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I Am Back Where I Belong But Still Decelerating.
I am far more alone over these last two weeks paddling in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness than on any of the 110 days spent hiking the Appalachian Trail solo. I have to rely on compass and maps in this blaze-less backcountry. There isn't a straight line to follow and no place I need to be. I meander through rivers and lakes, passing waterfalls and portaging through boreal forests. I catch myself watching cloud formations and gazing for hours atop primordial bedrock as the sun liquefies into vast expanses of inland seassunsets that rival any exotic ocean coastline.
1300 Miles: Well That Was Fun.
I allowed Maine to betray me. Summiting mountain peaks weren't stirring my soul, it was the mirrored sunsets of unbroken waters on a breathless lake, the haunting call of loons, the hushed stillness of a pine forest.
1200 Miles: Whoopie! Pies or Otherwise.
Miss Daisy (Justine) and ATK (TK) were married on August 4, 2016, at Shaws Hostel in Monson, in the presence of hikers. Justines father, who is a minister in the town, officiated. The bride wore a beige rayon tea-length dress and the maid of honor wore her clean hiker clothes.
1100 Miles: Maine. Mahoosuc Notch. Moose.
As I approach the 100-mile wilderness, the number of SOBOs is lesseningand those I do pass appear to be strugglingafter all it is their first 100 miles. Unlike my own start that began back in Shenandoah National Park, they have had to put in harder workbeginning with Katahdin. I look at them and wonder if they will make it all the way, but then again, I still wonder if I will make it the full distance too.
1000 Miles: Goodbye New Hampshire. Hello Maine.
The Whites took a tollon my body and in my head. With almost 1000 miles under my feet, Mt. Madison almost broke me.
900 Miles: Showers. Thunderstorms. Bubbles.
The low points are primarily associated with long days, humidity and feeling gross. I'm starting to feel obsessive about prioritizing showers over almost everything else.
800 Miles: I Lovermont. Sort Of. Absolutely.
I later learned that one of the guidebooks rated this section all the way through the Glastonbury wilderness to be challenging. I also learned that this area is considered to be the Triangle of Doom or the Bennington Triangle, Vermonts version of the Bermuda Triangle.
A Trail Less Traveled: The Northern Forest Canoe Trail
This lesser known northeast water trail is young compared to its land-based cousin, the Appalachian Trail. Officially completed in 2006, as of 2015 less than 100 people have been recorded as successfully completing the entire route in one season.
700 Miles: A Third Of The Way Q&A
While the first hundred miles seemed to take a long time to hit, these last few series of hundred mile milestones seem to come upon me much quicker.
600 Miles: Short States. Zeroes. Wildlife.
The slabs of smooth granite and open summit vistas along the New Jersey and New York border and the emerald grasslands of Harriman State Park. Summer is here and the living is easy. Sort of.