| Summary | |
| Owner | Eric Gilbertson |
| Creation Date | 2013-07-09 21:59:07 UTC-0400 |
| Description | Finishing the Appalachian Trail: Grafton Notch to ME17
John Romanishan, Martin McCormick, Eric Gilbertson July 6-7, 2013 30 miles biking 35 miles hiking John had hiked the entire 2000-mile + Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, except for one tiny little section in western Maine. This was the weekend to finally finish the job. John and I weren’t exactly sure how long the section was so we advertized it on the mitoc list as a 20-mile hike, and Martin soon joined the group. Only just before leaving Boston did we figure out it was actually a 34-mile section, which would make the weekend even more of an adventure. We drove up to Maine Saturday morning, and ran into some mechanical difficulties with the car just outside Rumsford. Luckily one mechanic shop was open in town, and we had bikes, so the weekend was not lost. We dropped of the car at the sop, then biked the 30-miles to the start of John’s lost section in Grafton Notch. It was only late afternoon, so we loaded up our ultra-lite overnight gear into our backpacks and started hiking north on the AT. We reached the top of East Baldpate just before sunset, and laid out our bivy sacks and hammocks right there, getting treated to sunset from the summit. The sunrise woke us up at 4:30 the next morning and we were off hiking by 5am, knowing the remaining 30 miles would take most of the day. Luckily I’d found my old Appalachian Trail profile map for this section, so we knew exactly what was in store for us: about 10,000ft of elevation gain and 30 of some of the most rugged miles on the whole AT. We climbed surplus mountain, then dropped down to Dunn notch, then up and over Wymann mountain. On the Appalachian Trail people usually go by “trail names” instead of their normal names. So all day we made sure to address each other by our trail names: Tick Magnet, Jelly Bean, and 7 days. By the time we reached the Hall Mtn leanto we realized, at our current pace, we’d reach the finish line well after dark. That didn’t mesh well with our plan to hitchhike back to the car. It would already be difficult enough hitchhiking with no girl in the group, but at night might be impossible. Martin volunteered to leave the trail early and hitchhike to the car on the next road while John and I finished the trail. That way he could be more likely to get a ride in the daylight. We dropped down to Sawyer notch, climbed up and over the super-steep Moody mountain, and then parted ways at South Arm road. John and I continued hiking up to Old Blue mountain, and then ran out of food with 10 miles left. Luckily the miles were mostly along ridges, but the lack of food probably slowed us down. By midnight on the dot we finally staggered out onto Maine 17, and John crossed the finish line. I think I remember hearing trumpets playing in the distance. We’d been talking about celebrating with a full-gallon ice-cream challenge, but unfortunately that would have to wait til later since it was so late. We found Martin waiting in the car nearby, and all went to sleep in the woods, exhausted after a 19-hour day. |