Maine - 2 Days Away!

Adam, Dori and crew are less than 20 miles from the New Hampshire-Maine border, and should be crossing into the final state in the next day or two. Life on the trail continues to be good, with a number of days of nice weather, some great trail magic, free stays at the AMC Huts along the way in the White Mountains, and knowing that the final state is just around the corner. In 10 days Bob will meet up with them in Monson, ME, something I think he dreams about almost every hour of every day.

Adam sent his media card home so we could save his pictures, so here are a few you can enjoy from Bear Mountain State Park in NY, just 34 miles from New York City. These pictures are of the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River, and some nice views from the bridge.









Once in Connecticut, they hiked along the western border of CT. One of Bob’s favorite areas was Great Falls, CT. Here is a picture when Adam and Bob hiked through in 2003, as you can see, it’s a giant rock formation with no water flowing over it.


Now take a look at the same location just a few weeks ago, and the impact of all the rain this year while hiking through NY, CT, and MA.









Check out the power of the water in the video below.

On a very sad note, the day before Adam was at the falls, a group of local high school students were at the falls, enjoying the first day of summer, and decided to do some swimming below the falls, and tragically, one of the students drown. Rescue personnel were still at the falls when Adam arrived; it was all very, very sad.

The trail is full of numerous varieties of trees. Further up the trail in CT, Adam found another giant oak tree. Here’s Adam in 2003 hugging the giant tree, and here he is in 2009 at the same place, in the same pose. At least he wasn’t in the top of this one!












Finally, some of you might be wondering about the Appalachian Mountain Club’s ‘Huts’ along the trail in the White Mountains. Well, they aren’t the kind of huts you might the thinking about.









These are 3 of the many AMC Huts:









Historically, the hut systems began in 1916, to learn more, check out several articles at this link: http://www.outdoors.org/publications/outdoors/2000/features/huts-history.cfm The AMC is in charge of the hut system and they earn a pretty penny for each night’s stay – like $90/night/person. Fortunately, if you are a thru-hiker, and one of the first two to arrive at the hut for the evening, you can lay claim to a ‘work for stay’ privilege, which means you have some minor chores to do in the evening or morning, get a free dinner and breakfast, and don’t have to pay a dime. Unfortunately, for those that aren’t #1 or #2, they have three choices: pay the $90, hike to the next ‘campsite’ and pay $8/night, or hike down off the ridge about a mile until you are below the treeline and find a nice hiding place to camp.

Adam said he was finally reaping the benefits of being an early riser and fast hiker. He enjoyed 3 work for stay nights so far. Two nights he did some clean up work, and one night he was asked to do a 30 minute presentation for the guests on what it is like to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Good thing he had 4 months to prepare for his talk. He said it was a really awesome time and enjoyed every minute of it.

Please continue to keep Adam and Dori in your thoughts and prayers. And keep checking the blog for updates. Thanks!