100 Mile Wilderness

[Frosty]

You can resupply at White House Landing a little more than half way through. But they are VERY expenisve

I disagree completely. They provide very good value for the specific services they provide.

Hmmm. Put me in the middle. I agree with both you guys. They are expensive but provide good value for the $$$. Especially if it has been raining for three days and your food bag is light.

[Jim Adams]

Now I feel like a complete idiot. I have hiked the Chairbacks section where we ended up crossing a stream and then getting picked up at a road very near by. I didn't realize that was part of the 100 mile wilderness.

Check to see how much of it you have done. If you can, definitely check out Gulf Hagas. It is worth the side trip.
geek

[moxie]

The 100 mile wilderness is marked clearly by signe, one at Monson and the other where the trail comes out on the Gokden Road near Abol bridge. There are alot of up's and downs, rocks and roots until you get to Whitecap, then it flattens out and is easier. I would plan on 10 days but it can be done in as little as 4 by a strong hiker, It's just it is so damn beautiful and there is so much to see. For me it was the end of a 6 month thru hike I just didn't want to end so I was extra slow. I have hiked sections of it for years and I take my time every time I gio there. It is the crown jewell of the entire AT

[hopefulhiker]

Except for the big floods going through the 100 mile wilderness was not to bad. I really appreciated the burger at the White House Landing.. There are logging roads all through there.. You can here the buzz saws in the background... Not really as much of a wilderness as it probably once was...

[Askus3]

The Hundred Mile Wilderness could be a wilderness depending when you go. June it is a southbound highway for thru-hikers getting started from Katahdin and September it is a northbound highway. But if you go in July or early August, it is much quieter. Just some section hikers and extremely fast or early northbounders get up there and go thru then. So you are more likely to have the shelters, lakes and trail to yourself. Bugs are starting to diminish in early August and with warm weather the lakes and swimming holes are most inviting then. There are a few small scrambles like Chairback southbound, but mostly pleasant woodland hiking is what you'll experience in the 100 Mile Wilderness.

[the_iceman]

I last time I poked around Gulf Hagas day hiking was waaay back in 1973. (I have section hiked there since.) But back in '73 you could still find trees bearing the "Kings Mark" marking them as exclusive property of the King and his Navy for masts I believe.

Take the canoe don't wade since that is the official route. You get to cross Big Wilson (wide and fairly shallow.) and Little Wilson (narrow, deep, and FAST). I crossed both alone and when I saw Big Wilson I damn dear wet my pants but it was easy. I was Sobo so then I got to Little Wilson and we had had a lot of rain. I thought "heck, this should be easy." No way, the little guy is was the challenge for me. The water was up to my chest and wicked fast and the rocks on the bottom were round and the size of baseballs if I remember right. That was a number of years ago but I remember thinking I was in deep S*%T about 1/2 across and it is only 10 feet wide at the most.

[Lone Wolf]

there ain't no canoe ride in the "widerness".

[RAT]

Maybe not, but there is a group that will boat or fly you in one of those water planes to a big mansion for a wild party and bring ya back (just ask HopAlong or Strider the Trail Legend )


RAT

[handlebar]

I was one of the FDOM (Four Dirty Old Men) ages 69, 63, 61, and 49. We made it from Monson to Abol Bridge in 6 days, stopping midway at WhiteHouse Landing where we resupplied. Hiked thru in late September so the days were short. Trail was not nearly as difficult as the Whites and Western ME.

Considering how difficult it is to run a hiker store that far into Timbucktu, the prices were reasonable. Cheeseburger is great, and the cabins were dry and warm.

[minnesotasmith]

Memory says the 1st 43 miles were often a lot of work. The rest was pretty flat overall, but LOTS of mud. The bogs could really get deep, and they were extensive. Then, there were the fords; have your Crocs with you and easy to get to.

[Moxie00]

People say the 100 mile wilderness isn't as wild as it once was. Not exactly true unless you go back to 1820 when Maine started selling off land to the timber companies. Logging has been done there for hundreds of years and when they cut em down new ones grow up and in 20 or 25 years they cut them again. During the years the trees are growing the area is pretty much unspoiled wilderness. Weary can remember seeing logging trucks near Gulf Hagas with logs with white blazes on them. That is why we must protect the trail in Maine. When Walter Green first laid out the AT through the wilderness in the 1930's there were many sporting camps connected by logging roads and the origional trail that Walter laid out went from sporting camp to sporting camp. I knew Walter Green and he got his orders from Myron Avery to create a trail to Katahdin as quickly as possible as Benton McKay wanted the trail to end at Mount Washington and Avery wanted Katahdin. That is how the trail was laid out in the wildernesss. Today all of the sporting camps have closed and no trace of them even remains. Antlers campsite was a successful one. After WW II wilderness vacations fell out of favor as people started traveling by cars and airplanes so the wilderness became a semi wilderness again. When the camps closed the MATC relocated the trail off the logging roads and onto the ridges and mountaintops where it is today. When Earl Schafer did the first thru hike he slept in beds and ate meals almost every night in a different sporting camp as he went through the wilderness. When he hiked the same section in 1998 he complained they had made the trail too hard and the camps were all gone. A few Maine sporting camps did survive, Pierce pond and White House Landing are examples but when I was a boy there were hundreds of them. There is really little true wilderness left in North America but the 100 mile is as good as it is going to get.
To Maine, sort of wild, relly wild in the winter

[4eyedbuzzard]

People say the 100 mile wilderness isn't as wild as it once was. Not exactly true ...There is really little true wilderness left in North America but the 100 mile is as good as it is going to get.

