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View Full Version : Southbound in June, anyone?



mtnbrooke7
01-12-2005, 21:43
Hi all, I'm an art teacher so I've got to finish up this school year but I'm thinking about starting a SOBO thru hike in June. I'm going to try to get a leave of absence until December so I can do the whole thing. Anyone out there also planning to start in maine around that time? Just curious, and it would be nice to have a partner. I'm 26, in good shape, not sure how many miles a day I'll do, probably build up as I go. :)

TJ aka Teej
01-12-2005, 22:45
Anyone out there also planning to start in maine around that time? Maine's wicked nice in June, mtnbrooke! You should have plenty of AT company, by mid-June '04 over 100 hikers had left Baxter State Park on their way south into the 100 Mile Wilderness. Bring DEET, a head net, and plan on tenting so you're not 'bugged' all night. And don't forget that only northbound longdistance hikers can stay at the AT site inside Baxter. I always recommend that MEGAs book a site at Katahdin Stream Campground for the nights before and after their climb. For info on reservations at Baxter: www.baxterstateparkauthority.com (http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/)
Have a great hike, and :welcome to WhiteBlaze!

Nameless
01-13-2005, 05:47
Hello!

I'm also starting a SOBO in June, waiting for school to end. I'm currently planning to leave June 4, but am considering delaying it a week. I will be hiking the first part of the trail (the 100 miles) with my mother, and be alone for the rest. I dont plan to go very fast, i have all the time in the world, taking a year off of school. If you interesting in hikeing for part of the trip it could be interesting :)

Pink

minnesotasmith
01-13-2005, 07:12
I think late July would be more the time to start out from Katahdin. Hitting the low elevation of the mid-Atlantic states at a time of year when it can easily still be torrid strikes me as not the most pleasant of hiking times. If you can leave later, you can walk in near-autumn conditions for much of the way. That's how I want to do it (if I can't fit in a winter hike).

Too, you want to check into the long-term climate stuff before you go. There's an El Nino going on right now, if a weak one. About 50% of the time after one of those, a La Nina follows. What those mean for the areas you'll be hiking through, you may want to check into before you set your departure date, so as to fine-tune it a bit. I plan to do just that myself.

mtnbrooke7
01-13-2005, 09:37
Hi, thanks for all your input! I'll check into the weather/climate, etc...stuff soon. I was just planning on leaving in early june so I could go back to work in December or so. I'd love to hike some of the trail with you, nameless. You're lucky to have someone to go with you the first 100 miles. I'm still going to look for someone that I know to go with me, we'll see how that goes. :)
Brooke

Youngblood
01-13-2005, 10:41
Maine's wicked nice in June... Bring DEET, a head net, and plan on tenting so you're not 'bugged' all night.
TJ, so how's the mud? You know, I thought about saying that your post reminds me of why some nobo's think that there is something wrong with sobo's, but I'm not going to do that. :) All kidding aside I hope and trust that MtnBrooke and all the other sobo's have a great hike.

Youngblood

peekamoose
01-24-2005, 09:56
Hi,

I might be interested in the the north to south route. I wrote you on the BP forum just a few minutes ago. Hiking the AT is something I've always wanted to do, however I've neverhad the time. This might be my year. I've taking numerous logn distance trips. The longest was in the Brooks Range of Alaska for five weeks. I am also a professional in the arts.

walkin' wally
01-24-2005, 19:40
[QUOTE=TJ aka Teej And don't forget that only northbound longdistance hikers can stay at the AT site inside Baxter. [/QUOTE]

Hey Teej,

I have always wondered what function the two shelters at The Birches have when they are idle due to no northbound hikers in the early season like June ?? Any info ??

Walkin Wally

TJ aka Teej
01-24-2005, 20:42
Hey Teej,

I have always wondered what function the two shelters at The Birches have when they are idle due to no northbound hikers in the early season like June ?? Any info ??

Walkin Wally
They sit idle, the site is too wet even for maintainence until late June. But that might change. The small old "A" and "B" lean-tos just to the side of the new footbridge in Katahdin Stream Campground are used for overbooking and occasional volunteer stays, but since bugs are eating them at a rate that leaves daily piles of sawdust, the Birches might end up being used for non-AT guests after their demise. Thrus in late 2003 who couldn't stay at the Birches due to a staining experiment that wouldn't dry were put up in A&B, and if they had looked closely they saw Earl Shaffer's name carved into a beam.

TJ aka Teej
01-24-2005, 20:46
TJ, so how's the mud?

Not too bad, the MATC doesn't haul in the mud making equipment until June 1st, the same day the State hatcheries release the annual crop of young blackflies :D

alanthealan
01-28-2005, 14:22
June sounds nasty! What are the trail conditions in May?

Arniekins
02-15-2005, 06:08
If you can wait until about July 1 or late June, you can definitely have a partner (me). Let me know if that works out.
Aaron

augie
02-15-2005, 09:49
Another southbounder in early June here. It's really hit home now that I've told my boss of my intentions. Just some home matters to deal with (sell/rent/my non-backpacking stuff). No backing out now. Late May can't come soon enough.

walkin' wally
02-15-2005, 16:12
June sounds nasty! What are the trail conditions in May?

