Marathon miles in Maine are difficult

This morning I was in no hurry to pack. Tim was going to cook breakfast around 6:30 am, so it wouldn’t start very early. But he was really excited for his breakfast! I have heard a lot about it. Today I hope to go quite far, but I have all the time in the world. Once I packed, I went to the main building. Where Tim had coffee waiting, as well as a little juice and fruit at the table.

For breakfast, Tim had made a great battery of pancakes loaded with apples, raspberries and other fruits. They were absolutely delicious! I also had some eggs and sausages and I finished my cup of coffee. It was very nice to be there and talk to Tim. He is the friendliest man.

An incredible breakfast with a view to the river under the camp.

These are some of the best pancakes I have had!

Then, around 7:30 am, I had to move. Today it is supposed to be around 90 ° and I hope to go to about 25 miles. The terrain here is very slow, so all I can do is the best. Once I returned to the road, I realized that it was going to be a long day. The path was super muddy and rocky. Even the fairly flat terrain was incredibly slow. Although I have done the path of the Apalaches before, I think I blocked how hard Maine was.

Harrison Pierce Spawn Fish Camp is definitely a place I would love to return in the future. It would be such a calm place to hang out for a few days and concentrate on my writing.

Most people like to think about the trail of the Apalaches and mention New Hampshire as the hardest state. Of course, New Hampshire has very high and exposed increases. But I think that southern Maine has much more difficult terrain. All the mileage that I have left here on the east coast will definitely be not easy. But I am very anxious and excited to do everything.

This morning, I crossed many different bridges through covered, swampy parts, of the path.

The first half of my day did not have too much elevation gain. In the great scheme of things, it was a fairly easy section of the path. But even the easy mileage here is quite difficult.

While walking, I decided to listen to a podcast. It may sound a bit dark, but I was listening to the book Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankfort. The story is very sad, but I really enjoyed the book and it seemed quite interesting. In the course of the book, the author tells the stories of three different missing people who were last viewed at the Pacific Crest Trail. In fact, I had heard of the three hikers. But I didn’t know all the details. The author deepens his stories and spends time with families trying to discover what happened. In general, the book was very informative and interesting. I would end up ending during the day.

First thing in the afternoon, I went through this beautiful lake. It would have been a wonderful place to finish the day and swim at 90 ° temperatures.

I knew that towards the end of the day, the increase of the greats would begin. What I remembered was quite resistant and quite exposed. But the views here are so incredible that the increases are worth it. Before the climbing began, I met some hikers. A couple of people go to the north and a couple of people go south. One of the people walked north did not wear shoes. It actually came from Georgia and I have heard of him before. I had to stop and talk to him for a while because that was very interesting.

This is the path. I do not think that many people realize how technical the path of the Apalaches can be throughout the southern Maine and New Hampshire.

I also ran towards the two guys who gave me a hitch yesterday! They were anxiously waiting for my arrival. It was nice to see them again after they helped me so much yesterday.

Then, when I was crossing a road, I ended up running towards nothing more than not lifting the will! Who is the sweetest absolute lady? This three times this year that I have met her. I was going through the road with another hiker named Shark. I chatted with them a little before continuing. There is not much time left in the day and I want to get up and about the big ones before it darkens tonight.

Directing some rock steps.

I stop at the next water source to fill. I don’t think I drunk water in my life than today. I’ve been filling every two hours and drinking everything. This heat is absolutely crazy. Now I have to climb during the heat of the day with limited water sources. I will have to go to the upper part of the Bigelows to reach the next water source. Then plan camping somewhere near there.

My first views of the Bigelow when I started climbing. The path likes to show where you are going, just to make fun of you a little.

The climb was long and definitely injured, but I felt really strong. Of course, although within the first mile of my ascent, it began to rain! Fortunately, I’m from the east coast, so I saw him coming. Sometimes you can feel it in the air, really. So I left my umbrella and stayed still for a few minutes. He threw rain around me. But in five minutes, he stopped completely.

The humidity felt much better after that and the temperature was really comfortable. And surprisingly the rain did not make the rocks particularly slippery. So, when I got on the top of the Bigelow, the climb was not more difficult than it would have been before the rain. I just kept up to the top and enjoyed the weather now beautiful. I went through a north hiker who told me that Top’s opinions were incredible. I am very grateful to enjoy any vision here in Maine. You really know this part of the country. The views are regularly clogged by the fog.

I like this sign trying to attract hikers by mentioning that the view was excellent.

Slow but surely I got up on the tree line. And I realized very quickly about what the northern hiker was talking. There was barely a cloud in heaven, and I could see infinitely. The views were absolutely perfect, and the sky began to turn as the day reached its end. Sitting on top of the big ones, I felt incredibly lucky. The path has lately been very challenging. But it has also been very rewarding. And I know that this section of the path will be the most difficult physically and mentally that I will address all this year. There are definitely other sections of the PCT or the CDT that have more logistic problems. There is a forest fire, snow and all its different obstacles. But I can’t think of another section of the path that is as slow or technical as southern Maine. It will be a great relief to complete this part of the path.

Views from the top of the Bigelow.

I enjoyed the views once I put on the bigelow. And it was still pleasant and early, so I had a lot of time to descend to Col, where I would camp at night. I just had to stop and drink water on the road. I vaguely remembered this climb since 2023. But when I went up to the top and I saw the stone structure near the peak, everything returned to me. Basically, there is a shelter of bad weather on the top, except that it has no roof. Although it would probably still be a great rest of the wind.

Getting through the big pillows was the perfect form and the day. I am very grateful that the rain out of short duration before.

The descent was short, but quite technical and slow. It is a much faster climb, rocky ground uphill than downhill. On the way I passed the next water source, which was a spring in box right next to the path. And it was deliciously cold. I was filled until capacity and then continued camping at night. There is a kind of ranger cabin or guardian in the col, and you can load there. I thought there would be other hikers on this site safely, but I was surprised to arrive and not find anyone else there.

Alleging to the cabbage to spend the night.

I prepared to spend the night and got into my store. The insects were quite bad, so I did not spend much time going around the cabin. Then, when I went to cook the dinner, I realized something. Or my stove has officially fallen the bed, or the fuel container that I bought the other day is defective. I have had problems with my stove where it is difficult to squeeze in fuel boats. I think the stove is a little stripped. But I have been able to make it work during the last month or so. Tonight, however, my stove kept turning and turning, and never locked in the fuel boat. That means I have multiple dinners, as well as hot chocolate and coffee packages, that I can’t use. What an annoyance.

I really love when the path knocs you next to a lake or a pond, and then you go up to get the area view.

That was quite discouraging to be honest. I really wanted to get around 1000 calories with a hot meal. Otherwise, I have a lot of food to complement, but it was disappointing to have to eat 1000 calories of snacks. But I did it and ate as much as I could.

At this point I was quite exhausted, so I was not awake for a long time. I tried to get awake and do some writing and video work, but I was too tired. To get miles recently, I had to be doing a few days long. I have the feeling that this will be a tendency on the rest of the trail of the Apalaches. After bedtime, I finally called him one night. Tomorrow I plan to do another great day in southern Maine.

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