After I saw snow on the High Peaks recently, I had to admit that I’m running out of hiking opportunities... Meanwhile, the weather keeps coming up aces and tempts me to get out on the trail each weekend. Anticipating sunny skies and temps in the 40s, I took today off from work so I could hike for three days in Maine. After filling up my gas tank at Irving in Hanover (0640), used I-91, NH/VT-25, River Road, NH-10, US-302, NH-116 and US-2 to reach the hiking zone. Listened to audiobooks on the way. Temps remained in the low 30s during my entire drive - yikes! Picked up breakfast at McDonalds in Gorham (0845). Continued on US-2 and then turned on ME-5 near Hanover (ME) . Followed that road to Andover, then drove got on ME-120. After that, continued north on South Arm Road until I found the AT trailhead (1000). The parking area was situated on the west end of one of my last sections south of the HMW and I was really looking forward to tackling it. By 1015, I was headed NOBO on the AT. Even though it had warmed up a little, I was wearing a long sleeved shirt and carrying two more layers - ultimately, I never needed them. There was no wind and the sun was shining brightly in a clear sky. Even better: the Fall colors on the trees were as pretty as I’ve seen this year. Unfortunately, the trail conditions were much tougher! As I walked north, I had to climb more than 2000 feet up tremendously steep terrain - one photo I took (after less than a mile of walking) shows how close Old Blue Mountain (3600’) was to the road. Also, as I’ve seen everywhere in Maine, the trail was strewn with wet rocks, wet roots and ankle deep mud (the kind that steals shoes!). Needless to say, the nice weather conditions were forgotten after a few miles of determined slogging… The view from the summit was pretty good but I knew I’d have an immediate (just as steep) descent - so I kept going. The trail never got easier after that and I had to navigate several large climbs and descents as I got farther from my car. As a result, I decided to turn around at the junction for the Bemis Stream Trail. Didn’t waste time before backtracking because it had taken me almost four hours to walk six miles - ugh… As I made my way south, I noticed a large number of big moose tracks in the mud on the trail - I hadn’t seen them on the outbound leg so began to wonder if a moose was close… I did better on the way back and was just reaching the top of Old Blue for the second time when I ran into the only person I saw all day. He was a NOBO Thru hiker named “Lat” and he was WAY behind the Bubble. In fact, he conceded that he probably couldn’t finish before Baxter State Park closed but he was going to try anyway. I wished him well and continued towards my car. It was only at this point that I became aware of how steep this morning’s climb had really been - the treacherous, technical conditions threatened to send me hurtling to my doom at nearly every step… I’d promised Erin that I’d watch Austin’s White Coat Ceremony at 1730 and that time arrived before I was off the mountain. I stopped for a bit and, somehow, got a cell signal, which allowed me to see his big moment. By this point, though, it started to get dark (sun falling behind high peaks to the west) and I REALLY didn’t want to be on the trail in the dark! I walked as fast as I could after that and made it to my car just before 1815. It wasn’t pretty but I managed to get 12+ miles of hiking before the weekend even began! I'd not really thought very hard about where I might stay for the night so I made a few calls before getting on the road. I eventually learned that Shaw's had one last bed left ("Glamping Tent") so I decided to head to Monson. It got dark soon after this, making the drive a bit more challenging... I used South Arm Road to reach ME-120 -and then followed that road to the town of Mexico (after crossing the Swift River) and then used ME-17 to reach US-2. The rest of my journey to Monson required me to use US-201A, ME-150, ME-151, ME-16 and ME-15. Listened to more audiobooks on the way. I was a bit worried about moose or deer crossing the road but, fortunately, didn't see any. Actually, there were very few cars, either... Arrived at Shaw's at around 2100. Got checked in and then visited with hikers ("Shadow" and "S'mores" were there; I'd met them last weekend) for a bit. By 2215, I got situated in my tent and went to bed a bit later (2230). Looking forward to some more HMW hiking tomorrow - hope the weather holds a little bit longer! AT Today = 6.0 miles / Grand Total AT = 2083.4 miles
