Maine, the way life just happens to be for 281.4 miles

Wow,

it's been too long since I've gotten a chance to update this thing. a lot has happened since I last posted in CT, but we're closing in on the end of this long journey very soon. After CT we took a few zero days off in Mass with friends and family then went straight through the Vermont rain in time to catch Alden and Bret at the Long Trail Brewing Factory in Rutland (awesome). After Vermont we met up with our friend Craig for a day of hiking and had great weather through New Hampshire aside from getting caught by the tropical storm Danny on Mt. Kinsman which forced an early zero day for us that week.

Unfortunately when we got to Mt. Laffeyette Jeph decided that he had had enough hiking, so he left us at Crawford Notch just before the presidentials. Stew and I both miss Jeph on this trip and the first several days were quite off without him. We also seemed to get out of camp earlier (just kidding Jeph, but seriously). After crawford notch we thought we would challenge ourselves by traversing the presidentials in a day, which we did, but not until after sunset that night. The climb into the Carter range the morning after was not nearly as easy as we were hoping, especially since we needed our full packs for the traverse. A day later we found ourselves in Maine and at the foot of the Mahoosics where we met up with my dad, Nick abnd Greene for some excellent hiking through the famed Mahoosic Notch (the hardest mile on the AT). Although I would not call it the hardest mile, it was certainly slower moving through the rock tumble, and it made for a fun afternoon. Since then Stew and I have been motoring through the state and have not let up on pace much at all. Today we summited Crocker Mt. and will finish our day somewhere over the Bigelows since it looks like the weather will hold. After that we cross the Kennebec River by Kayak and we can expect to finally be out of the highlands of Maine (which our knees will thank us for). It will be about 3 days for us to Monson,
Maine at the start of the hundred mile wilderness, and this will be our last resupply before ending up in Baxter Park. The hiking the past week and a half has been absolutely beautiful, rough but beautiful. I can't wait for the infamous river fordes that are coming up in the next few days, the dry weather has moderated a lot of the ones we have crossed so far.

Lastly, we got to see a few moose in the state. I was happy to finally see them after living 4 years here and not seeing a single buck.

I'll try to update just before the hundred mile wilderness, I can't wait to see everyone when we get back. Summit day so far is looking like Saturday September 19th. Wait... this thing ends?!