My pack is packed and ready for the trip to Springer Mtn. in Georgia tomorrow. After some hellish days in Maine frought with freezing rain, mud bogs, roots, rocks, swollen appendages, more rain, and swarming mosquitoes, all spent on the brink of hypothermia, I've decided to switch gears and start walking north from Georgia. June in Maine is no joke, and even without the elements of the month of June, the AT in Maine is killer, and really isn't a trail at all, but rather an amalgam of roots, rocks, and shin deep mud.
The climb to the top of Katahdin can best be described in an acronym our friendly Maine guide told us, G.A.B.E. (Grueling, Agonizing, Brutal, Exhausting). The mountain certainly lived up to its namesake, my dad and I had frozen boogers, wet shirts, 30 mile per hour winds and a hard freezing rain, all the while climbing 5200ft, in 3.8 miles.
The climb to the top of Katahdin can best be described in an acronym our friendly Maine guide told us, G.A.B.E. (Grueling, Agonizing, Brutal, Exhausting). The mountain certainly lived up to its namesake, my dad and I had frozen boogers, wet shirts, 30 mile per hour winds and a hard freezing rain, all the while climbing 5200ft, in 3.8 miles.
The rest of the trip was similiar to the first day climb of Katahdin. The first half of the second day was absolutely beautiful, and we even frolicked in a waterfall, but after that the rain and cold kept us on the move. 1/2 day sun, 4 1/2 days 50* and pouring rain. We decided to get off the trail about halfway through the wilderness. I was bummed but it made my decision a little easier when the five or so people we had been hiking with also decided to get off trail, and quite a few southbound hikers have already got out of Maine to start in GA.
I had some time to think and contemplate life and I decided I would turn around and start in Georgia, there really is no time limit to thru hike now that I summited Katahdin. I also had time to reconsider my motives and aspirations for hiking the trail, and have decided that as of now, a thru hike isn't my main priority. When I get on the trail tomorrow, I'm going to hike till the fun of the trail runs out, whether that be a week of hiking or I make it all the way back to Maine, I'll be content with the result.
Thanks for stopping by, and more updates will be soon to follow from Georgia and the Carolina's.
I had some time to think and contemplate life and I decided I would turn around and start in Georgia, there really is no time limit to thru hike now that I summited Katahdin. I also had time to reconsider my motives and aspirations for hiking the trail, and have decided that as of now, a thru hike isn't my main priority. When I get on the trail tomorrow, I'm going to hike till the fun of the trail runs out, whether that be a week of hiking or I make it all the way back to Maine, I'll be content with the result.
Thanks for stopping by, and more updates will be soon to follow from Georgia and the Carolina's.
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