Jim's Fall Hike - Part 3

Here is the journal of Jim's next three days:

Sun., Sept., 17 - Jane:   We got on the road again today at 7:50 and headed to Randolph, ME, where the last hike temporarily terminated exactly a week ago.  In that week we drove to NJ so Jim could attend a Board meeting and - what else? - do some hiking. Over two days he managed to walk a total of 22 miles to cover some territory he missed last year due to bad weather and uncooperative feet. Now those gaps are filled and he has a continuous hike from Key West to Maine.

After more than a 2.5 hour drive we arrived at the start point.  As Jim was gathering his gear to start walking, he realized that he didn't have his cell phone!   Well that could certainly be an issue for the next five days.  We made fairly precise plans of where to meet for lunch and I said a quick prayer - a hiker without a phone is not my idea of ideal conditions.

Jim:  I left Jane and began to hike in a really sour mood. How could I forget my phone at home? I had never done such a stupid thing - well, other stupid things, but not leave at home the phone that I need to speak with Jane several times a day. With a rested body that had last hiked three days previously, I set off at a blistering pace, my frustration helping to power me forward. And since I was leaving the river-side town of Randolph, it was a moderately uphill climb for the first hour or so. Weather conditions were favorable, with cool temps in the low 60s and clouds and fog to shield me from the sun. After two hours I was leaving a slow country road for a busy state highway with lots of fast-moving traffic. As previously arranged, we met for lunch at the only restaurant in the area, one quaintly named Aunt Gin's. Though it would have been perfectly appropriate to order a gin & tonic libation, I instead requested a cold beer to slake the thirst I had created.

After a 45 minute break and a decent meal, I was back on the shoulder of the highway. By now the clouds and fog had dissipated and the temperature rose into the 70s. With high humidity, these are pretty uncomfortable walking conditions. After several more miles, I was able to leave the highway and walk along a partially shaded road. Several times I passed under high electrical power lines that mostly ran northeasterly as did my route today and will for the next several days. Of course while they ran in a straight line, I had to zigzag first easterly, then northerly, then easterly again as the roads permitted. So naturally I kept meeting up with the power lines multiple times.

I saw little of interest today - in fact this is pretty boring territory. I plodded on most of the afternoon, hoping to chew up as many miles as possible on this first day when my legs were still feeling good. But the heat sapped my energy and by mid-afternoon I was happy to see Jane arrive to take her soggy hiker back to our nearby bed and breakfast. We are the only guests here tonight, so we got one of the two ground-floor rooms. With no other dining alternatives in the vicinity we drove 20 minutes back to Aunt Gin's for a great dinner, where our server was the only non-kitchen staff visible and he is the owner!

Miles Today - 17     Total Cumulative Miles - 94.5

Mon., Sept. 18 -  It's always great to start off a hike day with a scrumptious breakfast, and our hosts came through for us. And the weather today is far better than it was yesterday, although others might not appreciate a light mist as much as I do. After a quick trip back to yesterday's pickup spot, I began today's journey clad in just a light short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts. But with the mist continuing and a bit of a breeze, I soon donned a light jacket. After two miles, my road switched from pavement to gravel, which I welcomed as the dirt roads are a lot softer on my knees and feet. The gravel roads took me through many miles of woods and up and down a series of rolling hills. Alas, no wildlife was sighted save for three ducks as I walked a bridge over water. As they flew off, they squawked their disapproval for my disturbing them.

As was the case yesterday, by late morning I had to hike a busy state highway and share the road with lots of noisy and foul-smelling trucks. But at least I had a very wide paved road shoulder and much of the time I was walking in the grass next to that. After three hours I had hiked 10 miles and was ready to ingest a few calories. Jane and I arrived at the local cafe (again the only lunch place in the area) at the same time and marveled at how that happened. Much to our surprise, we are coping with being unable to talk to each other between meet-ups. And 35 minutes later this refreshed hiker was back on the road. While I was hiking 8 more miles this afternoon, she spent the time traveling to and from Augusta, a round trip of 60 miles, to pick up some supplies. Tooting as she passed me, she parked a mile up ahead so we could rendezvous at the agreed upon time. With comfortable temperatures and overcast skies, I could enjoy today's walk far more than yesterday's and finished a moderately long distance by mid-afternoon feeling fine.

