Well to anyone who has ever read this blog, which given my current statistics would make 45 people and 1 person to comment on one of my posts (which was surprising to say the least). I think I'm going to be changing the format of the blog from what was primarily a hiking diary to something infinitely more random and hard to follow.
Regards,
Matt
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Essentials
A few weeks ago I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to accompany a friend of mine and myself on an attempt at the 100 mile wilderness. For those of you who don't know, you'll know that the 100 mile wilderness is a section of the Appalachian Trail located in Maine. It starts just south of Mount Katahdin and runs all the way to Monson without any other access besides a couple of logging roads.
The issue here is that my girlfriend has never done any serious amounts of hiking, she doesn't own hiking boots/shoes, an overnight pack, rain shell, stove or anything. Well I got to thinking what she would absolutely need to get started doing overnight trips. I decided at the very least she needs a solid set of hiking boots/shoes, a largish pack as well as a sleepingbag, a rainshell and a sleeping mat. I figured this would get her started. She doesn't need to worry so much about cookware or a tent as we'll be sharing one.
We'll be going to get her geared up this friday and then heading out for an overnight test run of her new gear to see how she likes it. The site of the test run will be the Bigelow Loop Trail. We'll have to be doing some training for the next upcoming weeks to get ready for the 100 mile wilderness,which I'll be giving more info/updates on soon.
Question of The Day: What's the one piece of non-essential gear that you never leave home without?
The issue here is that my girlfriend has never done any serious amounts of hiking, she doesn't own hiking boots/shoes, an overnight pack, rain shell, stove or anything. Well I got to thinking what she would absolutely need to get started doing overnight trips. I decided at the very least she needs a solid set of hiking boots/shoes, a largish pack as well as a sleepingbag, a rainshell and a sleeping mat. I figured this would get her started. She doesn't need to worry so much about cookware or a tent as we'll be sharing one.
We'll be going to get her geared up this friday and then heading out for an overnight test run of her new gear to see how she likes it. The site of the test run will be the Bigelow Loop Trail. We'll have to be doing some training for the next upcoming weeks to get ready for the 100 mile wilderness,which I'll be giving more info/updates on soon.
Question of The Day: What's the one piece of non-essential gear that you never leave home without?
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Lessons Learned
After about a year of not posting at all on this blog I figured it was about time to update it. My first hike of the season came very late this year, I've been busy with work and summer classes and other such things up until now. I've also been late to hike due to the fact that none of my friends have been available to go when I have.
Finally after getting fed up with waiting for the freetime of my friends and myself to align properly I decided to go on my first ever solo hike on a trail that I've been scoping out for a while now. The trail that I decided I'd hike was the Bold Coast trail in Cutler, Maine. The trail is located about 16 miles past the intersection of route 1 and 191 in East Machias or 4-ish miles past downtown Cutler. I didn't arrive at the trailhead until about 6:30pm so I had to make good time to make it the 4 or so miles down the trail to the Fairy Head camp site before dark.
Lesson #1: Always bring bugspray.
I should already know this one. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I know how bad the bugs can get here during the summer. Even though I know the importance of having pleny of bug dope, in my rush to get going and make it to the trailhead it fell somewhere by the wayside. When I finally made it to the camp site around 8pm or so, I began setting up camp at a designated spot overlooking the ocean. A couple who had come up from portland had grabbed another one nearby. Unfortunately a swarm of mosquitos had already laid claim to the exact spot I was going to put my tent. I'm used to dealing with bugs, and a few mosquitos will never have me fretting, but the bugs were so thick it made cooking almost impossible. They were flying into my stove and latching onto my uncovered lower legs and any bare skin they could dig into. After being chased into my tent after a very hastily (and not very well cooked) dinner I fell quickly to sleep.
Lesson #2: Always bring your trashbag.
A trick a friend of mine taught me was to put a trashbag in each large compartment of your pack, that way when it rains really hard and you have to pack up camp, your tent and rainfly don't get everything else in your pack wet. they also lend added protection beyond your regular pack cover in case the sky decides to open up on you mid hike. Well apparently I had thrown out and forgotten to replace the trashbag that I kept in my pack. When I woke up the next morning, instead of catching some of the first rays to hit the sun in all of the U.S. I woke up to the sound of steady rain coming down outside. After waking up and taking a look around I decided to pack up camp. The mosquitos from the night before had apparently not been deterred by the rain so once again I was racing against bug-bites to get everything taken care of. Once my bag was packed up I set off to finish the roughly 5 and a half mile coastal section of the loop back to the trailhead. Even though it was raining and I had been chewed up and spit out by bugs the coastal leg of the trail was completely worth it.
This trail has plenty of picturesque cliffside views of the ocean, as well as winding it's way through the forest, several bog areas, and a stone covered beach. You don't have to worry too much about this trail being crowded like many of the other ones further down the coast in Acadia. This one is certainly a gem worth discovering for anyone willing to venture out of the way of the summer crowds.
Finally after getting fed up with waiting for the freetime of my friends and myself to align properly I decided to go on my first ever solo hike on a trail that I've been scoping out for a while now. The trail that I decided I'd hike was the Bold Coast trail in Cutler, Maine. The trail is located about 16 miles past the intersection of route 1 and 191 in East Machias or 4-ish miles past downtown Cutler. I didn't arrive at the trailhead until about 6:30pm so I had to make good time to make it the 4 or so miles down the trail to the Fairy Head camp site before dark.
Lesson #1: Always bring bugspray.
