long time coming

Tonight is the first time I have read or even looked at my blog since October of last year. What an amazing year it has been post-trail, amazing and bittersweet. In reading my blog tonight, for a brief moment, I cried. I miss the wilderness and the AT so much. Life was so much more simple, and people far more genuine. Take me to the top of that mountain. Bella sends her regards.

-Fresh and Bella

(Written 10/4) Well folks here it is. After much personal debate and battling with myself, I have decided that after I summit tomorrow I will be finished with my hike for the season. The ghiardia is continuing to take it out of me and my budget is dried up. This is a bittersweet decision, but I know its the right one. As long as I get to Harpers Ferry by July 5th next year my hike will still be considered a thru-hike. I'm not upset at all though, I started this hike with the intentions of summiting Katahdin, and in less than 12 hours I will conquer that goal. We are inside the boundaries of Baxter State Park! We exited the hundred mile wilderness today, and were met face to face with that great mountain. It could not have been a better welcoming. We are staying inside the park tonight at a campsite called The Briches, it consists of2 small lean-tos and is reserved only for long distance hikers. Tonight we are gathered around the fire ring for our final fire of this amazing trip. I spoke with my dad today and explained to him my plans after Katahdin. He told me he was proud of me. It meant a lot to me, I'm glad that after all my bullshit, bad decisions, mistakes with the Navy,and genuine lack of motivation, I am still able to make my parents proud, I'd almost lost hope. Thank you Mom and Dad for every inch of help you have given me. Morale could not be higher. For some It may be hard to believe, but this trip, though not at all conventional, has done a ton for me personally, both mentally and physically. Mostly mentally. Life can pass you by so quickly if you let it, but you also have to take your time to get where you want to go, its a balancing act that I think I'm starting to get. I'm very excited to see what it does for me back in the real world. Tomorrow we will wake at 6 and prepare for our final climb up this beast of a mountain and after a 5.4 mile climb we will reach our ultimate goal, Baxter Peak, Mt Katahdin. Then just as quickly as we began it will all be over,after a brief stint in town for beers,celebrations, and goodbyes I will board a trail bound for Georgia or Illinois. Back to the real world, to the daily grind but like so many others after me and before I think I'll be lost, if only for a brief time and without white blazes to guide my day who knows what life holds. I guess now its time for me to blaze my own trail.

-Fresh and Bella the Mountain Dog
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

(Written 10/4) Well folks here it is. After much personal debate and battling with myself, I have decided that after I summit tomorrow I will be finished with my hike for the season. The ghiardia is continuing to take it out of me and my budget is dried up. This is a bittersweet decision, but I know its the right one. As long as I get to Harpers Ferry by July 5th next year my hike will still be considered a thru-hike. I'm not upset at all though, I started this hike with the intentions of summiting Katahdin, and in less than 12 hours I will conquer that goal. We are inside the boundaries of Baxter State Park! We exited the hundred mile wilderness today, and were met face to face with that great mountain. It could not have been a better welcoming. We are staying inside the park tonight at a campsite called The Briches, it consists of2 small lean-tos and is reserved only for long distance hikers. Tonight we are gathered around the fire ring for our final fire of this amazing trip. I spoke with my dad today and explained to him my plans after Katahdin. He told me he was proud of me. It meant a lot to me, I'm glad that after all my bullshit, bad decisions, mistakes with the Navy,and genuine lack of motivation, I am still able to make my parents proud, I'd almost lost hope. Thank you Mom and Dad for every inch of help you have given me. Morale could not be higher. For some It may be hard to believe, but this trip, though not at all conventional, has done a ton for me personally, both mentally and physically. Mostly mentally. Life can pass you by so quickly if you let it, but you also have to take your time to get where you want to go, its a balancing act that I think I'm starting to get. I'm very excited to see what it does for me back in the real world. Tomorrow we will wake at 6 and prepare for our final climb up this beast of a mountain and after a 5.4 mile climb we will reach our ultimate goal, Baxter Peak, Mt Katahdin. Then just as quickly as we began it will all be over,after a brief stint in town for beers,celebrations, and goodbyes I will board a trail bound for Georgia or Illinois. Back to the real world, to the daily grind but like so many others after me and before I think I'll be lost, if only for a brief time and without white blazes to guide my day who knows what life holds. I guess now its time for me to blaze my own trail.

