milk. It’s surprisingly good. I also have a banana and a cinnamon raisin bagel with poison (Jif) peanut butter and grape jelly. It’s a sugar bomb. I have a love hate relationship with free hotel breakfast. It’s never healthy, but I always feel the need to get my money’s worth out of it! After breakfast 7 of us pile into the van and get driven the 2 miles back down the highway to the trail. Today we are crossing the Kennebec River. The nearest bridge across the river is 20 miles to the South, so the M.A.T.C and other sponsors pay some local guy to ferry hikers across in a canoe, two at a time. I guess hikers used to just have...
Read more