It was hard to leave the Hiker Hut. Not helping matters was effect several inches of rain had on the trails. Our first two days out of Rangeley were the wettest we’ve yet seen – utterly soggy. Rain puts a damper on hiking. Everything becomes damp, feet become soaked, and dirt finds its way into every nook and cranny. Falling asleep to the rain can be comforting, but waking up to a steady pitter-patter on the rain fly sends my mind in a downward spiral. The logistics of packing up in the rain, hiking in the rain, and then setting up camp in the rain are complicated. Weekend hikers and hikers from arid parts of the country will likely never understand this point, but take my word for it: it’s hard.
Streams, waterfalls, ponds, and bogs became full-blown trail features rather than mere points of interest…
But optimism always works. “The sun always comes out again” in this case we settled for clouds and wind to dry everything out.
But then the sun finally peeked out on the summit of Old Blue to give us our first views into New Hampshire.
The steep trail is all business…
…leading to a nickname of sorts for ‘Ol Blue…
Maine’s timber business is hard to hide. Kick the paper habit, people!
Baldpate Peak. Just before this photo a Northbounder asked me “is this still the Appalachian Trail?”
A beautiful day for ridge walking. The peaks in the background are the White Mountains – we’ll be there soon!
Behind Caley is the tail end of a young backpacking group. People-watching on the trail is a guilty pleasure of mine…
After Baldpate we descended into Grafton Notch, at which point the trail enters the Mahoosuc Range. The Mahoosucs are notoriously difficult, claiming the single most difficult mile of the entire Appalachian Trail: Mahoosuc Notch. More on that later…
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