| September 01, 2005 |
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I started on the AT south at Abol Bridge at
9:20am. The trail is through pines with pine needles, dirt
dust coverage, lot of roots, and a lot of rocks. I am in the
100 mile wilderness. The caution you that you should at least
have 10 days worth of food supply with you. Make sure that
you're equipped coming through here because there isn't any other
towns until you come to Monson Maine. Wish me good luck coming
through here. I think I'll be alright though. It was
difficult leaving my husband and Simon behind. Especially when
my husband has tears in his eyes. Simon knew that something
was going on to, but he couldn't go with me. One of those
things that break your heart! |
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I ran into some log boardwalk hiking
through swampy land and those pine logs were very narrow, they can
be very slippery when they're damp. I had to use my poles to
get me through those boardwalks, so I wouldn't fall into the water.
I'm going to try to keep my feet dry as long as I can. |
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Now I'm climbing a little bit of an
altitude that won't be much over 1,000 feet until I get into Rainbow
Ledges and they are about 5 miles out. The area is very damp,
not only from the recent rains, but naturally a damp area. A
lot of mosses growing under the pines. It's fairly dense
woods. Some hardwoods. It looks like maple, birches and
the stuff I've been seeing all along. I can see very far.
I should be going around a lot of lakes today too, if I can get as
far as I'd like to. |
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It's looks like I going to do some boulder
scrambling right in the middle of the trail. Large massive
boulders. Anywhere you look you see slick moss covered rocks
along the side of the trail as well as in the trail. Both
going up and coming down Katahdin was more of a rock climbing
experience. many times I had to lay down my poles and scramble
up the rocks using my hands to pull me up to the next level where I
could get my feet in a hole or something so I could push myself on
up. Also coming off the rocks was the same thing.
You had to slide either by the seat of your pants, my short
had holes in them I slid so much, or you had to get a hold of the
rock someway or another and try to find another rock you could sit
down. |
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On this trail I'm doing a lot of twisting
around on rocks going in on a lot of them, but it's been pretty easy
so far. It's rather a cool day high 60's low 70's.
Thanks heaven for that. But the perspiration is just rolling
off me, still very hot. Some of the blazes are very light in
this 100 mile wilderness and you could lose your way very quickly.
Here is a nice little stream I need to cross, hopefully I can hit
those boulders. I made it across without incident. Even
though the rocks are granite and appear to have a little bit of a
rough surface, when they are wet and covered with moss they
are very slick and you can fall on your pa'tute very quickly. |
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The 100 mile wilderness is very quiet.
I hear the wind blowing occasionally and off in the distance I hear
a little bird now and then. For the most part it's very quiet,
very alone. |
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You'll never guess who I met again! I
knew he was about a month ahead of me, but I hadn't seen him since
Tenn. It was Naked Sun. I named him down on Springer Mt.
GA where I told him that if I had a son I would want him to be
the one. I was glad to see him again. I hugged him and
he said he was keeping his name, he liked it. |
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I'm at Hurd Brook Lean-to now and I met a
north bounder here that a section hiker and had just crossed Hurd
Creek. He said that the first part was Ok, I could hop it
across, the second section was about waist high. He came
across on the log, but it was very slippery. I don't know what
I'm going to do, I'll have to go down there and experiment and see
what I can find. |
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Here go
to try and make this forge. I made it across OK. I got
across the first one and changed my shoes into my creek shoes and
hung my boots on my back pack and fastened my sternum strap and my
waist strap and waded across the stones on the first side of the
creek. It was very swollen from the recent rains and rapid.
I went to the next side of the creek and it was really rapid.
No way I could wade across that one on the rocks, so I saw this log
and there was no way I could stand up and cross it, like the guy
said he did. So I san down a scooted across until I got to a
big limb and I had to get off on to the other side where there just
happened to be under the water and it was big enough it would hold
my weight. So I got off on that OK and saddled my way to the
next section of the log. Go on it again and straddles and
scoot on across to the end where then there was some big rocks that
was kind of sticking up out of the ground, got on one of them and
got to another one and I had to wade up to my knees a time or two,
but I was then bale to wade on out. It took me about 20 to 30
minutes to get across that stream. |
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I'm on my way uphill through the rocks and
the roots towards the ledges; the trail has been so saturated with
water that I'm glad I left my creek shoes on for a while for the
purpose of just letting them dry out on my feet some before I put
them away. The trail has water that's running straight down.
