Beginning in the Middle

Now may seem like an arbitrary time to start journaling my version of our End-to-End journey, being 22 days from our start date and who knows how many days into our training, but this weekend’s training hike was far too eventful not to include in the documentation of our experiences. I can’t wait for the Real Hike, and I missed the start of our training, so I’m opting to begin somewhere in the middle.

This past weekend we fit in our last three day training hike. We decided it would be a good opportunity to simulate one of the longer days we’ll encounter on the hike – the stretch over Camel’s Hump. First, we parked at the base of Camel’s Hump and hiked Southbound to Montclair Shelter. The “simulation” began Sunday morning when we hiked Northbound, back over Camel’s Hump, passing the car and going on to Buchanan Shelter. On the “real” hike (we’ve made a habit of referring to the through-hike as the Real Hike) we’ll be resupplying at the base of Camel’s Hump, so parking there this weekend allowed us to practice resupplying when we passed by. On Monday, we hiked back to the car.

So that was the plan. How did it go? We made it to the parking lot to get started around 12:30 PM on Saturday. A late start by many hikers’ standards, but I figure it was offset by our having three days to work with. We spent a good amount of time repacking before we left in the morning and we each had a couple of new pieces of gear we were trying out. Here’s a list of the gear and (my) assessments, which I hope will be useful for my future reference and beneficial to any interested readers looking for shopping tips. Questions are welcome.

New Injini Socks: we each tried two pairs out this weekend – Outdoor 2.0 Midweight Mini-Crew NuWool and Trail 2.0 Midweight Mini-Crew, and we had opposing feedback, though it’s entirely based on our preferences. I liked the Outdoor pair. They weren’t too thick or cumbersome, so my feet didn’t sweat. At the same time, they were so soft. Mike liked his Trail pair, which are supposed to breathe better. He had toe blisters after the weekend, but there were too many different factors involved to blame the socks (he had new insoles, for example). He still says they’re his favorite, which is certainly worth noting.

Polycryo (Tent Footprint) Ground Cloth – this replaced the REI footprint we had that weighed about a half a pound more. It feels a bit like you’re layering Saran Wrap under your tent, but it works and it’s super light. Mike voiced a concern that it might be loud and crinkly, but I don’t remember ever noticing it making any noise at all. My biggest concern wasn’t a product issue, per se. I was worried about its size. We used it on a wooden tenting platform, and I worried that it made the area around the tent a bit unsafe, being see through and slippery. As we were pitching the tent, I had a horrible nightmare image of one of us stepping on it, slipping, and getting hurt. I admit is a bit dramatic and my imagination may have been a bit out of control, and like I said, this isn’t really a product issue, just a thought. I’d declare the footprint a good choice.

Buff UV Headband – I finally got a Buff. These headbands seem to be one of those products with an obsessive, fanatic, loyal cult following. The day I picked it up at the store, I didn’t really understand the hype. Yes, it was pretty comfortable. It was cute. It stayed in place. Was it really any better than a bandana? The second day wearing it, I understood. My hair was far more.. Maintained? And it still felt that way on the third day. I could anticipate going combless for a week with it. I also developed a bit of a security blanket relationship with it, which could explain the volumes of people who love Buffs. Bottom line, it protected my hair, and the UV protection was very welcome as we were very exposed to the sun this weekend. By the second morning, I was dreaming about buying another one as soon as possible. I unreservedly admit that my love for my Buff is partially stylistic, but it’s also a functional and effective product. Another good choice.

Dry Fit Champion shirts from Reny’s in Maine – they were cheap. They were super lightweight. They were highlighter bright. No need to report further – good choice!Teva Original Sandals – My camp shoes – purchased recently on sale. They were great, especially for the cost and the weight. They’re very light. Their best feature? NOT being Crocs. Just kidding. I joke, at Mike’s expense. Before picking these up, I had been using a pair of Moccasins, which weren’t the most practical, even if they were comfortable. The Tevas are more appropriate as camp shoes.

Permetherin Coating – I still need to try this on my Buff and my t-shirts. My pack, pants, and shoes had been coated. There were still a few bugs swarming my head, but I came home with far fewer bites. I’ll report back again after I do my Buff and shirts.mtnGLO™ Tent Light Accessory Kit from Big Agnes – okay, we used these on another, previous hike, but this was the first time we hooked them up in the tent. They were nifty and used very little power. Having overhead light from something other than a headlamp is cozy. I think they’ll be useful on the Real Hike, and they’ll be even more useful on future overnight trips when we’ll have more energy to hang out at camp before going to sleep.

