2000 milers, Almost

Greetings from Monson, ME.  We are near the end of this long road.  Only 114 miles to hike through the 100 mile wilderness, Baxter State Park, and the Big K.  The next time you hear from us, we will have completed our odyssey!   

The rain and inclement weather did not stop after we left the White Mountains, neither did the challenging terrain.  We expected the terrain to ease after Andover, ME but much to our chagrin we were still scrambling up rungs on the side of steep slabs and crawling down rock slides for the next 100 miles.  We learned once again not to underestimate these mountains even if they are under 5000 feet in elevation.  Finally the rain broke after 17 days straight days of spotty showers just in time to summit Saddleback Mountain.  Above treeline, we got some amazing views of the burly ME landscape and what was to come.  We have forded rivers, huff up steep mountains, battled the bugs, and trudged through mudpuddles all the way through ME.  The constant harrassment by deerflys, blackflies and mosquitos drives us nearly to insanity by the end of the day (Maribeth has deemed our tent "the zone of peace").  Yet we perservere through these challenges and the accomplishment of completing the trail will be even more bitterweet.  Many of our fellow Northbounders have gathered in Monson.  We will surely be summitting with some of these comrades. 

We will send some reflections on the trip as we finish next week,

Jared                             

2000mi