[at-l] An AT trip report

[lpatton at mailer.fsu.edu (Linda Patton)]

I wish it were MY trip report, but it isn't.  This was sent to me by "Dub"
Dubbleworth of Utah.  He's a guy I shuttled to the Florida Trail earlier 
this year.  I got his permission to re-post his report here, 'cause I 
thought y'all might enjoy it.  ~~ eArThworm
...........................................................................

on sept 29 my brother harry flew from portland, oregon and i flew from salt 
lake city to manchester n.h. our sister connie picked us up at the airport 
and drove us to her house in lebanon, n.h. near hannover. our Mother lives 
with connie and her husband maurice. we had a good visit with them until 
past our Mothers 93rd birthday on oct 3. other family members were there 
also. we had great weather the whole time we were there. 

early on oct 4 maurice drove harry and i to the junction of maine highway 27 
and carribou valley road. he dropped us off at 10;15am. sunny and plain hot. 
we started out with 10 days food. which was way too much. poor planning on my 
part. we were also heavy with winter sleeping bags and clothing. we were 
worried about cold weather being a little late in the season. we hiked 4.3 miles 
up hill to where the at crosses carribou valley road. where we left off last 
year. in just under one and a half hours. after that we would slow way down for 
the rest of the trip. we hiked a total of 9.5 miles and climbed 2525+ ft. rough 
steep rocky trail. we stopped for the night at spalding mtn lean to. we saw 
moose and deer tracka and one snake. we also saw squirel, chipmunk, and birds 
proubably every day of the trip. at the shelter there was a young scary guy 
hiking south the same as us. 

on oct 5 we had more warm sunshine and another rough hike. some purty decent 
stream fords. basically maine has all the fords on the at. a lot of them. many 
purty decent ones. we hiked 8 miles and 2025+ ft to poplar ridge lean to. we 
saw another snake. we were surprised to see a north bound thru hiker this late 
in the season. a cute middle aged woman named grasshopper. after we arrived 
at the shelter a male northbound thru hiker joined us. we were glad not to see 
the scary hiker. 

on oct 6 more warm sunshine and rough trail. we hiked 8.9 miles and climbed 
2225+ ft to piazza rock lean to. we went over saddleback junior, the horn, and 
saddleback mtn. we were above tree line for a good 3 miles with great views. 
we saw 2 more thru hikers, one runner and 3 overnight section hikers. we heard 
what was surely a moose crashing thru the trees. in fact the runner said he 
saw the moose run 2 thru hikers off the trail. thru hiker '2 pack' showed up at 
the shelter for the night. a nice 44 year old guy.

on oct 7 it was clouding up but stayed warm. we hiked 11.2 miles and climbed 
1925+ ft to sabbath day pond lean to. but we werent there on sabbath day. we 
saw the scary guy for the last time in a canoe on little swift river pond. we 
also had to make a few fords. we saw a snake, a frog, and a toad and we saw 
moose tracks all along the trail. thru hiker 'side show' was at the shelter but 
left after talking awhile. nice shelter by the pond. rained like crazy all 
night.

on oct 8 we hiked 8.3 miles and climbed 1825+ ft to bemmis mtn lean to. it 
rained all day but was warm. when we crossed highway 17 a couple from isreal
offered us a ride but we reculently mooved on. soon after we forded bemis stream. 
it was deep and swift from all the rain and we wondered if we should have 
gone with the isrealees. the ford was followed by a steep, rocky, slipery, 
dangerous climb. more wondering about those israelees. it would have been fun to be 
with them. we saw 4 thru hikers with a nice dog. another unseen moose crashed 
thru the bushes. we got into camp soaking wet. but the stuf in our packs was 
dry. of course nothing dried out thru the night in maine. in utah, you can wrap 
your shirt around a rock and throw it into the creek. in the morning it will 
be dry. a fifth thru hiker stayed the night in the shelter with us. evening 
came and it got quite cold. it rained and blew hard all night. 

oct 9 was sunday. we were limited on time because of harrys work and had 
planned to hike on sundays. but it was cold and rainy and sunday so we took a 0 
day. we enjoyed being in our warm sleeping bags in the shelter looking out into 
that wet cold weather. the rain stopped just before noon. it even warmed up a 
little. two women section hikers came by. they were soaked and planned to bag 
their hike at highwat 17. 

on oct 10 we hiked 8.7 miles and climbed 1725ft to south arm road. it was 
cloudy but no rain. but we still got soaked by the wet bushes. and we were wading 
a flooded trail most of the time. up and down over slippery rocks over bemis 
mtn, elephant mtn, and old blue mtn. a rough steep slippery 2200 ft drop down 
to south arm road. we crossed the road and took a look at the black brook 
ford. scary looking. and we were beat. we were supposed to go 5 more miles and big 
ups and downs to hall mtn lean to that day. we were supplied to go all the 
way to gorham,n.h. but we stuck our thumbs out and went into the andover guest 
house. in the back of a pick up. the guest house was great and so were owner 
susan and her dog knucklehead. shower laundry, dinner, a few supplies, tv, and 
great company. we were behind schedule now and the trail and weather were being 
mean to us. but we were having a good time and the stop in andover was great. 
we made a little slack hike plan. it rained a little during the night. 

