Maine Trip Report

“Yes!! Another TT'er uses one of my photos for their wallpaper! Hey Pennsy Hiker, eat your heart out!”

“Where is Gforce?????

I want to hear a trip report????

8)”

“I want to see...I'll add you to my hiking club...both sites..”

“Well folks bet ya’ll thought cow patty did me in on the trek home with that ti axe she lugs around. No way!!!! Got home last night round 8:30, set up my tent to dry only to find a bunch of little critters that came back with me from Avalanche Field crawling around on top of it. So I battled with them a while last night and found a couple more when I got home tonight. I think that’s all of them.

The Maine Trip in a word was

F A N T A S T I C ! ! ! ! !

Twigeater planned the trip and the weather out perfectly . . . couldn’t ask for anything more! BTW, twigeater is totally pimp! ;^)

Baxter State Park totally rocks, and I would urge anyone to make the trip northeast to experience this place. The great thing about Baxter is that you can plan just about any kind of outing you would prefer . . . an extreme/insane hike up the mountain and above tree line . . . a mellow hike without all of the vertical gain . . . an extended backpacking trip into the backcountry . . . car camp and short dayhikes . . . just about anything! All of this can be had in the same place!

Just want to say thanks to everyone for such a great time . . . you guys and gals ROCK! I really do want to get out east and hike with all the Maineiacs again! Miss ya’ll already *big sigh*

Fritz: hope those wheels are moving freely for ya!”

“Good deal dude!

I hope to see you this weekend!


8)”

“Howdy everybody!
I have to be brief because I'm about to get kicked out of the cafe. The power already kicked off twice.

I'm still in Maine having a ball hiking in Acadia but I'll be home Sunday night. Sometime next week I'll have pics posted.

I just want to say that I had a truly wonderful time on this trip. The people were just fantastic. Twigeater's organization was perfect, and she's a fabulous lady to boot. She even overruled the weather gods for us. And she makes a darn good moose stew as well. :o)

It was great meeting the "other" Mainers as well, Uphill Klimber (Monkey Boy) and Skeetah Bait. 2 fun people who I look forward to meeting again.

Crap.... they're saying I gotta go. I'll try to stop by here again before heading back home, but in the meantime, I just posted a long White Mts trip report.

And I am really looking forward to going into camp tonight with the rain pounding and the wind blowing with only my Walmart tarp for shelter. Oh well.....”

“Hope the weather calms down for you Pennsy.. it looks it will. I look forward to seeing your pics.

Speaking of which.. Fritz?”

“OK, OK...I have stayed up half the night, and probably should have been more selective in what I uploaded, but....here are my pictures:

Friends (with captions)
Pamola / Knife's Edge / Baxter Peak
Other Scenery, fall colors, etc.

Enjoy!”

“This trip still isn't over!!! Reading the trip reports, checking out the pics..... This was....er is, such a fun trip!!! Great new friends...”

“Great pics, Fritz!!! Wow!!! I wish I could turn back the clock to one week ago and do it all over again. So much fun.”

“Hey there, Indiana Long Legs!

Thank you for a supreme effort Fritz, it is very much appreciated!
I see I didn't get deleted as punishment for my impatience, lol. ;) Great pictures!

Pennsy, isn't there a god of the White's that you can make some kinda sacrifice to and fix that weather? :)”

“PS - I have one of Pennsy's timber rattlers as my wallpaper at home.
>:D”

“check the price on this trip:
maine trip
and it's lame at that...”

“Fritz --

Fun pictures! After seeing them I am especially determined to get back up there next year.”

“Wow, what a night. I had to batten down the hatches to keep the tarp from blowing away, but it kept me dry. Twigeater - your weather gods are working again as it is starting to clear up here. I'm hitting Acadia Mt as soon as I get out of here.

To continue where I left off before getting booted out.... the people, the mountain, the waterfalls, the scenery, the trails, the Knife's Edge, the FOOD... what a trip!!

I had a really great time with cow patty and gforce in the Whites, and it was that much better continuing with them in Maine. I have to thank cow patty for being my "strap keeper" and for the great chow in the whites. Brats ROCK!! Oh, and thanks for being my cover girl model at Greene Falls. Can't wait to post the pics.

Gforce (aka Indiana Long Legs) is a lot of fun and great to hike with, if you can keep up with those monster strides of his. However, I still want to chide him for him continually confusing Pennsy (strong S) with Pansy. Grrrrrrr... ;o)

It was great hiking with my bros Fritz and Artex for about the umpteenth time this year. Always great fun and never a dull amount. It was my second trip with Wolfman's Bro (aka Chow Hound), and his sense of humor cracks me up. I cannot believe he doesn't way over 300lbs with all the food he puts away. The man can eat! However, it was a hoot watching him gag as Twigeater grabbed some sap/gum of a tree for him to chew on.

