more travels in Maine, friends and climbing Mt. Kathadin

Dear Friends,
I am feeling a bit deceived by Verizon. While my air card will work in Canada I have been advised that it will be very expensive. Somehow the salesman in FL forgot to mention that part. So I will not be using it in Canada but will be sending and receiving email when I can find hotspots along the way.. I have a Canada plan for it. I will be crossing the border Wed. or Thurs.

Also my friend Beth has commented on the Southern question I proposed early in my trip.

“As to the question about the cultural differences in the southern cities, I have experienced all 3 and I notice that in New Orleans,  blacks, historically and presently, are woven into the fiber of the culture from the food, jazz, cajun, zydeco and blues music, voodoo, etc.  Whereas Charleston and Savannah don't seem as "rooted" in black culture.  While this doesn't answer your "stronger slave presence" question, it's something to ponder.  Perhaps it's got something to do with small town mentality.  Savannah and Charleston each have roughly 120,000 people while New Orleans has close to 300,000.”

Another addendum to the bates College section. You will in the photos a picture of Mount David which right next to the campus. When I first arrived at bates as a freshman I was 5 days early, arrived at 11 pm with only a few dollars. So my first night at College I slept on Mt. David right next to that stone thingy. In the morning I went down to campus and introduced myself to the Dean of Students but he said I was too early to get into my room. I used my last money to phone my mother for an advance on my college money. So she wired me....wait for it.....$25.00! With that I had enough money to do laundry and for a Luiggi’s Pizza and a draft beer every day. I slept in a lounge the next night because of rain. Then amazingly the guy in charge of my dorm just happened to “bump into me” and he “snuck “ me into the dorm for the rest of the week. And I was off and running on my college experience! Thought you would all enjoy seeing Mt. David as much as I did seeing it again.

Be safe and tell everyone you love you love them. Until Next time.

Peace,
Allen

Sat July 19

When I was visiting Cecile I traded the book Assassination Vacation for Anywhere But Here by Mona Simpson. I think Cecile will enjoy that book. Anywhere But Here is a title I can relate to. Sometimes when I stay in one place too long I get really itchy feet.
When I woke this morning the closest book was The Perfect Storm so I picked it up. At. 9 I walked over to visit with Paul and Scott some more. Paul was on the porch so I sat and talked with him for a while. We went inside to meet the couple who were visiting. I can’t recall their names but they are both artists. They have a t-shirt company. THey showed us some of their designs on the computer. They are like woodcuts and they hand paint the backgrounds. Neat stuff. Paul made me a cup of tea that’s not really tea but a tea like substance that was the closest plant the Brits could find when they settled South Africa. THat made me think of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Arthur Dent’s struggles to get the beverage machine to make him a cup of tea. I enjoyed my beverage and a piece of raisin toast and we all had a laugh about the tea. We talked some and then I walked back to BEYOND and eased her back on the road and headed out.

Rockland and Brooksville, ME

I stopped on my way at a little place up the road which won the James Beard “best clam shack” award this year. I ordered a piece of haddock and watched some boys learning to paddle white water and flipping their canoes in the river. When my fish was ready I got back on the road and ate it on the way to Bangor, ME to visit my theater design professor. Robert looks great. He left Bates years ago and has worked for the State of Maine as an Engineer. Recently he has been involved in water and waste engineering projects in third world countries with Engineers Without Borders. He was in Darfur and is planning another trip soon. Unfortunately he will probably have to quit his state job in order to continue. He is trying to figure out how to make it work. He is very passionate about the projects over seas and I hope he is able to make it work. Good luck Robert!

He made us some burgers on the grill and we sat on the porch for burgers and beer. I gave him a tour of BEYOND and then he had to go so I decide to drive back to the coast and headed for Acadia National Park. I drove to the remote campsite past Southwest Harbor and rolled out of the sun into thick fog as I reached the campground. I found a very nice site and settled in with my book and watched the trees appear and disappear in the fog. I had some nuts for dinner and went to bed early.

