Camp!

Of course I had to fly the pirate flag…. 

There were so many bandanas drying at one point that it looked like a gypsy encampment when the breeze kicked in. 

I do have to say, we lived very well without running water –  pioneer style!  

Thank you Dr. Bronner’s all-in-one magical soap!!

Driving Upta Maine…

We played the license plate game and ended up with 40 plates by the end of the trip.  Funny thing is that we had Hawaii & Alaska by the time we had left NY! 

The most frequently asked question - no, not "are we there yet?".  

It was "What is the speed limit???" (on every road)

I was ecstatic when I saw that the highway changed to 75 mph - VROOM!! 

Our detour for lunch took us to the famous Red’s Eats – worth the wait!! 

"Happy?" "As a clam!!" 

Hiking Casualty...

I know that I said we made it off the mountain without injury but we did have an injury in camp. I’m happy to say that it was not a full casualty…. 

Good news is that since it is within an eighth of an inch, it is covered by the Benchmade's Lifesharp warranty. 

For the record, I was not the one who used my knife as a screwdriver. I handed it over not knowing the intent and cringed when I heard the *plink* shortly after.

Poor Pinky... I ended up scraping up my pinky finger the next day - I think it was in subconscious solidarity....

Helicopter Rescue...

See, I wasn’t kidding when I said the mountain was dangerous!  Really scary to think that we could have been hit by one of those boulders too!!

We found out about this as we were leaving.  One of our camp rangers was the one who did the rescue/guiding in of the helicopter. 

Done! (sort of)...

Holey moley, what a mountain!! 

Mt Katahdin, the highest point in Maine, the Northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, the sixth highest mountain in New England.  5,269 of feet to climb - 13' short of a mile straight up

 I wanted to shout that we “Stood on top of Maine!” 


And we did for the most part….we just did not make it to the summit. Estimate is that we stopped at about 4,450 feet.  (definitely a ways above the treeline)  We did climb it...just not all the way.


There is a lot to be proud of – the personal heights achieved, climbing over many, many boulders, crazy pulls up done to get up and around the rocks and the fact that we made it in and out without getting majorly injured. (there are some interesting bruises though). 

We found out that there had been a chopper rescue up in the boulder fields a few days before we got up there. Yikes! 

Am I disappointed at not reaching the summit? Of course. 

Am I happy that we made it out alive?  Definitely! 

Safety first was the always the priority.  We were about 20 minutes short of the Tabletops when a storm started to roll in. It made for some great pictures – as in “we have reached Mordor!”. 

The other hikers were honest about how much more of a climb there was (a good two hours) and we decided that we would call it - we turned to head back down. No easy feat since it involved climbing and riding down the boulders we had just climbed. The rangers said that we did the smart thing because even they have issues navigating the trail at night.

The total was 13 hours of hiking & climbing in the heat. (and by the way, I had my period) 


I do have to publicly thank a few people that helped make this happen. 

The one that got me into hiking and made sure that I was outfitted properly to start with. 

The one that renewed my interest in hiking by showing me another side of it. 

The one that provided the inspiration for this trip. 

The ones that were cheerleaders before and during this trip. 

I would not have been able to do this without all of you!!!


Katahdin will be revisited – there are a bunch that need to be climbed first!

Into The Woods!!

And because I forgot to say it earlier (and it is now my voice mail message)....

Into the woods,

It's time to go,

I hate to leave,

I have to, though.

Into the woods-

It's time, and so

I must begin my journey.

Hopefully the training pays off - 

Katahdin or Bust!!

Yikety-Yikes!!

We’re leaving really, really soon to hike Katahdin...

Our group is down one due to a roller derby accident.

I’m scared and excited. 

It will be fun, challenging, draining and all those other good things!

Yup, it is going to hurt but it will be worth it – we have been training for quite a while and testing all the gear that is coming with us.  It should pay off. 


Am I done after this? 


HELL NO!!!

Storm King!

I can now shout – “The last official training mountain is done!!!”. That brings a whole series of mixed emotions about the upcoming climb but that is for another post… 

Saturday’s climb was Storm King right next to West Point (hello boys!). 

I had to add in the snapshot of the trail we took – see the P on the right by Cornwall Landing? We started there, took the Highlands Trail up to the Bluebird Trail to the Yellow to the white to the Orange. It was quite the loop!! 

The beginning felt like the “Dead Cicada Trail” – I felt a bit bad for them. They wait 17 years, come out and do their thing and then a month later are dead and scattered all over the place.

“Time for a cognac!” moment – HUGE rat snake slithers in front of me (hues as in 5 feet long). I scream and jump up on a rock (like that will help). Snake slithers away from my screaming and Crocodile Dundee tears after it, grabs it by the tail and after a series of twists, PICKS UP the pissed off snake. 

*cue me fainting* (yes, there is exaggeration here but she picked it up and I was freaked out) 

There was a great view of Cold Spring and Bannerman Island from the top of Storm King. I think that every hike should have ruins – it adds to the adventure! And makes for great pix!! 

Amazing Feeling/Breeze moment – standing on top of Butter Mountain a very welcome breeze swirled around us. It was such a relief since the humidity was intense! 

Random Side note – I almost lost my purple cammo bandana that my brother gave me but was very happy to find it a short way back up the trail. 

Solstice...

It was a great solstice celebration! Was able to spend time with friends that I have not seen in quite a while. With some coaching (and wine), I made my own floral crown for the first time and it added to the happy of the day... 

And thanks to my week at camp, I made our cheese for the first time and it was met with rave reviews! (and not just from people who are obligated to tell me that they like it) 

I got compliments from people who have been making this stuff for years – even got a “Mikey, likes it!” 

Ligo!

Just for today's celebration - one from the vaults!! (actually grandma's basement) 

Summer Wine...

Strawberries, cherries and an angel's kiss in spring....

Trail Pocket Dump...

Car Show!

A nice recovery day from hiking and a chance to explore the town a bit better.  


Of course there was a purple car.....