It was also my 2nd trip with Lyndy and she is just as sweet as ever. However, she needs to work on her camera shyness. One reason I take so many pictures is because every time I try to get her in a shot, she either ducks or grimaces. ;o)

Back to Uphill Klimber and Skeetah Bait... what a great couple! Their enthusiasim and UK's stories around the campfire were very enjoyable.

Again, I can't say enough about Twigeater. She really does ROCK! She made sure ALL of us had a great time and I look forward to hiking with her in Maine again. Plus, she's a buttkicking hiker as well!

Artex's and UK's trip reports are great and I look forward to viewing all the pics when I get home Sunday. The video display on these pcs here reek and are very slow.

We already have one route picked for next year... up Cathedral to Baxter Peak, down the Knife's Edge backwards, and down Dudley. That will kick butt! One note about the hike from Baxter. We took the Saddle Trail down which is supposed to be the easy way down... I took one look and said "That ain't a trail... it's a friggin avalanche!!" I think they call it saddle because many people go down the trail on their saddles.

That's it for now... sorry to be long winded but I have to get my 2 cents in now... because I am outta here to HIKE MORE MAINE!!

ps to UK - the blueberry pancakes at Jordans are OUTSTANDING.”

“Great report Pennsy!

I forgot about the spruce gum!

lee, you'll have to join us for HIKE MAINE 2003! wahoo!”

“Twig (aka VQ) --

Discussed with my wife last night. Tentatively decided that next year (2003) I will go up to do Cathedral/Knife's edge and leave the family at home . . .and the following year we will go up as a family for a longer period of time to do some of the easier hiking.

As long as this board is here as these plans develop, you'd best believe I will be consulting you!!”

“Cool!

Where do you live, lee?”

“Hey, NICE trip pictures folks! Nice Fall colors. Knife Edge looks extreme, awesome. I'm enjoying the trip reports and comments too. Makes me wish I had gone on this one.

Lemme see... you had a person on the trip that eats twigs with an accent? ...another one used as bait for insects? ...one who climbs uphill only (how's he get back down)? ...and a wolfman during full moon? Hmmm... musta been a hoot! ;-)

Artex, you got shots of moose meat, cooking, lunch breaks galore... why are there so many pics in your albums involving food and/or eating? ;-)

Did Splash... er, I mean Lyndy get across the streams okay? ;-)

Very, very sweet. Thank y'all.”

“Spruce Gum - egad! - ptooey!

Fritz - I think it's gonna be hard for Pennsy to upstage you with his pics. Those are AWESOME. I particularly like the spooky ones taken in the clouds.”

“WB, I am just glad it isn't a competition. I'd surely lose more than I'd win. But thank you for your positive feedback, and of course, I am very pleased with my pics. :)

M Silver, next year, OK? And get your reservation in early, I think that's going to be a BIG TT trip!”

“Fritz --

In CT.”

“lee - great location for a hiker. And you'll have several options for catching a ride to Maine with someone who is passing thru CT, if you are so inclined.”

“Well MSilver, I got across the streams okay this time,

with a little help from my friends, la la la

I did talk about MSilver, Sparky and RichB a lot since that is who I have hiked most with. Just so that you guys don't feel left out. Next year you both have to join us in Maine, 'kay?”

“Hike Maine will finally end tomorrow and I'll be home Sunday night. *sob* Acadia trip report and pics to come as well as Whites pics and Baxter pics. I'm exhausted thinking about it.

Wolfy - I know I won't upstage anyone with my pics. Even though we were all looking at the same things, I find it very interesting viewing how others see the same scenes through their cameras. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody's pics.

BTW, did anybody mention Wolfy's stream crossing? That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Everyone was taking off their boots, putting on aqua socks, sandals etc to make the crossing. Meanwhile, I threw on my Wiggy's Waders over my boots and walked acroos. On the other side I offered to put a rock in the stuff sack and toss it across for others to use but everyone declined.

So, I sat on a rock and started taking pics of everyone crossing. While looking through my viewfinder, I heard these loud SPLASH SPLASH noises and looked up to see Wolfy racing across the stream! He practically bowled someone over in his frantic dash to the other side. I then noticed that he did it in his hiking shoes! 2 questions immediately came to my head: 1) Why didn't he take my offer for a dry crossing? 2) Why the dash? Did he think that his boots wouldn't get wet if he crossed in 10 seconds versus 30 seconds? OR maybe he was just in a hurry to eat more food....

That's it for now folks... talk to y'all in a few days!

Note to Artex: pffffffft!! I'm Twigster's wallpaper now! ;o)”

“Pennsy, this is the proper way to dis Artex:

;p THHHHBBBBBBTTT!!!!!

LOL!!!!”

“LMAO!! You guys are too funny!

