Begin: Day 87 (Tuesday, July 16) Stratton, ME
End: Day 96 (Thursday, July 25) Harper’s Ferry, WV
Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 15.1
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 889
Our hiking photos by state:
Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the ME & the road trip/WV folders.
Day 87- Tuesday, 7/16
Start: Maine Rt 27 - 2009.0
End: Horns Pond, Maine - 2014.1
Miles: 5.1
Ascent: 2316 | Descent: 548
Sleep: Tent
After getting slowed down much more than planned through the Whites and needing a change of pace, we decided to take shuttle 130 miles north to Stratton, Maine and continue our hike from there.
The shuttle dropped us off at the trailhead around 3:30 and we had a pleasant 5-mile hike with minimal rock scrambles and climbs. We ended up stopping at Horn Pond Lean-to and pitched our tent for the evening.
Day 88- Wednesday, 7/17
Start: Horns Pond, Maine - 2014.1
End: Flagstaff Lake campsite - 2026.9
Miles: 12.8
Ascent: 2927 | Descent: 4925
Sleep: Tent
Today we were on the trail early and hiked over Mount Bigelow West Peak and Mount Bigelow Avery Peak. We climbed slightly above tree line and got some fantastic views of the surrounding area and Flagstaff lake. The first 8 miles were fairly slow due to the ateep, rocky terrain. Once it flattened out it became more manageable, even though it was incredibly muddy. It rained during the end of the hike, but fortunately it had ended prior to pitching our tent on the shore of Flagstaff Lake.
Day 89- Thursday, 7/18
Start: Flagstaff Lake campsite - 2026.9
End: Pierce Pond Lean To - 2042.0
Miles: 15.1
Ascent: 2083 | Descent: 2097
Sleep: Tent
This time we had a longish hike, but relatively flat and expected to go very quickly. But, we did not expect the vast amount of mud during the hike which slowed us down a good bit. At the end I f the day, we twnted at the edge of Pierce Pond, which was a lovely spot. Since this camp is the last organized campsite before north bounders do a ferry crossing, there was a large amount of northbound through hikers at this site.
Day 90- Friday, 7/19
Start: Pierce Pond Lean To - 2042.0
End: Caratunk, Maine 2046.0
Miles: 4.0
Ascent: 173 | Descent: 794
Sleep: Bed
Today was a short hike, but full of interesting events.
First, we broke camp and did a short hike to Harrison’s Pierce Pond Camp. This is a cabin that caters to hunters and fly fisherman, but the owner opens it up to thru hikers for breakfast. For $12 each hiker gets an incredibly filling meal of 12 pancakes, fruit, sausage, eggs and coffee and orange juice. We were back on the trail and hiking by 8 o’clock.
After a short hike along a cascading brook, we arrived at the Kennebec River. This is one of the more iconic locations on the AT Trail, where you actually have to get ferried across in a canoe since the river is too deep and too wide to ford on foot safely. Once across, we got a shuttle to the Sterling Inn in Caratunk where we did laundry and went out for a meal.
This brings us to our next big change to our hiking plans. After further deliberations Lemonade and I have decided to go ahead and make our flop now and travel back to Harpers Ferry, WV to begin our southern track.
This means we will likely not finish the entire trail this year. We always will have the option to come back in the future to complete missing parts as section hikers. We still intend to get the majority of the trail done this year.
Day 91- Saturday, 7/20
This is a down day at the Sterling Inn where we are waiting for a shuttle ride on Sunday to Bangor, Maine so we can pick up a rental car and begin our road trip south.
We went on a 3-1/2 mile walk down to the local restaurant and had a late lunch and sat on their patio and enjoyed the warm afternoon.
Day 92- Sunday, 7/21
We began the day with taking a shuttle from Caratunk to Bangor to pick up a rental car. The owner of the Sterling Inn actually shuttled us the two hours to Bangor for a sizable fee. From there, we drove south from Maine to Fishkill, New York for the evening.
Right before we made it to Fishkill, we actually crossed the Appalachian Trail and it was neat to go under the trail where a few weeks before we had walked over the interstate.
Day 93- Monday, 7/22
Another day in the car, driving from Fishkill, New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, where my sister lives. Not much to say about the drive, except a lot of interstate and we crossed th AT a few more times remembering what we were up to during our original walk north (at least the crossings north of Harper’s Ferry, WV).
Day 94-Tuesday, 7/23
After a quick visit with my sister, we proceeded with our drive to Brunswick, Georgia to visit our sailboat and to check on the progress of some of the ongoing projects on the boat.
We arrived late in the afternoon to do a initial check and everything looked great.
Day 95-Wednesday, 7/24
Made it to the boat first thing in the morning to discuss ongoing projects with the boat yard manager before the day got too hot. It was important for us to at least check on the boat at the midway point of our hike since it is our home and we won’t see it again until the end of October. We were happy that the boat for the most part was in good shape and should be OK until we come back in 3 months when we will prepare it to go back into the water.
Since we wrapped up all of our checks and chores early in the day, we hit the road heading north. We made it to Richmond, Virginia where we purchased food for our hike at REI and a grocery store near our hotel.
Day 96-Thursday, 7/25
Start: Jefferson Rock, Harpers Ferry WV- 1026.5
End: Shenandoah St. Harpers Ferry WV-2014.1
Miles: 0.7
Ascent: 183 Descent: 64
Sleep: Tent
And now the final leg to Harpers Ferry. We left Richmond in the morning and dropped the rental car off in Washington DC before noon. This gave us plenty of time to get to Union Station for our 4 pm Amtrak train to Harpers Ferry. We arrived around 5 PM, grabbed dinner then hiked southbound for about a mile to a hotel. On this short walk, we crossed the point where we started the trail in April. Tomorrow, we will begin our southbound journey in earnest.
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