Make it count: Day #142

Saturday, August 1st - Day #142 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 9.7
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 1925.8/2,193 (87.82%)

Full Goose Shelter (1916.1) to Bethel, ME (1925.8) - West Bethel Motel

Total ascent - 2,932’
Total descent - 4,419’

Total States Completed - 13/14

**No Rain - Another really nice weather day.

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I made it through the Mahoosuc Notch - and I’m still standing!!! 2-1/2 hours for 1 mile. WOW!! We started the day at 6:30am and ended at 5:30pm - 11 hours of constant grinding today. Maine is an absolute BEAST.

We had a couple miles before the Notch to get warmed up. Sam, Slider/Granger and I stayed together all day. Once we entered the Mahoosuc Notch - we put our trekking poles away. It was like a puzzle. Sometimes you went over the boulders. Sometimes you crawled through a tunnel. Sometimes you had to take your pack off to make it. Sometimes you had to belly crawl to enter a tiny space. It was a lot more fun to do this as a group. It probably took a bit longer - but it was worth the extra time to have somebody to hand your pack to, somebody to talk out strategies, etc. Overall - it wasn’t as bad as I had built up in my mind.

So - tonight we’re staying at the West Bethel Motel. We had to call them at the peak of Old Speck Mountain to setup a ride. Mark - the owner of the motel was terrific. He picked us up, brought us to an outfitter, and brought us to a grocery store before setting us up at the motel.

A big thing happened today. My backpack has been fantastic my entire journey. Recently - in New Hampshire and now in Maine - it’s taken alot of abuse. Much of the wear and tear has been caused because I will often times sit on my butt and slide down very steep cliff faces versus trying to walk down them - lose my balance - and have a big fall. Because I’m sliding so frequently- my pack has been getting scratched up and some rips have been forming. Well - today in the Notch - I opened up a few really big gashes on the bottom of my pack. They were large enough that I was really concerned that the full contents of my pack would just fall out on the ground. Because of this - (even with only 267 miles to go) - I had to get another pack. I just couldn’t risk it. If the bag failed completely - I would be in a whole lot of trouble.

So - with a couple miles to go on our big climb - I pushed ahead of Sam and Slider/Granger. I wanted to make the peak - get a cell signal - and start exploring my options for a new pack. I called Mark - the guy from the motel. He indicated that there is an outfitter in Bethel. I called the outfitter - True North. They didn’t have my Gossmer Gear Mariposa - but they did carry Osprey packs. I’m familiar with Osprey - as I have a daypack from them. I also tried the Osprey in the lead up to my journey. I knew I could get by with this pack. Only problem - the store closed at 6pm. We got to the parking lot at 5:30pm. Mark knows the owner - he called him and asked if they would stay open an extra 10-15 minutes. They agreed to this. Perfect!! They had the Exos 48. I had them pull both a medium and large - I just needed to run in and try them on to see which fit the best. I tried the large first - perfect fit. I was in and out of the outfitter with a new Osprey Exos 48 ($200) in about 10 minutes. Solid!!

So - I spent about an hour this evening transferring my gear from one pack to the other. I think everything is going to fit! My Mariposa was 60L and this pack is only 48L. It’s a tight squeeze - but I’m going to make it work. I’m sad to leave the Mariposa behind. It was a great pack - I’d recommend it to anyone.

It’s about 10:40pm now. A lot going tonight. We only got to the hotel around 7pm. I was able to shower, do laundry, and eat dinner before 9pm. Then - I worked on the pack. Now - I’m finishing the blog and ready to shut it down

I can’t believe 10 mile days are destroying me like this. Today took us 11 hours to do 9.7 miles. Everybody has told us that miles must be cut by a third in the Whites and southern Maine. If you were doing 15-18 miles — now you should be doing 10-12 miles per day. The effort I had to give for 9.7 miles is more than many of my 20+ mile days. It’s crazy - but true.

Here’s to getting comfortable with my new Osprey pack. Here’s to continued strength and safely navigating the treacherous mountains of Maine.

Goodnight from the land less traveled (western Maine)!