I just can’t get enough of the lives of thru-hikers. In Andover, Maine, I hit the jackpot. Just down the road from where we are staying is the Pine Ellis hostel (http://www.pineellislodging.com/Hiker_s_Page.php) where thru-hikers (those Appalachian Trail hikers going from Georgia to Maine or vice versa in one calendar year) get off the trail to get a shower, sleep in the bunk room ($20/night) or in private rooms ($50 for two); get pizza and ice cream at the Andover General Store and Diner, and pick up mail at the local post office.
Being bold when bold is called for, I ride up the driveway on my bike, park, and just step right up onto the front porch, acting like I know what I am doing, which I certainly do not. Fortunately, I am a newcomer like everyone else. David, one of the caretakers, takes me and a few others on a tour of the back bunkroom for four, which on this 90+ degree day is suffocating. Then it’s to the laundry, which for $3 you can do a load of your nasty smelling clothes, the kitchen area where meals can be cooked, and a living room with a computer and television (got to have a shower to use the computer). Though I saw a woman in her 50s, most of the thru-hikers are 20s and early 30s.
Seeing an empty spot, I sit on a porch bench next to Shoofly (trail name), who is most willing to talk. Hallelujah! Having quit her job, she says the rule of thumb is that it costs $4000 to hike the AT for four to five months. The Whites (White Mountains in NH) are the toughest. She says, (and this stuns me since I see hiking the AT as a chance to stop and smell the roses) AT hikers never take blue blaze trails (those trails going to side views of, say, waterfalls or other points of interest) if they are .2 of mile or more away. At .1 of a mile they think about going off the white blaze AT trail. They have just too many miles to go from Georgia to Maine. She started in early March (now late July) and is on her third pair of Merrells (http://www.merrell.com/US/en/MerrellMainPageB?grp=B), which are very cool. Merrells will replace one pair of hiking shoes for free for thru-hikers. She hopes to finish in two weeks at Mount Katahdin.
On the porch I am taken aback by an ashtray with fifty cigarette butts. Shoofly has a Smart Phone and others have IPods. She mentions that 9P is the hikers’ midnight. She says to me, You should hike the trail. I take that as a compliment since I am semi-fit, but I have no spirit for the backpacking life. One, it rains regularly, two, a 30-40 pound backpack is beyond my endurance, and, three, I sleep poorly enough that sleeping with others in a shelter or lean-to holds no charm for me. Fact is, physically I don’t think I can do it. Thirty-five years of daily running has taken its toll on my knees. Just before I get up to go, David the caretaker offers all the hikers a freeze pop on this sweltering day and he offers one to me, too. In my sad little mind, it’s validation of my acceptance into the thru-hiking brotherhood.
The following morning with good friends Donna and George, Hannah and I drive out of town on the East B Hill Road for the trailhead eight miles away from Andover, ME. Looking for thru-hikers myself while the others want to see a moose, we climb quickly and easily on a dirt path with many cross cutting roots towards Surplus Pond. Through the boggy sections there are puncheons (log planks over the muck) through the lush Maine forest. After three days of muggy 90s, today we hike in the low 60s on trails almost always shaded by trees. There is a 500 foot elevation gain for this part of the trail. After an hour of hiking to Surplus Pond, we take a .1 mile side trip to an abandoned cabin with an outhouse with a seat for all who heed nature’s call.
We then continue on the AT north towards Wyman Mountain on well-marked trails with moose pellets here and there. Still having not seen a moose or any thru-hikers, we hike on easily until we hear some loud talking. Two strapping young men, American Bacon and Magua (from the Last of the Mohicans) [their trail names], are roaring by, barely making eye contact. Bummed, I play my ace in the hole – offer them granola bars. Quickly, they play a different tune. They relax and engage and are most appreciative of the extra calories. They mention that as southbounders (going from Maine to Georgia) they lost too much weight initially and are watching to see that they eat enough calories. Energized by the interaction, I ask the others who are still pining to see their moose, Can a moose offer such engagement as these two young men? Unconvinced, they trudge on, still wanting their moose.
The trail towards Wyman Mountain is tree covered. Low pines and ferns push into the trail as I whack them with trekking sticks to clear a path for future hikers. Hiking with good friends makes the time fly even though they never saw their moose. It’s always nice when the trailhead is near town. A shower and lunch nearby await.
As always when hiking, know thyself, thy limits, and the conditions. Be prepared.
Lovely, Dan. I've never seen my moose either.
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