Looking ahead, we note the forecast for the next two days includes lots of rain. I will hope for the best, and pray for the ability to deal with whatever comes.

Miles Today - 18      Total Cumulative Miles -112.5

 

Tues., Sept., 19 - We are sad to have to leave the Blueberry Fields B&B this morning, but had another great breakfast before packing our bags and loading the car. Before leaving we purchased some maple syrup and blueberry jam, both made "on the premises" here. It took us half an hour to drive back to the spot of  yesterday's final step on the big highway. This morning I have to walk only a bit more than a mile before I can leave this noisy roadway for good.

The weather today is ominous, and the forecast calls for showers mid-day. After we part I resume hiking east-bound and Jane soon passes by, heading to the city of Belfast, where we will meet for lunch. Within a few minutes I notice a coin on the road, then another, and now many others - a veritable treasure trove! Altogether nine nickels, dimes and quarters totaling over a dollar in value. Now it's not the monetary value that excites me, but the symbolism that this is going to be my lucky day.

After this, I am really pumped, and maintain a brisk hiking pace for the balance of the morning. I pass through a variety of rural  landscapes, some residential, and much of it agricultural - fields recently harvested, and cows grazing, and an occasional rooster greeting me as I pass by. And, of course, countless dogs (mostly unseen) barking at me as I approach and leave their territory.

By 11:30 I am approaching downtown Belfast, and a few minutes later see Jane waiting for her hiker on a street corner. I had finished a little more than 11 miles in 3:15 and was feeling fine. We found a fine restaurant with views of Belfast Bay and chose to eat on the patio, alone as it turned out as all the many other patrons chose tables inside on this cloudy day. I began this afternoon's hike by walking about 3/4 mile along the bay on the paved Harbor Walk, which brought me to a large pedestrian bridge over the Bay, within view of the larger Route 1 span just a short distance north of there. The Harbor Walk went right through an active shipyard, which appeared to be the locus of much shipbuilding and repairing activity.

Belfast is near the northern end of Belfast Bay, which together with the adjacent Penobscot Bay provides many miles of saltwater shoreline in this part of the state. If you are a lover of seafood (and we are) this is a great area to be. We have been enjoying the locally caught bounty of the sea in recent days, with haddock chowder (pronounced "chow-dah" hereabouts) and crabcakes (today's lunch) being two of our favorites.

Within minutes of leaving Jane, I was on Route 1 and would be for the next two hours. In fact, I will be on this road for the next two days as well, as there really aren't decent alternatives if you want to travel east from this part of Maine. Naturally, traffic is pretty heavy and includes lots of trucks, so my respite from truck traffic today was a brief one. The road provided occasional but distant views of the Bay. The rain held off all afternoon, so I stayed dry. It was indeed my lucky day. I managed to cover another 8 miles this afternoon, and was really getting tired when Jane arrived at 3:00.

Miles Today - 19     Total Cumulative Miles - 131.5

Pictures:

Day 6 - Hike Start in Randolph, ME

Day 7 - Hike Start in Somerville, ME (same shirt, but he did wash it out yesterday afternoon)

Day 7 - Beautiful Living Room at Blueberry Fields B&B, Washington, ME

Day 7 - Our Journal Writer at the B&B

Day 7 - Better View of Breakfast Area at B&B

Day 8 - Too Busy for a Picture at Hike Start in Searsmont, ME

Day 8 - Lunch at Dockside Restaurant in Belfast. ME

 

 

Jim's Fall Hike - Part 2

Here is the journal of Jim's next two days:

Sat., Sept. 9 -   After a delightful blueberry pancake breakfast at our lovely inn, I walked out of our B&B and crossed the river into downtown Lewiston. With a population of 36,000 Lewiston is the second largest city in the state. But this being a Saturday, the streets were virtually deserted at 8:30. Within a mile I was walking past one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Wikipedia has a great picture of this magnificent structure and a fascinating write-up of its history. It was built to serve the religious needs of the Catholic French Canadian immigrants that came to work in the Auburn and Lewiston mills in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It is the second largest church in New England and on the National Register of Historic Places. Interestingly, it still offers some services in French, in part to serve the needs of French-speaking immigrants from Central Africa. We considered attending mass here this afternoon, but it would have been in French, so we passed.