Anyways, on this trip I wore my Soloman shoes. I still hold firm that they’re good shoes, but they weren’t the best pick for this particular section. Towards the top of Camel’s Hump, and for the entire descent into Montclair, I was slow and miserable. I was slipping everywhere and my fear immobilized me, dropping my speed significantly (Mike was a saint for enduring my frustration). The ideal place for Solomons with their reliable Goretex waterproofing and their sturdy build are muddy, dirty, trails with little rock and only gradual elevation changes. In my Sportiva Wildcats I feel better equipped to move through the slippery, jagged granite on exposed high peaks like the ones we saw on Camel’s Hump. I’m holding out hope that the Sportiva Wildcat GTX shoes will be my dream shoe, combining the superior grip of my current Wildcats with the waterproof Goretex layer of my Solomon’s without becoming too cumbersome. I’ll report back!

Food – Good 2 Go Mushroom Risotto, Knorr Teriyaki chicken, Mountain House Beef Stroganoff. My teriyaki was great! I’m curious if it would cook as well without the butter pack I brought. I think it would be fine. The Beef Stroganoff was good, too! Mike’s bag ripped on his Mushroom Risotto and it didn’t seem to fill him up, but he said it was tasty and he’d buy it again, but would need to use another bag to cook it.

Hiking Camel’s Hump was unique from the other training hikes we’ve done this summer in that it’s a very exposed summit, and it’s relatively isolated. We’ve been spending a lot of time below tree-lines in the woods that inspired the Green Mountain state moniker. It was a welcome change, though it meant we were in for a steep, slippery climb. The summit reminded me of Mt. Whiteface and Passaconaway in New Hampshire, which isn’t a shock given their respective elevations. Very hands-on hiking, with some nimble climbing involved. On the Real Hike, it will provide us with a lot of solar power and I’ll certainly need to bring sunblock. It was also unusual, and very cool, for us to be able to see the summit before and after hiking it. There’s no question that Camel’s Hump has a distinctive profile – and my familiarity with it from driving by on our many weekend trips this summer gave it a significance that felt akin to summitting Mt. Washington.

Another highlight of the ascent hike up Camel’s Hump was that the trail was speckled with blueberries :)

My shoe-woes delayed us so we had to headlamp into Montclair shelter. We arrived and immediately went looking for the tent platforms. As soon as we spotted one, we were greeted by a Caretaker – who I happened to know from my Women’s Introduction to Backpacking weekend. She let us know that the shelter area was restricted due to.. BEARS! We would have to sleep in the shelter, not in our tent, because bears had been hanging around in the area. We later learned that there were two, a 400 pounder and another bear who was only 150 pounds, but apparently had a mischievous attitude to make up for his smaller size. They’d destroyed a few tents in search of food. We set ourselves up in the shelter so that neither we nor our tent would be the next victim.

There were a few others in the shelter, 2-3 guys and the 2 female caretakers. We had plenty of space to spread our stuff out, but as it was getting late, we quickly changed and went back out to the tent platform to cook our dinner. This was the first time this trip that we used the Big Agnes lights, as you can see in the picture of Mike above.

We finished up dinner and then went back over to the shelter. I slept far better than I thought I would. One reason this was probably the case is that the Montclair Shelter is 4-sided, so it was very dark. It was nice being able to move about freely, standing at full height, having separate spaces to unpack. I also never noticed before this weekend that the tent floor gets stuck to the bottom of my sleeping pad and slides around on the ground. In a shelter bunk, it stays put. We made our oatmeal and morning beverages and got back on the trail to make our second trip over Camel’s Hump.

It was another beautiful day and we met a few new friends. One was a graphic designer who works for a couple of local breweries and offered to help us out with a meal when we’re back on the Real Hike. I love that such extraordinarily kind offers are so wonderfully typical among hikers. We told him about our plans he was supportive and encouraging, saying he thought for sure we could finish in the limited time we have available for the hike.

Being our second trip to the summit, we carried on quickly after taking a few more pictures. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately, given the length of this post so far), this is where my memory starts to fail me. I took a long break in writing this post. Factoring in my eagerness to move on to new, exciting topics as well, here’s a highlight list from the rest of the weekend:

– We opted not to drive ourselves or hitchhike to cut out the walk on Duxbury Road, however, agreed that it was okay to accept any rides if they were offered unsolicited. We got lucky! A kind soul in an old pick up truck gave us a lift and shared a little nostalgia from when he hiked the LT about 20 years ago.

– We returned the favor to a hiker on Monday when we got back to the car. A guy who’d passed us earlier that day was just getting back from town and we were able to give him a lift. The joy we felt for being able to help lasted all day, as did the smell he brought into the car.

And of course, photos!

Despite how infrequently I’m able to find them, my obsession with survey markers still persists.

Can’t wait to get back out there!