-Fresh and Bella the Mountain Dog
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

(Written 10/3) At this point I'm certain that the first 50 miles of the hundred mile wilderness was blazed by Helen Keller. The trail was awful, nothing but mud and roots, half the time the trail was basically a creek. At the Fourth Mountain Bog a sign read "please stay on the bog logs". This ended up being impossible due to the fact that more than half of them were broken or under a foot of water. What the first half lacked the second has made up ten fold. Stream fords are a daily occurrence,and with all the rain we've had some were pretty treacherous. The trail has leveled out all but for a few small bumps here and there. Now onto the bad news. I spent Thursday in the hospital. I went to bed with a stomach ache Wednesday night, to awake with cramps and some horrendous diahreah (sp) at a logging road 5 miles from the shelter I called it quits and was lucky to get picked up by a Maine guide who was going down the road. It was 25 miles to the hospital. The hospital was tiny compared to what I'm used to. 14 beds in the place. The staff there took excellent care of me big thanks to Andy, Michelle,and especially Brenda and her husband. They believe I have Ghiardia and so do I. The time I spent there was miserable, lots of fluids and little rest. Depression also set in because I thought I was done for. Dutch had gone on ahead and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get back out, much less catch him. The next morning my nurse Brenda's husband drove me back out to the trail a little ahead of where I originally was picked up. Luckily due to some seriously crap weather I caught Dutch 4 miles in at the next shelter. For anyone not paying attention, yes I am hiking with ghiardia, I'm not quiting this close to Katahdin. It sucks but I love it. We've been putting in big miles and everyday we have been rewarded with amazing views of that great mountain. Today we hiked 17 miles, well hiked 15 and boated 2! We found an abandoned boat and were able to get her floating. So we sailed the slack waters of the Rainbow Stream. It was amazing! No one hiking this year has done that aqua blaze,without a doubt we are the only ones. Tonight is our last night in the hundred mile wilderness. Tomorrow we will enter Baxter State Park and Tuesday morning we will make our summit. I can't believe it, 3 months to the day that I started I will be finishing the 1st half of this amazing journey. I have soo much more to type but I need to send this before my phone dies.

-Fresh and Bella + Dutch
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Monson, Maine was the last town before Katahdin. We spent nearly 3 days in town, resting up,shaking down packs,and re-supplying in preparation for the hundred mile wilderness. As I type I sit less than 100 miles from the summit of Katahdin. We are 10.4 miles into the 100 mile. We got out of town around 2, and pulled into camp around 7 it was a rough 10 miles. The trail was made up of mostly slate slabs or tree roots and mud, both of which are deadly slick in this crap weather. We also had 3 streams to ford today, one of which we did at night. Turns out Bella is an awesome swimmer once she's in the water.( It took some coaxing). The last of the 3 was the most difficult, it was swift moving, about knee deep, and it was dark. Luckily there was a nice guide rope strung between 2 trees to show the best route. After the final ford it was a steep .7 up to Little Wilson lean-to. Full house in here tonight, I hate it. No room. My pack is pushing 55 lbs with all my extra food, plus Bella's extra supply, it makes the miles that much more difficult. Its hard to believe we're so close, yet so far away. The North Country is so beautiful, I wish you were all here to experience it with me. That's all for tonight.

If anyone has any specific questions about the trip, please email me and I'll do my best to answer them in posts.

