Days 20 to 22, July 12 to 14: Is Maine the hardest state to hike the AT?

My friend Marmot, who is one of the first hikers to receive Triple Crown recognition, told me that Maine is the hardest state on the AT.  “Once you get out of Maine it will get a lot easier,” she said with confidence that was commensurate with her thousands of miles of hiking.  As of July 14 Maine is the only state I have experienced.  How can I agree or disagree with Marmot and others who have warned me about Maine?

See my current location and daily log of my progress on the trail.

I am making an educated guess that Marmot is right.  And the last three days is a great example of the difficult miles, the hazards and the rewards of the Maine AT.

On July 11 I left Stratton and hiked a little over 10 miles.  The trail immediately required a steep, almost 3,000 foot ascent to the Crocker Mountains, which were wonderful on the beautiful sunny, crisp day.  From the summits of the Crockers there were 2,300 feet of descent.  Rocks,  roots and boulders were all part of the experience along with the wonderful views.  But the day was not over and I began climbing, once again, 1600 feet toward Sugarloaf Mountain.  Bill, Tony and I did not know where we could camp given the huge boulders we encountered on the way up.  Northbound hikers stepped downwards with apparent ease while I looked for the best handhold on boulders and roots to slowly pull my 185 pounds plus gear up safely.  Water was scarce on the way up towards Sugarloaf.  Fortunately, I nice little stream provided me with the three liters of water I would need to camp with.  But where?  We had to choose between a half-mile 600 foot climb to the summit where we might find suitable space to camp, OR keep going southbound for a couple more miles and hope we could find tentsites before reaching the next Lean-To over two tough miles ahead.  It was getting late. We all agreed to hike to the Sugarloaf summit, which had wonderful, expansive sunset views and an equally nice sunrise.  At the end of the day my altimeter watch reported a total ascent of 5,285 feet, which surpassed the Day 1 climb to Mt. Katahdin!  And with a full backpack.  Wow! The hard work came with a big reward!

The topography the next day was kinder and gentler compared to the whopping 5,285 climb on the previous day.  However, the backpack felt heavier and the miles grew longer.  It was a carryover from the rigors of yesterday.  I was elated to join the two guys in our tiny tent city.  We were joined by another SOBO hiker which added to the comradery and spirit of our AT experience.  I fell asleep knowing another challenging day would begin with the sunrise for the hike up and across the two 4,000 foot-plus Saddleback Mountains.

The trail ahead deserved a very early start, and I woke before the sunrise.  The ascent to Saddleback Junior at 3,655 feet went quickly with the typical bouldery (I invented a new word, and the AT deserves it!) ups and downs along the way.  Above treeline, the strong, misty wind, which blew briskly across my face protected by a wool buff and hood, gave my legs the push needed to get off Junior and head for the higher two mountains ahead. 

Shortly I heard the clicking of trekking poles on the rocks, looked up and saw a hiker coming my way.  To my joyous surprise it was Marmot!  I knew Marmot had started hiking northbound five days ago, but I expected to see her in a day or two, or maybe in Rangely, the town I would arrive in later that day.  After hugs Marmot described her hike.  “I am going very slow, and sometimes get to the point where my legs are trembling!  Once I froze on a boulder until another hiker came by and helped me down. Maine is so very hard!” Because I consider Marmot hiking royalty because of her accomplishment of being among the first few woman to hike the three Triple Crown trails. This time, though, her work in California had prevented her from doing much hiking to prepare for the rigors of the AT in Maine.  Her experience highlighted the difficulties of this trail.  After talk about gear, my lovely wife Cindy, and her upcoming move to Canada, we hugged and parted. 

After a beautiful ascent to The Horn and Saddlebackback Mountain, both with expansive, above-treeline views, I started the long, mixed five-mile descent to the Maine Highway 4.  Along a shady, downhill and rock-strewn area I stepped carefully over the obstacles I was well accustomed to until my left shoe caught a small tree branch extending over path.  In that very brief moment I lost control of my foot while my downhill momentum force my body forward with no way to prevent a hard fall to the ground.  My left forearm landed at the same time my scab-covered knee scraped the dirt for at least 12 inches before the sliding stopped.  Tony, about 50 feet ahead of me, heard my screams.  “Greg, are you okay?”  I checked my fragile knee first, watched blood flowing from the re-wounded skin, bent the joint and was relieved.  “It’s just a bad scrape.  My forearm, too. I will need to get these cleaned up and bandaged.” 

Tony provided moral support and water which I used to wash off the dirt before applying bandaids and gauze pads.  I was lucky.  Two years ago a similar fall in Oregon damaged the meniscus in the right knee and fractured the left wrist.  Feeling very, very fortunate, I walked to the highway and the ride to Rangeley with no pain and no limp.

I don’t know how challenging the next state, New Hampshire will be.  But the coincidence of hearing Marmot’s stories within a few hours of the Maine AT kicking my ass in the worst way influenced the answer to the question, “is Maine the hardest state on the AT?”  Absolutely, YES!