Katahdin to Kakadjo Road ME October 3-9, 2018 din

6:00 am RIC Jet Blue 381
$314.30 ea
Arrived 7:35 am
Concord Bus to N Conway
Departed 9:25 am arrived11:15 am $31 each; shuttle at 1:00 from Bruce 504-615-9497 $35/2 to the Barn in Gorham. Reservations for 6/30 and 6/5 at the Barn.
June 30 Travel Day to Gorham NH go to the Libby House 603-466-2271 or 603-724-6129 Paul provided ride to US 2. Hiking South to Imp.
0. July 1 US 2 to Imp Shelter 8 miles ($8 fee) This was a rocky steady climb to a descent down Moriah Mtn. We arrived at Imp just in time for a huge thunderstorm and stayed in a shelter
0. July 2 Imp Shelter to Pinkham Notch 13.7 miles. Up Mt Carter a steep and rocky climb. Then descended to Carter Dome and the AMC Hut. There were some big ups and down Carter's summit, then ascended and descended all 4 Wildcats finishing with a dangerous descent at 11:30 pm and arriving at Pinkham at 12:45. We were pulverized and missed dinner!


0. July 3 PN Shelter to Madison Springs Hut 8 miles Total for AMC Huts: $595.54/2 #365583. after a easy ascent for 1.5 miles;started a steep rock climb through the trees that took hours.!Arriving above the tree line and ascended Madison under high winds. No trail just rocks. Arrived at Madison at 7:30 pm. Great food and nice Hut.
0. July 4 MS Hut to Lake of the Clouds Hut 7 miles. The easiest hike so far up to Washington and then descended to LOC. Great views and Hut! The facilities a top Washington are a tacky tourist stop!
0. July 5 LofC Hut to Route 302 11 miles. This was a beautiful picturesque hike following a ridge trail.Took AMC shuttle ($20)to Gorham to spend night; provisioned for 5 days to get to Andover.
0. July 6 US 2 to Trident Campsite 7 mile. This was a long grind but moderate climb.
0. July 7 Trident to Carlo Col Shelter. 9.7 miles.This was a long and tedious ups and downs day; it seemed to go on forever.Crossed NH/ ME state line at 7:46 am. Arrived at 9pm after a 8ft sheer drop between stones creating a man-size crack! Yikes
0. July 8 Carlo Col to Full Goose Shelter.A long rough steady climb up Goose Eye Mt. Ascended Goose Eye Mtn during a hail storm. Goose Eye had 3 peaks.We were totally exposed. Arrived at 4 pm.


0. July 9 FG Shelter to Mahoosic Notch Campsite. 3.7 miles.Desended to the infamous Mahoosic Notch 1 mile.This was outrageously dangerous. We crawled without packs under 3 separate bolders Took 5 hours. Then went to Campsite. We were exhausted.
0. July 10 Mahoosic Notch Campsite to Speck Pond.$10 Went up MN Arm which was rock ascent hold on to your life bolder climb! Speck was a new Shelter not quite completely done because it had a roof leak!
0. July 11.Speck Pond Shelter to Andover Grafton Notch Pine Ellis Hostel.5 miles of a long and tedious ascent with steep exposed rock face with an ascent of rocks and bogs- yuck!
0. July 12 Pine Ellis Hostel. Slack packed up Baldplate Mtn with MIA blowing by Bald Plate Lean-To missing water! Went up the beautiful bald granite faces of BP Mtn descending to a beautiful waterfall near Dunn Notch and ascended to East B Hill Road.
0. July 13 Zero day at Pine Ellis due to rain. Total cost of Pine Ellis including shuttles: $126 cost of mailing excess baggage home 5.4 lbs $20.
0. July 14 Pine Ellis to Hall Mtn Lean To. 5 miles up Wyman Mtn with tricky ups and downs. No views ridge walking.
0. July 15 HM Shelter to Black Brook Campsite ;4.1 Long hard dayclimbing Moody Mtn with no vets due to fog.
0. July 16 of July 16 Black Brook Shelter to Bemis Mtn Shelter to 8.8 miles; forded Black Brook in Crocs before hiking up a granite bald plate with confusing circling of the Mtn. AT added mileage because of storm damage of fallen trees. Wrecked trying to kill a horse fly and sprained my wrist! Hiked up Old Blue Mtn which was a steep and rocky climb.
0. July 17 Bemis Shelter to Sabath Day Pond Shelter 8.2 miles of ascending to Route 17 and on to Shelter. MIA wrecked trying to kill a horse fly and sprained my wrist! Humid weather slowed us down! Shelter and Pond were beautiful. Heard loons and owls at night.
0. July 18 SDP to Rangeley Route 4 9.8 miles. A long and muddy descent where I fell into a bog due to slippery timbers. Luckily inside of pack and tent were waterproof. Trail Magic Cokes at parking lot including a free ride to Farmhouse Rangeley Hostel.
0. July 19 Rangeley Hostel (The Farmhouse $30) then took to Gorham $100 shuttle Stage Coach)cost 3 hour ride the next day with Bernie at 10 am arriving at Libby House at 1:45.
0. July 20 at Libby House. Could not go past Rangeley because passing it required 5 more days without roads or no way to get back to Gorham.July 21 Libby House Zero Day
0. Concord Bus $36 to Logan Airport
Jet Blue Flight 382
Confirmation AOITSV
Departing 9:12 pm
Arriving 10:53pm
Lessons learned:


Lessons learned:
Can't keep up with young thru hikers; MIA needs to use electrolytes; need more carbohydrates and salt; 2 Mile should not stash MIA's puffy stuff sack; MIA should not of sucked off if 2 Miles stove. MIA needs Velcro for gators; 1 Ramen is not enough for dinner; Knorr soup requires small coffee bags; take instant rice to supplement Knorrs; Grits do work to supplement dinner; only need to take 1 charger. Bring a full Bottle of insecticide. Bring large size anti-biotic waterproof bandages. Buy more slim jims and unwrap to a zipper bag. Research better electrolyte powders instead of Propel.MIA should change foodbag. MIA needs to bring a lighter for Jet Boil. MIA needs to upgrade I Phone. Do not miss dinner because it creates problems the next day. Buy more salty foods. Need to eat more for breakfast especially carbohydrates.