on oct 11 susan and knucklehead gave us a ride to the trail up east b hill 
road. we slack hiked 10.1 miles and climbed 3425+ ft back to south arm road. 
cloudy and clearing. a super nice hike. great views. we went over wyman mtn. 
stopped at hall mtn lean to for lunch. forded sawyer brook. moody mtn was a steep 
climb with many ladders. saw no one. the 24 hours since we last saw black 
brook gave it time to drop. we could measure it by the steps going up out of the 
river to the road. the water was now well above our knees and not so swift. 24 
hours earlier it would have been close to our waist and quite swift and 
powerful. and the bottom was rough and sloppery. and now we had day packs. earlier 
we had big heavy packs. another back of a pickup ride back to the hostel. a 
great day. another shower and resturant food and a nice bunk.

on oct 12 we slacked hiked 10.3 miles +.2 spur miles and climbed 3325 = ft 
between highway 26 and east b hill road. no rain but cold and cloudy in the 
morning. partly sunny and warmer in the afternoon. hard steep trail with more 
ladders and water falls. another moose crashed in the trees. it didnt bother us 
too much that we werent seeing any of these moose crashing thru the trees. we
have seen hundreds if not thousands of moose. have even eaten a couple of them. 
we lived in alaska for several years some time back. saw 2 men day hikers 
going the other direction. we stopped in at baldpate leanto for a morning break. 
went over baldpate mtns 2 summits. and stopped in fry notch lean to for lunch. 
an old man went out of his way to give us a ride back to the hostel. a great 
day and hike. this trail was starting to get our knees. 

on oct 13 susan and knucklehead dropped us off at highway 26 with full packs. 
we hiked a mear 4.6 miles and climbed 2600+ft to speck pond shelter. going 
over old speck. we saw no hikers. cloudy and foggy and misty all day. got a 
little wat and cold. nice to be in shelter.

on oct 14 we hiked 5.1 miles and climbed 1725+ ft to full goose shelter. 
going down mahoosuc arm and thru mahoosuc notch. the notch is proubably the 
hardest mile on the at or maybe any trail. the weather was about like the day 
before. so we werent seeing many views any more. the notch was hard on our knees. 
the bolders were all wet and slippery. that mile is nothing but huge boulders. 
as we were going into the notch we passed 2 young hikers coming out. they said 
it took them 55 minutes to go thru. it took us 3 hours. just before the 
shelter we passed an old guy day hiking with a verry aggressive dog. it was nice to 
be in our sleeping bags in the shelter. it rained all night.

on oct 15 we got a late start. the days were getting noticably shorter. it 
rained most of the day. the trail was a sloppy mess. so were we. still very 
rough trail. wet sloppery rocks. some of the trail was like a water fall or a 
creek. lots of bogs and floating board walks. floating board walks sink when you 
step on them. a wet rabbit came shooting up the trail, stopped and played a 
game of dodge with us. then went on. we hiked 4.4 trail miles +.2 spur miles and 
climbed 1325+ ft to carlo col shelter. we were soaked. the shelter was like a 
log cabin with a low loft. there were 2 thru hikers taking a 0 day in the 
shelter. we joined them for the rest of the day and night. a mouse kept bugging me 
in my sleeping bag so i murdered him. another rainy night.

oct 16 was sunday. it was tempting to take the day off but we moved on. it 
rained all day. cold and wet. lots of bogs. .5 mile from the shelter we crossed 
into n.h. last day to go above tree line. it was a wonderful miserable place. 
passed a young male thru hiker.then way down the trail passed a young girl 
thru hiker. she was surely the last thru hiker for the year. i think she was 
number 15 for us. she looked miserable. she looked like she should not be where 
she was in those conditions all alone. she was still 280+ miles from katahdin. i 
didnt believe for a minute that she or many of the guys ahead of her were 
going to go to the top of katahdin this year. harry and i had been mountaineers 
all our lives. we measure mountains by vertical feet. not miles or horizonal 
feet. she asked us how far it still was to the summit of success mtn. harry said 
750 ft. he meant vertical. she thought he meant horrizonal. she lit all up. 
the poor girl. it was still over a mile away. i tried to clear that up but 
failed. i should have told her to go home. i failed there also. she might have 
told me to stick it anyway. it was scary. i hope she is ok today. today means 
when you read this. she was headed for the notch. many fords and a fast
approaching winter. we hiked .2 spur miles back to the trail and 5.2 trail miles and 
climbed 1475+ feet to gentian pond shelter. when we went to bed the weather was 
terrible. i was hoping that girl was in a shelter and ok. 

oct 17 was cloudy but didnt rain a bit all day. we hiked 11.8 miles and 
climbed 2200+ ft. a little cold and windy. better trail. hiked into gorham, n.h. 
the river at gorham was flooding and raging. hostel, showers, and dinner. rainy 
and cold night. no hikers anywhere. the hostel keeper was a cute girl from 
bulgaria. the tv said record rains in new england. flooding in southern n.h. and 
mass. people drownding. the newspaper said that on oct 15 mt washington 
received 34 inches of snow with 12 foot drifts. the wind reached 136 mph. our 
original plan was to hike to franconia notch. that would complete the at for me. we 
werent going to make that. we were 3 days from mt washington. i would be 
coming back the last week in may and the first week in june to stay with my Mother 
while my sister and her husband were visiting in germany. after that i could 
hike the remaining 76 miles to complete the at. our knees were shot. i had 
never had knee trouble like this before. i figured that this part of the at and 
vermonts long trail are by far the hardest long trail hikes i have done in the 
last 5 years and 7000 miles of hiking. i hope our knees get all better. 

on oct 18 we bussed and hitchhiked back to my sisters house in lebanon, n.h. 
we had hiked 106.7 miles and climbed 31,450+ ft.

we visited until the morning of oct 23. my total miles for the year were 
1382.8+. total vertical feet climbed were 133,660+.

                                                            dub.