It looks like I'm going to be hiking in the creek right up the trail
for the rest of the day. This water is just running right down
the trail and it's deep and I'm just sloshing through it.
I can
hear her sloshing and splashing. Kathy |
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I'm starting to climb up large boulder
steps. So I must be coming into Yellow Springs Ledges.
Certainly is a rocky hill here with tons and tons of rocks with moss
covering everyone of them. It's beautiful! The sun is
barley creeping through the tree canopy. A lot of pines
in this area, beeches, birches, and maple trees. That is about
all I'm seeing through here. A lot of mosses and ferns, bright
green, really pretty. |
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I can understand why they call this rainbow
springs, the rainbow ledges, it's all been hiking up rock steps for
a good little ways and it keeps going like I was climbing the stairs
to catch the rainbow. It's interesting how this moos covers
this ground. It look like a carpet of green that covers
everything and you can hardly tell where the rock begins and where
the moss goes up over the rock and covers everything is sight.
A lot of deer moss in patches on the cliff. I have never seen
a carpet this green. It's all over everything and is just
gorgeous. Then when the sun get through the canopy and hit the moss,
it really makes a nice contrast the dark colors. Most of the
pines have dead limbs all the way to the top. |
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Hiking on solid granite boulders, really
flat. The tail is not marked well and I not exactly sure which
way to go whenever I get on these rock piles. Sometimes the
blazes are a little thin where they've just worn off with weather.
This is beautiful! I must be out on top of the ledges. I
can barley see over the country side into the mountains just barley
over the tree lines. I can see some ponds off in the distance
and the mountain ranges. I can see the top of Mt. Katahdin
from here. It's cover with a big old cloud on the top. A
lot of blueberry, moss, particularly reindeer moss and an abundance
of blueberry from the top of the ledges. This is the first
white pine sightings that I've had since I started the 100 mile
wilderness. The view to the east is just beautiful of the
mountains. They go from the dark color up close to a hazy
light blue in the distance. |
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Since Abol Bridge I've come six miles
exactly and it's 2:13pm now. Rainbow Lake is 1.6 miles which
I'll be coming up to very soon and Rainbow Stream Lean-to is 8.6
miles. This is such a wonderful view form the ledges.
The sun is out. This is the most sun I've seen all day because
in the woods it's dark. This is absolutely beautiful here! |
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I am hiking down the trail from the ledges
literally in a stream of water that is fast flowing and in some
little areas it's really deep.
I can hear the fast water
running and Sandy sloshing through it. Kathy She forgot
to turn the tape off! |
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The Orientation college I meet on the
ledges told me that the east end of the lake that I'm supposed to go
around is flooded out of it's banks. That's the Rainbow Lake
area. So I don't know what I'm going to find when I get there,
but I'll let you know. |
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I have this boardwalk to hike over for this
spongy area after I've hiked through all the water I've hiked
through today. I'm going down a rocky hill and have my first
glimpses of rainbow lake. It looks very high from here.
There are many white caps on the lake, must be from the wind. |
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Coming over rainbow mountain has been
roller coaster with a lot of roots, rocks and large massive boulders
all covered with mosses and ferns. A pretty area, very wet and
very rouged. The Maine AT club had put in quite a re-route in the
rainbow area. It goes up over the hill and kind of hiking a
little bit on the ridge top. |
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I'm finally back on the AT through the
re-route section, and I can see the lake again. I', at the
rainbow spring campground at 5:10pm. I decided I would not go
on to the shelter. I would just set up my tent at the camp
ground. I just talked to some north bounders that had come
through there and they said that is was pretty rough because that is
where all the water was that I have to go through. |
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I getting some water and I'm going to fix my
supper and go to bed pretty early tonight. Talk to you
tomorrow. |
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Swing'n Jane |
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