Hiking the 100 mile wilderness in august

[emilyc]

Hi there,

My name's Emily and I'm tintin's girlfriend. I know he posted on here for a while before he left and loved the community spirit he felt you guys have. We've been talking about the possibility of me meeting him for the last few weeks of his trip. It would all depend on how far he's managed to get when I come out but it could mean joining him for the 100 mile wilderness. I've done some reseach and am a little sceptical as to whether I'd be able to manage it physically. I am fully aware that I would slow him down considerably, and that's something we'd need to discuss, but I was wondering whether there are any section hikers on here who have hiked the 100 miles and could tell me how they found it? I was also wondering if someone could possibly give me an idea of what the weather would be like in august?

Best wishes to all those with loved ones on the trail,

Emily

[weary]

Hi there,

My name's Emily and I'm tintin's girlfriend. I know he posted on here for a while before he left and loved the community spirit he felt you guys have. We've been talking about the possibility of me meeting him for the last few weeks of his trip. It would all depend on how far he's managed to get when I come out but it could mean joining him for the 100 mile wilderness. I've done some reseach and am a little sceptical as to whether I'd be able to manage it physically. I am fully aware that I would slow him down considerably, and that's something we'd need to discuss, but I was wondering whether there are any section hikers on here who have hiked the 100 miles and could tell me how they found it? I was also wondering if someone could possibly give me an idea of what the weather would be like in august?

Best wishes to all those with loved ones on the trail,

Emily
Do as many day trips and weekends as possible between now and August while carrying a 15 or 20 pound pack, and you probably won't have major problems. Thru hikers zip though the 100 miles in 5 or 6 days. Us mostly "recreational" hikers like to spend nine or 10.

The difference is not great for a thru hiker able to end in August. All he needs is a bit of patience. All you need is what most wise section hikers try to achieve -- minimal at least fitness.

Katahdin is a challenge. The 100 miles is not. It offers miles of mostly flat walking, and a few easy to moderate mountains, reasonably scattered. And the country is so beautiful that if you keep looking around, you may not even notice the steeper hills.

Just insist that your friend take time to wander at least the fringes of Gulf Hagas and to walk a few extra feet to the beautiful wild ponds, and waterfalls.

Weary

[Cuffs]

Welcome Emily!

I did the 100 Mile Wilderness the last week of July/first week of August last summer. Weather was great, mosquitos were horrible, scenery was fantastic!

I dont hike regularly, but I do as often as I can, and made it thru. Be prepared for lots of mud and wet crossings.

You can send me a PM if you have other questions I can help with from a female perspective.

[Tinker]

I did it in Sept. 2008 with little prehike conditioning. My pack weighed around 35 lbs. (food for 10 days). I only got a little cold the last night before I climbed Katahdin, and a little chilly on top. I lost 8 lbs. in that 10 day period, despite staying at Whitehouse Landing and eating their 1 lb. burger and a pizza. The wilderness actually took me 8 days plus a zero at Abol Bridge, a day into Katahdin Springs campground, a day to ascend and descend Katahdin, and a day back to Abol bridge and a ride out.
I should mention that my pack weighs 14 ozs. empty, so I carried quite a bit of food.

[Bare Bear]

Pack light, plan to stop at W-Landings and have fun. I've done both routes (Gulf Hagas and the AT) several times and would recommend GH if it were not for your boyfriends 'thru'.

[Doughnut]

Maine is a tough place to start hiking. We called it "Roots and rocks, bugs and bogs". The climbs seemed harder and the trail rougher. However, the wilderness was a great place to hike, scenery is fantastic, lakes and streams were refreshing.

DoughNut

[peakbagger]

August can be hot and muggy, day time tends to be hazy, there is a chance of afternoon thundershowers, but the extent of above treeline exposure is pretty short. The section after whitecap has plenty of place to swim.

The first part of the trail from Monson to Whitecap has a lot of steep ups and downs. Be careful that you dont burn yourself out on the first day. I would plan a short day on purpose just so that you dont. An option would be to get a shuttle to the old road just east of Whitecap and join him there for the last three days plus katahdin. If you do that, realize you dont meet the definition of a thru hiker at Baxter and really shouldnt be using the birches. (if its not busy in the park, its probably not an issue).

Bring a tent as the shelters are generally full. The mosquitoes are still out in the evenings and its nice to have a place to get away from them.

One thing to keep in mind is that there arent a lot of options if you change your mind part way into the trip that dont require miles of walking down unmarked logging roads.

[The Old Fhart]

Another option if you're concerned about starting cold and hiking through the 100-mile 'wilderness' with a thru hiker is to enter at another point along that section. If you were to go in on the Jo-Mary Road (fee charged) to the A.T. you would avoid all the higher summits in the rougher southern section and enter near Cooper Brook, about 56 miles from Katahdin. From Cooper Brook to the end of the trail is pretty flat and easy going with only one short steeper climb up Nesuntabunt Mountain (one of my favorite viewpoints on the entire trail).

I've done the 100-mile 'wilderness' at least 6 times in Aug-Sept and I've seen a number of people entering the A.T. at other points along the way. I'm sure you could make arrangements with a shuttle service to get a ride in on Jo-Mary Road if you wanted to leave your car in Monson. You could also leave it in Millinocket near the end of the trail to avoid having to travel back to Monson (another shuttle) on those secondary roads. I'd go with leaving the car in Millinocket or, if you can make arrangements with one of the businesses further north, near Millinocket Lake, right outside Baxter State Park.

There are places that rent cabins (1-800-634-7238) and a float plane service (1-866-FLY-MAINE (359-6246)) right at Millinocket Lake. If you're not using their services they might let you park there for a fee or they might have suggestions of places you could use. Once for a shorter hike I used the float plane to drop me off at Antler's Campsite about 50 miles south by trail and hiked north to Katahdin from there. The arial views of Katahdin on the flight were fantastic! They could fly you to other lakes as well. Price is about $75 and it sure beats a long shuttle ride along those dusty rough back roads and the price isn't that much more. When I used the float plane service I could use their parking lot of course.

[Blissful]

I know many family and friends hike with thru hikers in this part to end their hike. Sure it will work out for you and be a great experience.