I like to go and do my trail maintenance in 'my' section along the south shore of Rainbow Lake as soon as I can get in there in May. Usually the first week. If there has been a lot of rain and the ground thaws earlier in the spring ( say March-April ) then the going isn't too bad by May. A lot of the water has gone into the water table but the streams may be running high. I get across Rainbow Stream okay on the old foot bridge. I hope it is still there this Spring.

By the time June rolls around the bugs can be bad indeed. Sometimes it can be cool in June and the bugs are not quite so abundant but that is the exception. The stream levels will be dropping though. For those who like it June is a great time to go fishing in Maine.

Just be prepared for a lot of bugs or hope for cool windy days. Try to camp in open areas exposed to the wind.

One other point is the level of the Penobscot river in May. The trail goes right along side the river for a ways. I have seen some serious flooding in May back into the woods and over the AT there a few years ago. I did not try to hike around it. This was before Katahdin opened for the season though. Maybe the trail has been relocated since then. Maybe T J knows more about that. It was the year that the little bridge over Abol stream got knocked around by the ice.

GhostHand
02-17-2005, 13:48
I will also start a sobo hike in june, oddly enough i am also a teacher, i have been trying to work things out so that I can complete it all and still have a job when i return, if not i might just do a section, let me know when you are planning on hitting the trail, (within a week or so) it's cool to have people to hike with, or people on a similar schedule, but i think half of the fun is doing our own thing and not letting anyone else's plans or "schedule" impact what you do on the trail, don't be worried about being by yourself, there are usually plenty of people on the trail
peace,
ghosthand

hopefulhiker
02-17-2005, 18:45
Hello, This is my first post and I'm planning to do a flip flop and come to Maine and hike south around June 13,14. At that point I hope to be in better shape. I'm in my 40's, married and always wanted to do this. I'm leaving in about two weeks from Springer.

TJ aka Teej
02-17-2005, 22:42
One other point is the level of the Penobscot river in May. The trail goes right along side the river for a ways. I have seen some serious flooding in May back into the woods and over the AT there a few years ago. I did not try to hike around it. This was before Katahdin opened for the season though. Maybe the trail has been relocated since then. Maybe T J knows more about that. It was the year that the little bridge over Abol stream got knocked around by the ice.
That was quite the flood,Walkin' Wally!:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/4107/sort/1/cat/500/page/2 (http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/4107/sort/1/cat/500/page/2)

I've never seen it that high before or since, Abol Bridge Campground was underwater too. The replacement footbridge has held up very well. The riverside walk can still be very wet in May, but there are bridges over the streams, even if a few have to be chained down to keep them in place. On the Baxter Park side of the Penobscot you are still dealing with snowmelt off Katahdin in May, different story once you enter the hundred mile with Hurd Brook usually just a rock hop.
*reserve a lean-to instead of a tentsite. It's Spring, it's gonna rain, and theres's no reason to start out with all your gear soaking wet.

And, for what it's worth, I suggest our Sobo friends (welcome, newcomers!)try to hook up and share the expense of the Taxi from Medway & and the lean-tos* at Katahdin Stream Campground.
*reserve a lean-to (same price as a tentsite, same price for one or two)instead of a tentsite. It's Spring, it's gonna rain, and there's no reason to start out with all your gear soaking wet.

walkin' wally
02-18-2005, 19:10
Teej,

You must spend quite a bit of time up that way. This was well before the camping season at Baxter and other places.
After the water went down some I got across the bridge and walked in to a place near the river called the 'oxbow' and that was where there was a lot of water backed up into the woods and it was deep in places on the trail. My trail overseer said there is a new re-lo somewhere in that area.
I think the stretch along the river ( and Sowdnehunk stream ) from Abol to Daicey is one of the nicest I have seen on the AT.

theoutsider
02-15-2007, 00:04
I am heading SOBO looking for someone/people to travel with. looking to make about 23 miles a day.

warraghiyagey
02-15-2007, 02:03
I am heading SOBO looking for someone/people to travel with. looking to make about 23 miles a day.

That's a pretty impressive rate starting SOBO. Don't forget to stop and smell the. . . well, everything.:) :)

Stonewall
02-15-2007, 08:41
I'm Looking to Leave June 18th,19th and Looking to hit Springer on the 31st of December :D so I can get to stop and smell the roses a fair amount :p

DavidNH
02-15-2007, 08:58
hmm....

bugs and mud...mud and bugs...

fun fun fun.

DavidNH

rafe
02-15-2007, 09:39
bugs and mud...mud and bugs... fun fun fun.


buds and mugs would be more fun. ;)

fonsie
02-21-2007, 01:40
Well I am starting at Harpers Ferry right after trail days. I wanted to start Springer Near the end of march but I would miss trail days. Besides I been spending to much money. So I will flip flop back down in mid Aug to Harpers Ferry to Georgia. My job dont want me to quite but its going to happen ,