Wolfman's Bro crossing the stream was probably the funniest thing during the entire trip, I can't believe I left it off my trip report! I kept thinking back to it the entire day and would crack up.”

“That's why everybody has to post a report, so we can all relive everything, even if we missed it or forgot it!!”

“I was showing mercy. I kept thinking he'd bring it up himself.

One funny aspect of it was all the discussion afterward about the, oh, 15 or so other options he had! Impulsivity can be dangerous in the back woods,WB!”

“Maybe Wolfman's Bro did the dash just so he could cook those trail shoes over the fire that night...

or he wanted to check out that drying-time-on-the-trail for himself.

Still smilin' here!”

“Hey WB nothing wrong with your method for stream crossing . . . it works. In fact that's exactly what I did in Montana for stream crossings. Not intentionally though. I left my water socks in the truck. :(”

“Fritz...

Awesome pics! I particularly enjoyed the "Friends" album. Downloaded two shots from your "Fall Colors..." album.

Thanks!”

“M Silver, thank you much. I bet I could guess at least one of the pics you downloaded--stream with mountains in the distance. That was the view directly in front of one of the shelters!”

“Well, I am finally reading this 2 days later. Did I amuse you guys with my water crossing? Do you think I'm funny? How am I funny to you? Funny like a clown? Huh?!

Actually, once I took my boots off and tested the water in bare feet, I knew I wouldn't make it across carrying a pack with all the rocks in the stream(what can I say, I've got sensitive feet). So I figured, the hell with it, I'll walk across in my low top light hikers. They'll probably dry out in a couple hrs.
If not from the wind and air then from my body heat. Didn't happen. I think the boots are still drying out and like Pensy said, they might de-lam from the fire's heat. The front of my left boot came apart a very tiny bit but nothing a li'l glue won't fix. I tend to learn things the hard way(stubborn nature). Let this be a lesson to y'all contemplating stream crossings.”

“Nah, you would need to gain a spare tire around the hips to be funny like a clown.”

“But big floppy shoes would add to the look, and probably would dry out faster while you hike, as well.”

“you're a REGULAR RIOT Lyndy! a REGULAR RIIIIOOOT!!”

“Hmmmmm....

You are not getting MAD, are you Wolfman?

(maybe I can blame the past couple of posts on a troll?)”

“I think WB was imitating Ralph of the Honeymooners. :-)”

“Matt, I hate to borrow stuff on a trip, being very independent and all, but ten people don't need to bring ten pairs of sandals for a single stream crossing. Just let someone throw theirs across for you to use next time. Then they won't feel bad when they use up your matches while cooking dinner. :D”

“Ralph? Ohhhhh I get it. Somehow, I just can't see it though.”

“I guess I have some work to do on my Ralph Kramden impression but I thought I my Joe Pesci was right on. Lyndy - the first impression about the clown was Joe Pesci from "Goodfellas" and yes the second one was Ralph Kramden.”

“Hey wolfman, whatever you do/did is aok in my book - you're the poor soul who got stuck sleeping next to snoring bear for four nights. ;)”

“I think we already discussed my lack of television or movie alliteration knowledge. Just ask David Arquette.”

“Are you referring to moi?”

“Yes! They all kept calling you David Arquette, and I know that there is an actor by that name but had never seen one of his movies.

By the way, can you look at the Kelty tent thread, and add your .02 about the LLBean tents?”

“Howwwwdy!
After about 150 hiking miles and 30,000ft of elevation gain in the Whites, Baxter, and Acadia, I'm finally home and back to reality. I'm finding out that reality sucks and I wanna go back to Maine.

I had a great time hiking in Acadia but it felt strange being alone. I missed you guys! I'll have a trip report with pics in the next day or 2, so stay tuned.

I got to look at everybody's pics from the trip. Wow, a lot of really great shots. Fritz, you must be loving your new camera to death. I just uploaded my pics to Webshots so feel free to take a gander or 2:

Pennsy's Baxter Pics

ps... I spotted a winter Maine trip? Cool! I'll check it out in detail later. Let's just say I'm there.”

“Great pictures, Pennsy! Cow Patty will be so relieved, that was a great picture of her. You are like a hiking machine these days. How is it that you only started to do this a year ago?”

“I think that is his secret. He hasn't yet done in his knees!!!!”

“Thanks Lyndy. I think Cow Patty will approve of that one. I do have some of the "others" just in case. ;o)

Haha..... tell that one to my knees UK. They've been talking to me all day long.

To answer your question Lyndy, even though I've only been backpacking and serious hiking for a bit over a year, I come from a background of running, biking and mt biking. I had a dormant period of about 8 years, and I'm gradually getting (or trying to get) back to that level of fitness.

BTW, I just posted White Mt pics on the Whites thread. Acadia stuff will have to wait another day. I'm toast.”