-Fresh and Bella the aquatic mountain dog
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

After the 15 out of Stratton we awoke to rain. No fun. Despite the weather we pushed 17 miles to the Pierce Pond Lean-to. The hike was not fun, but we kept our spirits high none the less. The lean to at Pierce Pond sits right on the banks of one of Maine's most pristine bodies of water. Stocked with land locked salmon and home to some huge trout. A traditional Maine sportsman's camp also sits on the banks of the pond,and from the lean-to it was a .4 mile hike to the camp in the morning for its famous hiker breakfast! 12 pancakes, sausage,eggs,coffee, and juice! It was amazing! I had no problem cleaning my plate. The camp was similar to the hut system in the Whites, but far more rustic and laid back. Tim,the owner, has been operating solo for the past 20 years. Breakfast was just the start of an amazing day. 3 miles past the lean-to on the AT is the Kennebeck river, home to the only ferry crossing on the trail. Dave, the ferry man, is out from August thru October, 4 hours a day ferrying hikers across the Kennebec 2 at a time in his Canoe. It was pretty cool. The trail leading to the river, skirted the banks of Pierce stream with several log bridges and waterfalls. The last of the log bridges was really sketchy, and just as Bella reached the far bank she slipped and fell off the bridge 6 feet to the creek below. She was soaked, but for her first trail folley, and experience with deep water, she came through with flying colors, soaked to the bone, but still bright eyed and bushy tailed. Once across the Kennebec we were in the town of Caratunk,Maine, population 45! We stayed in Caratunk at Northern Outdoor Resort. A rafting camp home to a brewery and 30 person hot tub attached to the lodge/bar. The place was packed with tourists and I hadn't seen so many good looking women in a LONG time. We soaked it up with some PBRs and a nice campfire. Instead of cabins, they had cabin tents for really cheap, so that was the route we took. Overall it was a fun off trail experience. As I write this, we are in Monson, Maine the last town before Katahdin. I'm 114.5 miles from the northern terminus! After my final resupply tomorrow, we start into the 100 mile wilderness! It seems like just yesterday I was getting off the train in Harpers Ferry, now I'm only a week away from finishing the 1st half of my quest. Katahdin isn't the end for me but I imagine it will still be an emotional time. This trip is far from over, and still I have more stories than I can type, 800 pictures, and memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The trail provides.

-Fresh and Bella the Mountain Dog
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

(Written 9/23) We spent last night in Stratton,Maine in a cheap hotel room,eating town food, taking showers,watching tv, and enjoying a few cold ones. Your typical town stay. We pushed 15 big miles out of Stratton today, first double digit miles since The Franconia Ridge in the Whites, way back in New Hampshire. It felt really good. We traversed the entire Bigelowe Range today, The Horn,West Peak, Avery Peak, and the ridge walk of Little Bigelowe, the last major mountains before we reach Katahdin. After several attempts, today I got to feed 2 Grey Jays right out of my hand! They are the Canadian cousin to our blue jays, but they are a muted grey and white color. They would fly in, grab a small morsel of food from my hand, fly to a tree to hide it, then return for another piece til the food was gone. It was quite an interesting experience,and I was able to get a picture of the whole thing. We are 174 miles from Katahdin! I got a message from Birch today, his family will be driving up to pick him up on the 9th and they offered me a ride back to Harpers Ferry all the way from Katahdin ! This will save someone a ton of money because honestly I am unsure if I could afford a train ticket back at this point and still be able to flip. So it seems I will be summiting on or around the 9th and then making my flip a day or 2 later. Talk about trail magic! He should catch up to Dutch and I within the next 2 to 3 days. Tomorrow we plan to do big miles now that we are out of serious mountains. 17 miles will put us at Pierce Pond Lean to,which is near a Maine camp famous among hikers for its 12 pancake lumberjack breakfast for 8 bucks, I don't think I have the cash to spare but we shall see. Either way that's where we'll be tomorrow. I'm already in my bag and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. I'm beat from today, we got here to the Little Bigelowe lean to,started a fire for cooking (I've been doing a lot of fire cooking lately to save my fuel),cooked a nice cous cous meal,took a leak, and now I'm going to sleep.

-Fresh and Bella the Mountain Dog
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T