100 mile wildness SOBO

[Moosky]

Hello Moosky here. I recently received AWOL's 2013 SOBO guide. With much excitement, I started to look up the intervals between shelters in the 100 mile wildness. It seems that they are pretty evenly spread out, with about 11-15 miles between each one. I counted about 10 shelters. So here is my question:

If I go SOBO, and go about 11-13 miles a day, do I have to carry about 10 days of food, plus an extra day of food for summiting Katahdin? If the ration is 2 lb a day, this would be 22 lbs! Any resupply point within the 100 mile wildness? (I thought there is a hostel in the middle of a lake...) Is there any resupply point at the foot of Katahdin?

Thanks all!

[Schooley]

I think...think...there is a place called White House landing.

[BigHodag]

You've just discovered why most folks hike north. By the time thrus get to the 100 Mile Wilderness they are doing 20 mile days and just bound across it.

You can purchase expensive calories at Abol Bridge.

You second opportunity to purchase expensive calories is at Whitehouse Landing about 32 trail miles south of Abol Bridge and 68 miles north of Monson.

http://www.whitehouselanding.com/features.html

Reading the history of the 100 Mile Wilderness, it seems there were about 10 camps where AT hikers would have hot meals and sleep in beds. Early thrus hiked from camp to camp. Only three camps survive and only White House Landing is open to the public.

Might read some SOBO TrailJournals and read how they managed to cross the 100 Mile Wilderness.

[jimmyjam]

There is also this service: Resupply, shuttles, accomodations and trip planning available at:
Phil Pepin, Registered Maine Guide
100 Mile Wilderness Adventures and Outfitters
PO Box 47, 349 Pleasant Street
Monson, ME 04464
207-991-7030
[email protected]

[Slo-go'en]

There is limited resupply at Abol Bridge, which is basically where you start. Katahdin is an overnight or day hike, you don't carry all your gear and food up there to start.

There is a place called Whitehouse landing where you can spend the night and get meals. I don't know off hand if they accept mail drops or have any supplies for sale, but since thier only a day or two from Abol Bridge, it doesn't do you a whole lot of good going SOBO. Plus thier a ways off the trail, across a lake and will cost you pleanty. You sound a horn and they come get you by boat.

So, basically yes, you need to carry 10 days worth of food. Actually 9 1/2, since the last day you will be walking into Monson. Since your just starting out, you can skimp a little on food. Most people aren't real hungry the first week or so until they start burning off the winter fat. Get a bunch of freeze dried meals and oatmeal and you should be able to get that 10 days of food down to about 10 pounds.

[gizzy bear]

Hello Moosky here. I recently received AWOL's 2013 SOBO guide. With much excitement, I started to look up the intervals between shelters in the 100 mile wildness. It seems that they are pretty evenly spread out, with about 11-15 miles between each one. I counted about 10 shelters. So here is my question:

If I go SOBO, and go about 11-13 miles a day, do I have to carry about 10 days of food, plus an extra day of food for summiting Katahdin? If the ration is 2 lb a day, this would be 22 lbs! Any resupply point within the 100 mile wildness? (I thought there is a hostel in the middle of a lake...) Is there any resupply point at the foot of Katahdin?

Thanks all!

hi moosky , i am gizzy and i am a girl ... just clarifying that (inside joke) the replies you get here....will vary dramatically...my boyfriend & i are doing the 100 MW NOBO in aug/sept... we have decided to plan on 9-10 days to include the summit of katahdin....i have seen people say as few as 7 days and even 12 days...we are going to do it without resupply....unless i smell a burger cooking at white house... i may cave, who knows... we are planning on a minimal of 12 mile days...the food is still a work in progress...we are looking into dehydrating some of our own stuff and trying to eat as well as possible without making my boyfriend carry the fridge on his back good luck to you!! btw...when are you planning to do this hike? if you go before the end of august, i'd like to know how it went for you!!

[hikerboy57]

abol bridge is more of a convenience stor than a resupply point, vey limited options. last year i did stay at white house landing, highly recomeend the one pound cheesburger. they have limited resupply, but you can re up there with knorrs sides spam singles, summer sausage,they had gas canisters. there are also services like jimmyjam noted above, phil pepin(quadzilla) who you can hire to drop food caches at jo mary road, or kathadin iron works road., so its actually possible to resupply every few days if you want to spend the money.
the 100 mile wilderness and the 10 day supply thing makes it sound like you're in some remote corner of the world, but i was surprised at how crowded the entire stretch was when i hiked it sobo last august. i dont think i ever went more than an hour without running into someone.

[Moosky]

Thanks for all the replies! You are all awesome!

[Moosky]

There is limited resupply at Abol Bridge, which is basically where you start. Katahdin is an overnight or day hike, you don't carry all your gear and food up there to start.

There is a place called Whitehouse landing where you can spend the night and get meals. I don't know off hand if they accept mail drops or have any supplies for sale, but since thier only a day or two from Abol Bridge, it doesn't do you a whole lot of good going SOBO. Plus thier a ways off the trail, across a lake and will cost you pleanty. You sound a horn and they come get you by boat.

So, basically yes, you need to carry 10 days worth of food. Actually 9 1/2, since the last day you will be walking into Monson. Since your just starting out, you can skimp a little on food. Most people aren't real hungry the first week or so until they start burning off the winter fat. Get a bunch of freeze dried meals and oatmeal and you should be able to get that 10 days of food down to about 10 pounds.

Thanks Slo-go'en. I saw the 2 lb/day stat from another post on WB. Guess that is for seasoned hiker who have big appetite?