 

Today’s hike was almost entirely on the same road, a major east-west state highway. For the first three or four miles in Lewiston it was a very commercial four-lane thoroughfare,  providing this pedestrian with plenty of sidewalks and busy intersections with traffic lights.  Then the road narrowed down to two lanes and the area was a mix of commercial and residential neighborhoods. I passed three Subways this morning (the first one downtown was closed all day) and purchased a sandwich for lunch at one of them.

 

Once again today I enjoyed great weather for hiking, with temperatures rising gradually from the low 50s early morning to low 70s in the afternoon. As the day progressed, the scenery improved, becoming more rural in character. I passed beautiful Sabattus Pond in the town of the same name. It was here that I came upon a mile-long stretch of active road construction. Several of the neon-vested laborers greeted me as I passed and noted what a great day it was for a walk. At 12:30 I found a decent spot for lunch, a shaded knoll just off the road where I could sit, air out my feet, and enjoy my tuna fish salad sandwich.

 

I observed quite a large number of road-side apple trees loaded with fruit. I tried several but found them too thick-skinned and tart for my taste. As I observed earlier this week, the open areas just off the road were full of blooming wildflowers. White, yellow, and pink were the most common colors. I could identify only a few of them: buttercup, Queen Anne’s lace, thistle, and various types of asters. I need to remember to bring along my Audubon Guide to Wildflowers so I can identify the names of more of them.

 

The vistas opened up this afternoon, providing views of fields and distant hills. In contrast to mountainous northern Maine, this is a very flat section of the state with elevations varying by no more than 150 feet all day. After 16 miles I finally left the highway and walked a very quiet country road for another mile. At 2:00 pm, five and a half hours after I started out this morning, my ever-reliable driver, “Uber Jane”, arrived. It was a 35 minute drive back to our B&B. After I cleaned up and rested, we drove to a nearby church for Saturday afternoon mass, followed by dinner at a brew pub just down the street from where we are staying.

 Miles Today - 17     Total Cumulative Miles - 67.5

Sun., Sept. 10 -  Today's fabulous breakfast was caramelized apple french toast!
Returning to yesterday’s terminal point, I set off for a relatively short day of hiking, the last one this week before we return home. In contrast to yesterday, I was on rural roads this morning, with little traffic passing me. It was so quiet I could hear the acorns dropping off the oak trees. The scenery included several ponds and wetlands. A large dog took issue with my passing his property and came toward me, but the owner retrieved him before he got very close. Several roosters greeted me with their distinctive call. Lots of homes here are available for purchase, attesting to a slow real estate market in Maine. I passed several that had apparently been abandoned years ago, judging from the vegetation growing up around them. Near the end of the morning I walked on an overpass over the Maine Turnpike and a half hour later came into the town of Gardiner on the west side of the Kennebec River. After a few minutes I was walking the bridge over that river and meeting Jane in the much smaller town of Randolph. Here we are just 7 miles south of the state capital of Augusta and 50 miles north of Portland. More significantly, we are 120 miles from home. A week from today we will return to Randolph to begin another five-day hike.

Miles Today - 10 Total Cumulative Miles -77.5

Jane's Voice:  My reward today was a stop on the way home for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants - Bay Haven in Cornish Maine!   I indulged in twin lobsters and Jim had a huge plate of fried clams!   This was MY BEST day of this hike!

 

Pictures:

Day 4 - Hike Start in Auburn

Day 4 - Our Great B&B - Penley House, Auburn, ME

Day 5 - Hike Start in Monmouth

Day 5 - Hike End in Randolph (look carefully at the "D" in "Do It" - very creative use of hammer)

Jim's Fall Hike - Part 1

Here is the journal of Jim's first three days:

Wed., Sept. 6 -    We began day one of this hike on a very wet note, driving 80 minutes through mostly heavy rain. By 9:30 we had arrived at the Maine Tourism building where I had finished the June hike. This is just over the NH state line, so over the next several weeks I will be traveling across the state, from its western border with NH to its far eastern border with Canada. Clad in a bright orange raincoat, waterproof pants and hiker boots, I kissed Jane goodbye and set off into the storm. In less than a mile I was trekking through downtown Fryeburg, which will host a huge fair over Columbus Day weekend that will draw many thousands of people to this small town. And I do mean small, for within a few minutes I was through town and heading east toward today's destination, the town of Bridgton. I am not sure why that name doesn't have an "e" in it, but it doesn't.

