Summited!

9/7 Mile 2,178.3-Katahdin-We just summited! 10:30am.



--Schooner and Ferdy

9/6 Mile 2,045.8-Moxie Bald Lean-to

9/7 Mile 2,060.4-Just before Monson-Monson is the last town that we're stopping in before we go into the infamous 100 mile wilderness. That means we'll leave town with 7 days worth of food and ressupply once more at a small campstore before the finalé.
The leaves are beginning to turn, and by the time we finish the ride home should be nice. As for how we'll get home, Ferdy's cousin Kevin will be driving up with Digger to pick us up. This was part of a deal that Kevin made the first time he heard of our intentions almost a year ago. Some of our friends have more exciting plans. Soundtrack intends to buy a moped in the nearest town and scoot all the way to Detroit, Michigan. Toothpick wants to travel by train back to South Carolina. A Southbounder told us his plan was to bicycle back to Maine from Georgia when he finished in December. Basically, thank you Kevin and Digger.

9/8 Mile 2,063.7-Monson-Taking a Nero day and lounging around the Lakeshore Pub/Hostel.

9/9 Mile 2,078-Long Pond Stream-100.3 miles from Katahdin.

9/10 Mile 2,092.4-East Chairback Pond

9/11 Mile 2,106.8-Logan Brook Lean-to

71.5 miles from Katahdin

--Schooner and Ferdy

2,000 Miler Club

9/3 Mile 2,005.7-Little Bigelow Lean-to-We're officially in the 2,000 miler club. Looks like we'll be done around the 15th of this month. Then it's time to eat our faces off. Actually, Ferdy hasn't lost much weight, but I've lost somewhere around 25 lbs. That's average for a lot of guys though.



--Schooner and Ferdy

Less than 200 miles

9/1 1,982-South Branch Carrabassett River-Less than 200 miles to go, and we've almost walked 2,000 miles. I can almost feel the comfort of my own bed already. Still havin a blast though.
9/2 Mile 1,992.3-Cranberry Creek Campsite


--Schooner and Ferdy

Catching Up

These days begin with our second or third day in the White mountains.

8/17 Mile 1,821.4-Guyot Campsite-We started the day with a steep climb up Haystack Mtn.. All of he climbs in the Whites are steep. From Haystack we could ee both Lincoln and Lafayette Mtn.. We took our lunch at the top of Garfield Mtn.. From there we went to Galehead Hut and mede our dinner before climbing Twin Peaks and Guyot. At the end of the day we could look back and see the silouhettes of every mountain that we had climbed for the day.

8/18 Mile 1,833.5-Crawford Notch-A nice casual day in the Whites with no big climbs. We did stop at the Zealand Hut for a lunch break and a shower under waterfalls. Then another stop at Thoreau Falls for a little swim. Finally, we stopped at the base of th Presidential Mts..

8/19 Mile 1,844.5-Lake of the Clouds Hut- Mt.Webster, Mt.Jackson, Mt.Clinton(aka Mt.Pierce) and Mt.Franklin. Mt.Clintonwas changed to Pierce for some reason. A tiring hike today that ended with work for stay in a beautiful hut. I did dishes with Toothpick to earn my stay and Ferdy had to reem a refrigerator. Only 1 mile to the top of Mt.Washington.

8/20 Mile 1,856-Peabody Creek-Mt.Washington was amazing today and we were lucky to have a great view since the mountain is usually in the clouds. This is the second tallest mountain on the AT, and it has the highest recorded wind speed in the world at 231mph.

8/21 Mile 1,867.8-Zeta Pass-We got caught on top of Wildcat Mtn. In the middle of a thunderstorm for one of the scariest hours on the trail so far. We made it off the mountain safely and set up camp on top of Carter Dome. About an hour later our tent was in a puddle that formed in the meantime. So we packed and hiked another 2 miles in the dark before we found a flat spot. Although one our worst days on the trail, a good one.

8/22 Mile 1,880.4-Gorham-298 miles from katahdin and only 16 miles from Maine. Takin a zero here.

8/28 and 8/29 Mile 1,940.5-Bemis Shelter-We heard that Hurricane Danny might blow in some hazardous weather so we took another day off and stayed in the shelter all day. We mostly just played dice games and watched miserable hikers come and go in the cold wet weather. I woke up at 5am to find a mouse was keeping itself warm from the comfort of my forehead. I thought it might be my imagination until I wrinkled my forehead and a leg twitched. I quickly smacked it off and sat up. K-bar, Soundtrack, and Ferdy woke up and thought I had had a bad dream, but the headlamp proved my nightmare was true when we spotted the little guy limping away.

8/30 Mile 1,958.2-Rangeley- we made up for the zero day by walking 18 miles into town.

8/31 Mile 1,968.9-Poplar Ridge Lean-to


--Schooner and Ferdy

The Hardest Mile

8/26 Mile 1,913.8-Baldpate Lean-to-A rough 9 miles today after the hardest mile of the trail yesterday. We got to camp early to rest up. I haven't had service for awhile and have a very large text that won't send al at once. I'll just have to send it in peices when I get the time in a place with cellphone service.






--Schooner and Ferdy

Cowboy Camping

8/13 Mile 1,779.8-Hikers Welcome Hostel-Less than 400 Miles to go and we're at the base of the White Mountains. We had Digger and Kathy send our cold weather gear back to us at this Hostel. At an elevation of 6,288, Mt.Washington can get snow any month of the year.
8/14 Mile 1,787.8-Beaver Brook Shelter-Mt.Mooselauke was amazing today with perfect views of the mountains to come.
8/15 Mile 1,797.3-Eliza Brook Campsite-we were met with more trail magic today by past thruhikers that had blueberry pancakes, breakfast burritos, fruit, drinks, and desserts waiting for us after our 2 mile hike down Mt.Mooselauke. We actually stayed for about 4 hrs. and reunited with old friends K-bar and Sountrack after months of seperation.
8/16 Mile 1,808.2-Liberty Springs Campsite-Tonight we are "cowboy camping" for the first time on our journey. This means that we are camping under the stars without tent or shelter of any sort.

--Schooner and Ferdy