Showing posts with label Oquossoc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oquossoc. Show all posts

ME 17 (Oquossoc) to ME 4 (Rangeley)

Day Thirty-One
Friday, June 28, 2019
ME 17 to ME 4
13.3 Miles

Steve from the Hiker Hut shuttled us to ME 17 to hike north to ME 4 into Rangeley ($50).  It’s another slackpack day.  It was pleasantly easy but very muddy.  There was lots of moose dung on the trail especially after  Little Swift River Pond Campsite.

We walked around a pond most of the day. And came out close to the Hiker Hut on ME 4.  The Hiker Hut is an interesting place, and evidently popular with some hikers.  We toured the grounds a little while, saw the outdoor shower down by the creek bank, had a soda, then Steve took us to Rangeley for $20. 

We ate dinner at Sarge’s, burger and salad.  Again had ice cream at Pine Tree Frosty and sat by the water behind it. 



























South Arm Road to Highway 17

Day Twenty-Nine
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
South Arm  Road to Highway 17
13.2 Miles

Well, the four of us weren’t sure we could do 13.2 miles, but we decided to give it a go since we would be slackpacking.  We started at a little after seven and finished at 6:15, but we did it.
We made it up old Blue with little effort, we thought we had it made.  However, the day turned into a very exhausting day mostly because of the distance. We have not done 13 miles for two years! 

The trail was just normal ups and downs over Bemis mountain, nothing unusual.  Rocks, roots and mud.  We climbed several rung ladders.  Wait-up slid down a small rock descent and bent his pole and scratched his arm.  I caught my arm on a small broken off branch of a tree on the side of the trail and pulled the skin back.  Daisy slipped down on a rock-face and skinned two fingers.  Sounds rough, huh?

We neglected to get water at the last shelter and suffered for it at the end of the day.  Daisy forgot her food bag containing hers and Blue Feather’s snacks, so they had only lunch items, no snacks.  We shared a few items with them but by the end of the day they were in poor spirits especially after she fell. 

Trail Magic! About a mile from the road crossing was a cooler with two cold ginger ales, water and a variety of sweet snacks.  Just what we needed to get us to the end.

The most grueling section was the last incline before hitting the road.  We were already exhausted and it was pretty steep.  I was never so happy to get to the top of that incline and go to the car.    
We had a late night since it was quite late when we finished the trail.  Luckily our shuttle driver from the hostel waited on us, we were quite a bit later than we expected to be. 

We ate lasagna at Mills Market for dinner and decided to zero tomorrow.