The rain varied greatly in intensity all morning, from heavy downpours to light sprinkles. When the  precipitation was heaviest I would shield myself from most of it with an umbrella, though I failed to keep dry all but my head. Fortunately there was no wind and just a slight breeze, so the umbrella worked quite well. And with waterproof jacket, pants and boots, I didn't feel wet at all. And the temperature was near perfect for a rainy day - about 60 degrees.

Sometime around 11:30 we spoke by phone and agreed to meet for  lunch. She  arrived to get me exactly at noon and I drove to a restaurant in Bridgton, where we enjoyed a leisurely big lunch and my body got to rest for over an hour.  I figured I had covered 8 miles this morning in 2.5 hours, and had a similar distance to walk in the afternoon. All day I would be on the same road, state route 302 between the two largest towns in this part of southwestern Maine, Fryeburg and Bridgton. So naturally there was quite a bit of traffic going by me, but for the most part I was fortunate to have a wide paved road shoulder to walk on. Occasionally a big rig would zoom past and spray me with a shower of road water, but except for that it was a pretty pleasant walk considering the weather. The rain was coming down really heavy as we departed the restaurant so I nixed thoughts of changing into sandals and a lighter jacket for the afternoon. Bad decision,  as the rain lessened as we drove back to the morning's terminal point and stopped entirely soon after that. So the umbrella was not needed at all this afternoon and I took off the rain jacket and tied it around my waist after the first several miles.

Tonight's motel was right on my route, and I got there at 3:30 with enough energy left to want to do a few more miles. So after changing boots for sandals and tying a lighter jacket around my waist, I was back on the road, walking into and then through Bridgton.  Forty minutes later Jane came to pick me up and we returned to our lakeside motel. Except for the morning weather, this was a fine Day One, with feet and legs a bit sore but not bad.

Miles Today - 17.5..... Total Cumulative Miles - 17.5

Thurs., Sept. 7 -   After a filling breakfast at the local diner, and a stop to buy a Subway sandwich for lunch, we returned to yesterday's endpoint. How good it was to see the sun break through the cloud-cover soon after I began the day's hike! After a few miles I was walking through the lakeside resort community of Harrison. I enjoyed fine views of the lake, as the road paralleled its shores for several miles. Trees on the hills in the distance were beginning to change color, which I expect to see a lot of in the next several weeks.

By mid-morning I was dragging, my legs and feet sore and I had no energy. What was wrong? I wondered. Giving it a lot of thought, I concluded that this was likely a delayed reaction to hiking many miles yesterday in relatively heavy and waterlogged hiking boots. And maybe my well-worn sandals today needed to be exchanged for newer ones that could give me better cushioning. So I decided to flag down Jane as she would be passing me sometime late this morning and make the sandal exchange then. Sure enough, Jane beeped as she passed me a few minutes before noon.......but she didn't stop and soon disappeared around the next bend in the road! Well perhaps she pulled off a little further on, but after about a half mile without seeing her, I knew she was gone. And then just as I thought that, I see her waving at me from a roadside rest area with picnic tables beside a rushing stream. Ah, my lucky day! She had interpreted my outstretched hand as a wave hello, not as a STOP! sign. But she was perceptive enough to recognize a good place for spending a little time together while I ate lunch. Smart woman.

After another half-hour, I left the busy state highway for a five-mile hilly rural road that would bring me into the town of Oxford. By the time she picked me up and we got to our hotel, I  was really beat. Feet and legs ached and even several ibuprofen failed to relieve the pain. We ate dinner at the casino restaurant conveniently located right across the street, and after dinner Jane spent a little time feeding the slot machines (without luck). Returning to our room, I fell asleep early hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Miles Today - 17     Total Cumulative Miles - 34.5

Fri., Sept. 8 -  After a breakfast at the hotel that wasn't nearly as satisfying as yesterday's diner meal, we drove back to downtown Oxford. There I began today's walk, feeling recovered from yesterday's ordeal. It was another chilly morning, with temps in the low 50s and low humidity - great hiking weather. A half hour later I walked into a Dunkin Donuts to buy my luncheon sandwich and left there 20 minutes later with sandwich in backpack, disgusted that it had taken that long to get a sandwich during prime-time at a coffee store. Lesson learned - DD is NOT a fast food joint.