[Moosky]

hi moosky , i am gizzy and i am a girl ... just clarifying that (inside joke) the replies you get here....will vary dramatically...my boyfriend & i are doing the 100 MW NOBO in aug/sept... we have decided to plan on 9-10 days to include the summit of katahdin....i have seen people say as few as 7 days and even 12 days...we are going to do it without resupply....unless i smell a burger cooking at white house... i may cave, who knows... we are planning on a minimal of 12 mile days...the food is still a work in progress...we are looking into dehydrating some of our own stuff and trying to eat as well as possible without making my boyfriend carry the fridge on his back good luck to you!! btw...when are you planning to do this hike? if you go before the end of august, i'd like to know how it went for you!!

Hi gizzy, thanks for the reply. Pending on a couple moving parts in my life, I'm hoping to start my SOBO thru in early to mid-July. I'd be glad to keep you posted!

Carrying the fridge eh? Who's going to carry the solar panels?

[BirdBrain]

This is probably a redundant point, but you will not be carrying much food up Katahdin. A day pack and water is fine for that. It is just over 5 miles up and you have to backtrack afterwards.

[VTATHiker]

Hey Moosky, I went sobo this past year and the most trouble I ever had with food was in the 100 Mile Wilderness. I had to ration aggressively the last few days and ran out the night before with 10 miles left the next morning. I went into the 100 Miles weighing about 168 and left it weighing about 154 (7.5 days). The biggest mistake I made was not weighing my food bag at the start - I'm sure it was around 14 pounds, when it needed to be around 18 - to at least be comfortable. If you're interested to read about I can send ya the trailjournals link.

If I could do it again I'd stop at White House Landing. Maybe even do a food drop if I had the money. Either way, one of the biggest lessons I learned on the whole trail was to take your food preparation seriously in the 100 Mile Wilderness...

Happy hiking!

[TJ aka Teej]

Moosky, look in your guide for Monson. You have multiple options for resupply in the 100 Mile.
10 days? How is that figured? Is that hitting Hurd Brook at 10 in the morning or 8 at night? Counting a night at WHL? Hitching into Monson at 7 AM or 7 PM?
2 lbs a day? How is that figured? 2 pounds of what?
Pack in subs, brownies, and fruit from the Abol Bridge Store after eating your fill in their new restaurant. Tank up!
Practice your food and kitchen starting today. Make up a six day food bag, and snack and eat of that that exclusively. Cook with your stove, pot, and fuel. See for yourself how much you eat/waste and need/want.
If you do end up getting a food drop, be smart about what you want in it.
And remember: always eat the heavy stuff first!

[SouthMark]

I did the 100 mw SOBO two years ago. My starting pack weight at Baxter was 22 lbs. I only carried 10 breakfasts to start along with 4 days of snacks and dinners. I did a small resupply at Abol Bridge plus ate my fill of hot dogs and snacks while I was there. I overnighted at White House Landing and resupplied again there. I consumed the 1 lb cheeseburger for lunch, homemade pizza for dinner, and pancakes, eggs and sausages for breakfast. I did not think that WHL was all that expensive and adequate to get me to Monson. The experience was very worthwhile.

[BirdBrain]

There are other food options in the 100 mile wilderness that the locals are glad are not fully explored. Suffice it to say some eat a lot of things that are not carried in a pack.

[Slo-go'en]

One thing to keep in mind while planning is that you will be pretty much locked into staying at the shelters sites, which will determine your daily mileage. Finding spots to camp between shelters will be difficult at best. Anyway, many of shelters are located in awsome spots.

There are a lot of moose wandering around up there, so be wearry of where you set up a tent if not at a designated area. What looks to be a nice spot could well be on a herd path.

[Slo-go'en]

There are other food options in the 100 mile wilderness that the locals are glad are not fully explored. Suffice it to say some eat a lot of things that are not carried in a pack.

I don't think many hikers will be potching. Although once I did harvest some mussles from Lower Jo-Mary to add to dinner. Plus some indian cucumbers.

[BirdBrain]

I don't think many hikers will be potching. Although once I did harvest some mussles from Lower Jo-Mary to add to dinner. Plus some indian cucumbers.

Not suggesting anything illegal. There are very good options though. Enough on that.

[kidchill]

Personally, I thought the abol camp store had quite a bit...But, I climbed Katahdin and then did a 21mile the next day, bypassing the camp store (except for some beer and burgers!). I stayed at Whitehouse and ate good food there for the day. I second checking out Phil Pepin as previously mentioned. He can hook you up with a re-supply (basically you make the package and he delivers it), roughly half-way through. I think it was either 55 or 65 miles in. That's your best bet if you don't want to carry all of that food. The first half of the 100miles is relatively flat, but you start doing some climbing after that.

[Moosky]

Hey Moosky, I went sobo this past year and the most trouble I ever had with food was in the 100 Mile Wilderness. I had to ration aggressively the last few days and ran out the night before with 10 miles left the next morning. I went into the 100 Miles weighing about 168 and left it weighing about 154 (7.5 days). The biggest mistake I made was not weighing my food bag at the start - I'm sure it was around 14 pounds, when it needed to be around 18 - to at least be comfortable. If you're interested to read about I can send ya the trailjournals link.

If I could do it again I'd stop at White House Landing. Maybe even do a food drop if I had the money. Either way, one of the biggest lessons I learned on the whole trail was to take your food preparation seriously in the 100 Mile Wilderness...

Happy hiking!

Thanks VTATHiker! I'd love to see your trail journal. I guess my estimate of 22 lb is not far off from what's sufficient if I add a day or two to your 7.5 days.