Andover, ME

Today we were able to slack pack 10 miles and had to ford 2 rivers. We were lucky to get a beautiful day; no rain! Good thing! The first river was just above my knees. The second river was at the end of our day! Dan went across first with his pack over his head holding one hiking pole with his other hand to keep himself from being carried away with the current. He dropped his pack on the other side and came back to get me! The river was up above his waist so guess where it was for me! He came to get me and the current was stronger than I realized. Dan held one of my arms to keep me from being swept away with the current and then basically 1/2 way through I wasn't touching bottom so was kicking my legs as Dan pulled me till I could again touch bottom! So I was all wet except my head! It was coooold water but luckily I was able to warm up quickly in the sun! I'm so glad it hadn't rain today or the river would've been even higher and faster current!

We've received more trail magic:
Bill, the ice cream man-met us on the trail and we followed him to his house (NH). We ate our lunch on his porch out of the sun. He gave us ice cream for dessert and got water from him. Also used his bathroom and he took our trash so we didn't have to carry it!
The cookie lady gives hikers water and cookies!
Other thru-hikers: Grey Ghost is a NoBo hiking with his grandson who just joined him. He bought us some ice cream and gave us brownies.
Allgood knew we were a little short on our supplies and he said he had too much so gave us some crackers, raisins and candy bars!
Dan was the recipient of a pair of Asolo boots! They were used but still in good condition. Dan's boots were starting to come apart and he was trying to decide what to do about it. On one of the fire towers that we went up there were these pair of boots! Just the right size and broken in just for him! He's been enjoying these boots! Hikers will leave things they don't want to use or carry any more for other hikers! It's amazing what you find sometimes! Dan lucked out at just the right time!


Dan by an AT symbol in Maine!

Anyone know what this is? They look good but figured I'd better not eat anything I don't know for sure what it is! And I haven't come across too many berries, yet. A small bit of ripe wide raspberries and some wild blueberries but not much to really get my fill, yet! Hoping we'll find more!

A couple pictures coming into Maine! A neat looking cliff with trees growing out the side! A sample of some of the big boulder climbs we've encountered!

Lilly pads with flowers-really pretty!

At top of Mt. Washington with presidential mountain range in background. A view looking back at Mt. Washington as the cog trains were going by.

Dan has called the trail a car wash at times after the rains. As we hike through some the narrow trails with overgrown bush and tree branches, we get thoroughly drenched!

Does anyone know the differences between a toad and a frog? And the differences between salamanders, newts, and geckos?

Next stop:
Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Stratton, ME 04982
Please hold for AT thru-hiker!
Est. date of arrival-July 31

Andover, ME

We're in a hostel which is really busy! It's been storming for last few days-lots of hikers trying to dry off and get warm from the pouring rains. We're working out a slack packing day for tomorrow to get through some more ME mountains, fording 2 rivers (one hiker said 1 of the rivers was us to his waist when he forded today! Yikes!) and getting through it all in the rains that are predicted for the next week! Ho-hum, gotta take the good with the not so good!
ME has rendered me slow and weary! Thought the whites, NH would do that. There are 20 (over 3000-4000 foot) mountains to climb in the first 115 miles of ME. The pouring rains haven't made it any better but on we go! With all the rains, it's looking a lot like the Vermud of VT! Guess we'll be fording several rivers in ME. We did ford our first river within our first couple weeks when we were in VA. Dan said that's been his favorite thing!

This is "Allgood". He packed his mandolin; told me that if he had to get rid of things for weight he'd get rid of his food before his mandolin! Other picture is of us "work-for-stay" hikers finishing our breakfast before our jobs at a hut.

Some scenes from the NH mountains! More to come in later entries-I took a lot!

We really enjoyed the White Mountains in NH! Lots of climbing mountains and we made use of the hut system throughout. The huts in the "whites" have a work-for-stay for thru-hikers which is pretty good deal for us thru-hikers. Advantages: we had a warm place to sleep inside and we got to eat all we wanted for dinner and breakfast! I was getting a little concerned as I was feeling worn down and tired. I called Jason, our son-in-law who is also a trainer to get some advice from him. He basically said that we've lost all our fat and now we're probably using muscle for energy instead of fat. (Dan has lost about 40 lbs and I have lost 18 lbs.) So he said that we need to gorge ourselves as often as we can. The huts helped us do that! The huts also have an AYCE to get rid of their leftovers that thru-hikers can also make use of (otherwise they have to pack it out-so works well both ways). We did that a couple times for breakfast and lunch. The best work-for-stay we did was giving a "talk" to the guests about being a thru-hiker. We did it with a section hiker and then talked Allgood into playing his mandolin. He's a NoBo thru-hiker (GA to ME). The guests and "croo" said that was the best "talk" from hikers they've heard. We sure enjoyed it and Allgood put on the magic touch by playing his mandolin! One guest said to me that she wouldn't have believed I was a thru-hiker; I looked too good for a thru-hiker! Guess I didn't look too grubby then! That was a wonderful compliment! And then 2 guests after hearing about our need for lots of calories that we can't carry, gave us food! We had a great lunch that day! The hardest we worked for a hut was cleaning the oven/stove!
Disadvantages: we eat after the paying guests (~$90/person), we sleep in the common area which can get noisy, we're awakened about 5-5:30 am when the "croo" starts breakfast, no privacy, and have to do our job in morning and so get a late start hiking. The first 2 huts we stayed we ate after the "croo" and the other 2 "croo" we ate before them. The 2nd "croo" said that we thru-hikers need the calories more than they do. It worked out great! But now we're back to cooking for ourselves again and being hungry after we eat since we really can't carry enough food to gorge ourselves!

More scenes from the White Mountains, NH.

(NY, I think)

In our full mosquito battle gear. Usually put it on as soon as we'd get to camp or a shelter! Worked pretty good! Just can't hike with it on because it was like a sauna-got too hot hiking with it on!

Evening sunlight through the trees as seen from a shelter where we stayed.

Our next stops:
Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Monson, ME 04464
Please hold for AT thru-hiker.
Est. date of arrival: August 5

Please continue to keep us in your prayers! We appreciate all your support and donations for our cause for Children's Hunger Fund! God Bless each of you!