Good point Moxie. Visiting friends here in NH are always amazed that a large portion of the area around the Whites was once clear cut for timber, charcoal, and farm/pasture land. The only remaining evidence is often the stone and rubble walls and occaisional chimney in the middle of "the wilderness". It's amazing(and good) how quickly nature can reclaim its hold once we get out of its way.

[emerald]

Thank you very much for the history lesson.

I envy you having met Walter Green! Sometime you must tell us more about him and the circumstances under which you met him.

[weary]

Good point Moxie. Visiting friends here in NH are always amazed that a large portion of the area around the Whites was once clear cut for timber, charcoal, and farm/pasture land. The only remaining evidence is often the stone and rubble walls and occaisional chimney in the middle of "the wilderness". It's amazing(and good) how quickly nature can reclaim its hold once we get out of its way.

Us environmentalists like to claim that "development is forever." But Maine is evidence that sometimes we are wrong.

Moxie is right. The 100-mile-wilderness was far more "civilized" when Earl Shaffer first walked the trail in 1948 -- and even more civilized when Myron Avery argued in the 30s that you could day hike the region. Just stop at a different sporting camp each night, he said.

But civilization is returning. AMC expects to open Chairback Mountain Camps soon, maybe this summer. Little Lyford remains open under new AMC ownership, but it is quite a bit off the trail unless you are doing the side trip around Gulf Hagas, which everyone should do if possible.

White House Landing is just a few hundred yards and a short boat trip off the trail. Monson at the beginning is blossoming with some nice restaurants, and Abol Bridge at the northern terminus has switched from being a bit antagonistic to hikers to welcoming them with open arms.

For those who are really into exploring civilization in the wilderness, there are other sporting camps at the north end of Nahmakanta Lake, and just north of White Cap, though few hikers visit these, mostly because the proprietors -- unlike White House Landing -- don't seek out hikers.

Weary

[Namaste]

Several of you mentioned Gulf Hagas. I will definitely explore this during my summer. There's so much to see up in Maine regarding the AT. I've spent the last 9 summers up there and still haven't seen a lot of the AT. But maybe I'd like to save it for my thru hike in 2010.

[weary]

Several of you mentioned Gulf Hagas. I will definitely explore this during my summer. There's so much to see up in Maine regarding the AT. I've spent the last 9 summers up there and still haven't seen a lot of the AT. But maybe I'd like to save it for my thru hike in 2010.

You are absolutely right. Maine is a fabulous place. Unfortunately, Maine is also a very fragile place. The woods of Maine along the trail used to be owned mostly by paper companies, who used them to supply raw materials for their mills.

Over the past few years all these lands adjacent to the Appalachian Trail corridor have been sold. A few to conservation organizations like the Nature Conservancy and the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, but mostly to land developers.

My advice is to enjoy Maine while you can because major changes are inevitable. The MAT land trust is presently working to put together a coalition to protect the High Peaks region south of the Bigelow Preserve.

Maine has by far the largest unbroken forest east of the MIssissippi. (10 million acres +/-) It's going to take a major effort to keep it that way.

Weary
www.matlt.org

[the_iceman]

there ain't no canoe ride in the "widerness".

Wolf -

I realize that, I was referring to a previous post above by Terrapin_too:

"For those who feel "less than whole" for not having forded the Kennebec, take heart. There are two or three fun river fordings, though most likely you'll not get more than shin or knee deep."

I guess I should have quoted him to make it clear.

[Jim Adams]

When I hiked in 1990, you crossed 1 small, little used logging road in the entire 100mile wilderness.
In 2002, I heard people, music and / or machines through the woods every day. I saw a father / son team every day that slackpacked it at the same pace that I was hiking.
Unfortunately it certainly wasn't the same exprience that I had in 1990.
Weary is very correct. Enjoy what you can, while you can.

geek

[weary]

When I hiked in 1990, you crossed 1 small, little used logging road in the entire 100mile wilderness.
In 2002, I heard people, music and / or machines through the woods every day. I saw a father / son team every day that slackpacked it at the same pace that I was hiking.
Unfortunately it certainly wasn't the same exprience that I had in 1990.
Weary is very correct. Enjoy what you can, while you can.
geek

Just for the record all most all the roads existed in 1990. They just were less noticeable before being improved for new and heavier trucks, and were less cluttered by passenger cars.

Nor is the situation hopeless. Most of the land adjacent to the trail is owned by speculators. All it takes is money.

I know making significant contributions is difficult. We always can think of other things to do with our money. I resisted for years.

But then I was shamed into donating a few hundred dollars -- and somehow I enjoyed a great feeling. So great that I've been doing it more and more ever since. There's no better addiction than helping to protect wild mountains. A far better feeling than can be acheieved from cigarets, by a few additional nights on the town, or in great restaurants, or even from drinking that Starbucks Coffee.

Weary
www.matlt.org

[Jim Adams]

I understand what you mean Weary it was just the fact of how different it was my second time thru.
I remember arriving to a newly built shelter (second one nobo from White Cap-can't recall the name off the top of my head) and it was beautiful. A gorgous setting and creek behind it and I had the whole shelter to myself for the night. Just me and the continuous Lynard Skynard music from through the woods! It really pissed me off--and I like LS.

geek