Happy to have resumed my roadwalking, I called Jane to ask her to stop when she passed me today (unlike yesterday!) so she could give me the day's map and directions that I had mistakenly left behind in the hotel room. By mid-morning I was pacing through the town of Mechanic Falls when I heard the familiar beep of her car. After several minutes of conversation, she took off while I took in the Civil War memorial statue and plaques in the local park. A huge statue of the Maine Regiment soldier contained the names of 120 local men that did not return from  the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, the Wilderness and Winchester. Listed nearby were the names of the 423 soldiers that survived the 1861-65 conflict. So the casualty rate was over 20%.

I was fortunate today to have a sandy or grassy road shoulder walk on. This softer surface is far more kind to my feet and legs than pavement. But there are some drawbacks:  I have to watch each step to avoid uneven surfaces that could cause a twisted ankle, and I have to avoid the plentiful garbage that littered my pathway at times. I noted that the gravel here is full of thin shards of mica, that in today's sunlight shone like diamonds.

Today's destination is the city of Auburn, an old mill town located on the shores of the Kennebec River and directly across the river from Lewiston. Here we will be spending two nights at a bed and breakfast we stayed at back in June. By 12:45 I finally came to a suitable spot to enjoy my sandwich and rest for a few minutes. It was a grassy spot under some pine trees just off the road, a few feet distant from a sign welcoming me to the City of Auburn. After letting Jane know I would be arriving in about another hour, I was back on the road and glad to have just 3 or 4 miles left to cover. And right on time, I arrived at the B&B a few minutes after 2:00, and there on the porch was Jane waiting for my arrival.

Miles Today - 16 Total Cumulative Miles -50.5

 

Pictures:

Day 1 - Jim Ready to Go in Fryeburg

Day 1 - Off He Goes in the Rain

Day 2 - Interesting Mushrooms at the Rest Area

Day 2 - Perfect Lunch Stop

Day 2 - Doctoring Feet at the Rest Area

Jim's Fall Hike - Fryeburg to Lubec, Maine - Prologue

Jane and I are on the eve of resuming the East coast hike. Early tomorrow morning we will drive back to Fryeburg Maine, just over the NH state line, where I finished a four-state, 230-miles hike in June. This will be the final leg of a four-year walk up the East Coast from Key West FL. It should finish in early October in the town of Lubec on the Canadian border in eastern Maine. With over 2200 miles done in eight segments, I have completed 90% of this journey.

If the weather forecast is to be believed, I will start off tomorrow in a heavy downpour that will continue for most of the day. In deference to the weather, I will wear my waterproof hiking boots instead of the usual sandals. And instead of the usual hiking stick, I will be holding an umbrella unless the wind makes that impractical.

My 240-mile walk across Maine will take 16 days with two breaks, so there will be three segments of 5-6 days each. After the first five days, we will break for a week and drive to NJ so I can attend a Board meeting. I will also hike 23 miles to “fill” two gaps caused by blisters and bad weather during my walk through that state last fall. Then we will return to Randolph Maine to resume the hike, heading over the following five days from there to Ellsworth, just north of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. From Ellsworth we will drive home for a week of doctor appointments and meeting commitments and a Red Sox game in the last week of the regular season. Returning to Ellsworth on the first day of October, I will pick up the Downeast Sunrise Trail, an off-road bikeway that I will walk for 58 miles. A final two days of road walking in far-east Maine will bring me to the Canadian border in Lubec.

While our overnight plans remain fluid for the last two segments of the trip, we have identified a number of Bed and Breakfast options along or close to the route. The first of these will be a two-night stay at a B&B in Auburn, the only urban community this hike will take us through. We recently overnighted there, really enjoyed the accommodations and are looking forward to a return visit.

This hike will mostly be along rural roads and off-road byways. The changing colors of the trees and fields, and the cooling temperatures should make this a visual delight and a comfortable walk. 

As usual we plan to record our daily experiences and observations in a journal that will be emailed out to our readers every three or four days. We love reading your comments on what we have to say, so don’t be bashful about sharing them.