attroll
06-15-2008, 01:34 AM
I got a real late start this morning leaving my house to head to Andover Maine to do my trail maintenance on the section of the Appalachian Trail that I maintain. I also wanted to stop at the hostels and other facilities to do verifications for our book.
I made it into Andover shortly before 1 pm. I stopped at the Andover Guest House and introduced myself to the new caretaker. All my conversations with him in the past had been over the phone. It was nice to actually meet him. He is a very nice guy and I think he will do well with the place. I collected some info from him and found out about some other things going on in town. After that I went around town and took some photos and then headed to Surplus Pond. I parked my truck and loaded the chainsaw in my backpack along with extra gas and oil. I have to hike three miles in before I even get to the section that I maintain. On the way in I ran into two southbound thru hikers. Neptune, who started on 22 May. He was not able to summit because of snow so he had to start without summiting. Later in the day I ran into Alpine Strider. We did not talk much. I told them both about the cooler I had in the back of my truck full of sodas.
Carrying a chainsaw in a backpack is not the same as carrying you full pack. It is just not balanced right. It sure beats carrying it by hand though. I was beet by the time I got back to my truck it was about 7 pm. Alpine Strider left me a very nice thank you note that made my day all worth it. On the note she left her TrailJournals.com address. I looked it up when I go home and found out that she thru hiked last year (2007) also but in a northbound direction www.trailjournals.com/alpinestrider/ (http://www.trailjournals.com/alpinestrider/).
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1081.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1082.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=60) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1085.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1090.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1091.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=63) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1096.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1101.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=66)
I made it into Andover shortly before 1 pm. I stopped at the Andover Guest House and introduced myself to the new caretaker. All my conversations with him in the past had been over the phone. It was nice to actually meet him. He is a very nice guy and I think he will do well with the place. I collected some info from him and found out about some other things going on in town. After that I went around town and took some photos and then headed to Surplus Pond. I parked my truck and loaded the chainsaw in my backpack along with extra gas and oil. I have to hike three miles in before I even get to the section that I maintain. On the way in I ran into two southbound thru hikers. Neptune, who started on 22 May. He was not able to summit because of snow so he had to start without summiting. Later in the day I ran into Alpine Strider. We did not talk much. I told them both about the cooler I had in the back of my truck full of sodas.
Carrying a chainsaw in a backpack is not the same as carrying you full pack. It is just not balanced right. It sure beats carrying it by hand though. I was beet by the time I got back to my truck it was about 7 pm. Alpine Strider left me a very nice thank you note that made my day all worth it. On the note she left her TrailJournals.com address. I looked it up when I go home and found out that she thru hiked last year (2007) also but in a northbound direction www.trailjournals.com/alpinestrider/ (http://www.trailjournals.com/alpinestrider/).
http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1081.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=59) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1082.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=60) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1085.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=61) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1090.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1091.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=63) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1096.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=65) http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/549/thumbs/IMG_1101.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=66)