I should already know this one. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I know how bad the bugs can get here during the summer. Even though I know the importance of having pleny of bug dope, in my rush to get going and make it to the trailhead it fell somewhere by the wayside. When I finally made it to the camp site around 8pm or so, I began setting up camp at a designated spot overlooking the ocean. A couple who had come up from portland had grabbed another one nearby. Unfortunately a swarm of mosquitos had already laid claim to the exact spot I was going to put my tent. I'm used to dealing with bugs, and a few mosquitos will never have me fretting, but the bugs were so thick it made cooking almost impossible. They were flying into my stove and latching onto my uncovered lower legs and any bare skin they could dig into. After being chased into my tent after a very hastily (and not very well cooked) dinner I fell quickly to sleep.
Lesson #2: Always bring your trashbag.
A trick a friend of mine taught me was to put a trashbag in each large compartment of your pack, that way when it rains really hard and you have to pack up camp, your tent and rainfly don't get everything else in your pack wet. they also lend added protection beyond your regular pack cover in case the sky decides to open up on you mid hike. Well apparently I had thrown out and forgotten to replace the trashbag that I kept in my pack. When I woke up the next morning, instead of catching some of the first rays to hit the sun in all of the U.S. I woke up to the sound of steady rain coming down outside. After waking up and taking a look around I decided to pack up camp. The mosquitos from the night before had apparently not been deterred by the rain so once again I was racing against bug-bites to get everything taken care of. Once my bag was packed up I set off to finish the roughly 5 and a half mile coastal section of the loop back to the trailhead. Even though it was raining and I had been chewed up and spit out by bugs the coastal leg of the trail was completely worth it.
This trail has plenty of picturesque cliffside views of the ocean, as well as winding it's way through the forest, several bog areas, and a stone covered beach. You don't have to worry too much about this trail being crowded like many of the other ones further down the coast in Acadia. This one is certainly a gem worth discovering for anyone willing to venture out of the way of the summer crowds.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Summer of Adventure!
So, this summer I finally decided to set off on my own and get an appartment. Being my first time living on my own (for the summer, I go to college the rest of the year), and of course being myself, I decided that this summer would be my greatest adventure yet. So far I've been working a crappy job with not so decent pay, and I've spent most of my money on hiking gear and supplies, as well as done a considerable amount of hiking. Now I've always been a fan of the outdoors, growing up in rural Maine it's somewhat mandatory. I had never gotten the chance to go hiking however.
My first hike of the season was a scaling of a local mountain in Acadia National Park (two actually). It was horrible timing on my part, I was just starting to get over the worst cold I've had in years and was thoroughly out of shape, needless to say I barely made it up the 500 foot face (hold the boos for later). And coincidently my second hike of the season was the same mountain but about 2 months later. Having fully recovered from my previous ailment by this time, I and my hiking buddy/sensei/wilderness guru Sean "B" Strothmann (shout out!) scaled the smallish mountain rather quickly, Even having to coax my then girlfriend up the granite face. She's got serious issues with heights.
For hike number three my go big or go home mentality kicked in, I wanted to climb the highest mountain in the state, Mt. Katahdin. So one tuesday afternoon I shot B a text asking if he wanted to climb Katahdin that weekend. Within the next two days we bought the parking pass for baxter state park (only $5 if you're a resident of the state) and when the weekend rolled around we set off for the great north of Maine. After finding our parking spot, we began to ascend the Abol trail. It starts off harmless enough, a wooded trail with a moderate but comfortable rise winding it's way up the mountain. It's not until you reach the point where the slide begins that you realize exactly what you're taking on. From that point on it's a bit more of a challenge, especially having to navigate the loose rocks and dirt that dominate a decent portion of the terrain. There are many large boulders as well, especially once you get close to the top of the slide. You'll find yourself scrambling over and around the larger ones trying to make it to the plateau, but even once you're there it's still a mile to the summit. Luckily at this point the Hike's calmed down a considerable amount.
Number 4 is about to go down, B, his dad, one of his dad's friends and I will be doing a 30 mile hike near Saddleback mountain this weekend, it'll be my first multi-day hike ever, so we'll see how that goes, and I'll update you all when I get back with a new blog
My first hike of the season was a scaling of a local mountain in Acadia National Park (two actually). It was horrible timing on my part, I was just starting to get over the worst cold I've had in years and was thoroughly out of shape, needless to say I barely made it up the 500 foot face (hold the boos for later). And coincidently my second hike of the season was the same mountain but about 2 months later. Having fully recovered from my previous ailment by this time, I and my hiking buddy/sensei/wilderness guru Sean "B" Strothmann (shout out!) scaled the smallish mountain rather quickly, Even having to coax my then girlfriend up the granite face. She's got serious issues with heights.
For hike number three my go big or go home mentality kicked in, I wanted to climb the highest mountain in the state, Mt. Katahdin. So one tuesday afternoon I shot B a text asking if he wanted to climb Katahdin that weekend. Within the next two days we bought the parking pass for baxter state park (only $5 if you're a resident of the state) and when the weekend rolled around we set off for the great north of Maine. After finding our parking spot, we began to ascend the Abol trail. It starts off harmless enough, a wooded trail with a moderate but comfortable rise winding it's way up the mountain. It's not until you reach the point where the slide begins that you realize exactly what you're taking on. From that point on it's a bit more of a challenge, especially having to navigate the loose rocks and dirt that dominate a decent portion of the terrain. There are many large boulders as well, especially once you get close to the top of the slide. You'll find yourself scrambling over and around the larger ones trying to make it to the plateau, but even once you're there it's still a mile to the summit. Luckily at this point the Hike's calmed down a considerable amount.
Number 4 is about to go down, B, his dad, one of his dad's friends and I will be doing a 30 mile hike near Saddleback mountain this weekend, it'll be my first multi-day hike ever, so we'll see how that goes, and I'll update you all when I get back with a new blog
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