Suzzz
07-28-2017, 13:07
I made it!
It was years in the making but I finally completed my FIRST section of the AT. It was tough but so rewarding and I'm very happy to report that I came home with no injuries of any kind, not even a blister!
The difficulty of the terrain did surprise me however. I knew Maine was going to be tough but I though I was ready for it. As a result, I ended up going a lot slower than I had expected and wasn't able to complete the entire section I had planned to do from Stratton to Monson. I only managed to do about half of it from East Flagstaff Rd to Moxie Pond. Thanks to Paul's suggestion at Caratunk House B&B, I decided not to do the Bigelows and it was, in insight, an excellent decision. Being as slow as I was, if I had done the Bigelows, I wouldn't have had enough time left for much else.
I also learned quite a few things. I was so worried about running out of food that I carried enough to survive the apocalypse... probably one of the reasons why I was so slow. A Steripen is a great tool but if floaties in your water gross you out you're better off with a filter. Although fuel canisters are not reusable they're way faster and more efficient than Esbit. And last but not least, quilts are great but I think I'm more of a sleeping bag kind of person... I like to have my toes nice and cozy inside a toe box instead of waking up 10 times a night because they wandered off outside of the quilt.
Of all this, what I'm most proud of is the fact that I did manage to sleep alone in my tent with no one around for one night. I was able to set up at a shelter or campsite all of the other nights but on that one night in particular I was simply too tired to continue on, and to be quite honest I was just too tired to care whether anyone else was around or not, I just wanted to stop and go to sleep, so I did. And guess what? I slept like a baby. I'm sure the fear of sleeping alone in the woods will probably never entirely go away but at least now I know that I can do it and it's very empowering!
I'm very happy with what I accomplished on this hike and I'm hoping to return next year for another section.
It was years in the making but I finally completed my FIRST section of the AT. It was tough but so rewarding and I'm very happy to report that I came home with no injuries of any kind, not even a blister!
The difficulty of the terrain did surprise me however. I knew Maine was going to be tough but I though I was ready for it. As a result, I ended up going a lot slower than I had expected and wasn't able to complete the entire section I had planned to do from Stratton to Monson. I only managed to do about half of it from East Flagstaff Rd to Moxie Pond. Thanks to Paul's suggestion at Caratunk House B&B, I decided not to do the Bigelows and it was, in insight, an excellent decision. Being as slow as I was, if I had done the Bigelows, I wouldn't have had enough time left for much else.
I also learned quite a few things. I was so worried about running out of food that I carried enough to survive the apocalypse... probably one of the reasons why I was so slow. A Steripen is a great tool but if floaties in your water gross you out you're better off with a filter. Although fuel canisters are not reusable they're way faster and more efficient than Esbit. And last but not least, quilts are great but I think I'm more of a sleeping bag kind of person... I like to have my toes nice and cozy inside a toe box instead of waking up 10 times a night because they wandered off outside of the quilt.
Of all this, what I'm most proud of is the fact that I did manage to sleep alone in my tent with no one around for one night. I was able to set up at a shelter or campsite all of the other nights but on that one night in particular I was simply too tired to continue on, and to be quite honest I was just too tired to care whether anyone else was around or not, I just wanted to stop and go to sleep, so I did. And guess what? I slept like a baby. I'm sure the fear of sleeping alone in the woods will probably never entirely go away but at least now I know that I can do it and it's very empowering!
I'm very happy with what I accomplished on this hike and I'm hoping to return next year for another section.