Allagash, Jen and Phils 2023 AT Hike

Day 87 July 31 Days miles 8.3  Section hiked Mile 2001.7 to 2010 The Crockers AT Maine total miles.- 8.3 Allagash total AT Miles - 247.4 Staying at camp Hiking time 6 hr Pass plus/minus: -1 Critter Rescue - 0 Total Deer seen - 1 today , 94 total Animals seen today - 1 Today was Allagash's reintroduction to the trail.  She did 8.3 miles and over 2 4k mountains, So and North Crocker by camp! Also a note on the stats above. Since we leaped ahead to Maine the current mile marker we are at doesn't mean much so I'm going to now start tracking the miles completed in Maine till we finish this state and track the miles our Allagash has hiked on the AT with us. She was a trooper, wasn't a fan of the up but was fine on the downs. She and we all were not a fan of the thunder storm that rolled through and drenched us for the last half of the hike.  The cooler day was nice till that! We unlike others out here today are getting to go back to our camp tonight! ...

ZERO Day July 20 to 30th So we headed home as we has some things to take care of, mainly getting our dog Allagash back and getting our car repaired.  The muffler had gone and the brakes were on their last leg. While home also discovered the CRV was having issues so put a new power steering pump on it. We also took the opportunity to visit our parents, kids and grand kids! We need to be around for a spell so we decided to start hiking in Maine however we could.  So while we were home we got Allagash out and walking as much as she would go.  Plan is to hike with her as much as we can till we can start hiking without her again. To enable Allagash to join us and camp in our comfy  roof top tent I needed to figure out a way for her to get in it.  So got a longer ladder setup and some outdoor carpet so she can climb up in it. No pics of her doing it but she does! ...

Day 86 July 19 Days miles 17 AT Mile 1384.3 Staying in AutoHome camper at trail head in Delaware Gap Hiking time 8.5 hr Pass plus/minus: ?? Critter Rescue -  5+ Efts! Total Deer seen - 0 today , 93 total Animals seen today - 0 Today was tough, getting more elevation, not so much as in being really high up, but the climbs were steep. Lots of bouldering, lots of bugs and streams were brimming but was able to keep our feet dry. The trail was up on a ridge for quite a while and lots of rock crawling getting up and down this ridge multiple times. Our speed was much slower with the rock crawling, steep inclines and water crossings we had to navigate today. There was a really great waterfall we got to see, a trail maintainer Jen spoke to said it's normally dry come July. We completed another milestone with crossing over into NY from NJ as well, another state done. We saw sev...

Day 85 July 18 Days miles 17.6 AT Mile 1367.3 Staying in AutoHome camper at Walmart Hiking time 8 hr Pass plus/minus: ?? Critter Rescue - 12+ Efts! Total Deer seen - 7 today , 93 total Animals seen today - Jen saw 6 deer and I saw 1 and a turtle. Sorry for the delay in making a post, been busy, you will read why in a later post. Water is still high today, wet feet again, becoming a theme. The bugs are also getting worse, stop for a minute and they attempt to carry you away. It's also wicked muddy now, ugh, good thing there is lots of water to walk through to clean off your shoes. Today we walked over a long boardwalk through a bird sanctuary which was cool.  Of course the boardwalk didn't quite go far enough at one end so you could keep your feet dry! Stopped at a farm store just off the trail before climbing the stairway to heaven. I had a chocolate ice cream in a corn, a brownie and...

Day 84 July 17 Days miles 18.6 AT Mile 1349.7 Staying in AutoHome camper near mile 1349.7 Trail Head Hiking time 8 hr Pass plus/minus: +2 Critter Rescue - 20+ Efts! Total Deer seen - 5 today , 86 total Animals seen today - Jen saw 1 bear and 2 snakes and 5 deer and I saw 1 snake. Today was a nice day for hiking till the heat kicked in.  Going south I missed the alternate route sign to avoid walking the floating plank walkway through the swamp so I got wet, really wet. Jen did not miss the sign and she avoided it.   So not seeing the sign in my direction I walked through this. It was still a wet walk as with the recent torrent rain the trails are wet with water running right down it in the trail. Jen is Miss wildlife seeing 5 deer, 2 snakes and another bear! We each saw several hikers we know and are amazed that even with the many recent days off the trail we took we are still seeing people we know....