Acadia National Park, ME

Up at 8 am and on the road. I stopped at the Lighthouse on the Southern Point and then headed into SouthWest Harbor. I found a market and bought some produce and cashed a travelers check. I was almost out of cash. There was an art show in the Park across the street so I looked at all the paintings. Mostly ME painters and some wonderful work. THe sky was clear and getting warm so I headed for Echo Pond for a swim. It was the perfect temp and I ended up reading a swimming all day.

Then I drove the long way into Bar Harbor. I biked around and bought a shirt on sale at the Patagonia Shop and some new shoes to replace the ones that were eating my heel. Then I drove out of town and stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I had some wonderful local mussels in a tomato chirizo sauce and a lobster. They were excellent with a glass on Pinot Grigio. After dinner I spoke to Elizabeth Garbee about her painting and drawing and to get her opinion on the new Batman movie. She gives it 2 thumbs up. Then I drove off the Island and stopped in the Park info parking lot for the night. Quite a few people came through trading cars and doing how knows what so I didn’t get much sleep.

I was up at 7:45 and at 8 the ranger came to work and unlocked the bathrooms. So I hit the head and then drove North into Bangor. I had the oil changed in BEYOND, mailed the Sourdough Bread starter form Cecile’s Mom (thanks Mom!) home, bought more soap and some groceries and turned on the Canada plan on my phone. It looked like rain again and there was a movie theater across the street. Batman was starting in 10 minutes so I saw it. Very good movie. Great production design and The Joker was excellent! The sun was out and I jumped in BEYOND and drove up 95 North to Millinocket. ME through pouring rain where I bought gas and drove in to Baxter State Park.

Again the travel gods had me in their pocket as I got the last campsite in the Park! IF you go reserve in advance. I was lucky because of all the rain and it was a Monday. As I pulled into the campground Mt. Katahdin cam out of the clouds for a moment. I checked in with the ranger and ran into a familiar face walking back. We chatted and he looked at BEYOND and later as I walked to the trail he invited me for a beer. His wife and I finally determined that he looked familiar because he and his wife own the North Freeport Country Store where Cecile and I got that great pizza! I love Maine. Very friendly people and not too crowded. It was great to have a beer with him. Then I walked on up the trail and happened upon so kids smoking dope by the stream. They looked scared until I told them i didn’t mind them smoking. They offered me some but I declined. I explained that I gave up smoking dope because to many people are killed and put in jail and so many kids are orphaned that I just can’t smoke it anymore. Thanks for offering. We talked awhile and when they left I took a quick stream bath. There were some people from Quebec with another Eurovan and I spoke to the for a while until the rain started hard. I ran back to my site. Dried off and made spaghetti sauce. Ate half, set my alarm from 5 am and crashed.

Katahdin Stream Campground Baxter State Park, ME

At 5 am the weather looked threatening so I went back to sleep and slept until 8. I was able to get another site from the ranger for Tues. night. I went for a hike to Katahdin Stream Falls and was joined by Thomas Slate from VA who had driven up to meet his son and a friends who were finishing a hike of the whole Appalachian trail. They were on the mountain finishing the last leg of a 2174 mile hike! They were on the Mountain and it was raining and there was thunder! I wished them luck! Thomas and I hiked to the falls 1.3 miles and the back in scattered rain showers, When we got back it poured rain and he drove to the other side of the mountain to meet his son. It thundered and rained on and off the rest of the day so I read and rested. I snacked for dinner and went to sleep early.

I woke up at 4:45 am and the weather looked great. I made a cup of miso and ate the homemade energy bar Thomas gave me as I drove to the other side of the Park to the Roaring Brook. I reached roaring Brook at 6:10 and the sky was clear and there were 30 people in the parking lot gearing up. I grabbed my gear signed the log with my intended route and put my foot in the path. I passed a couple of guys speaking french and some other people then was stopped 1/4 mile by people ahead of me because of a mother moose and her calf on the trail. Momma was standing right across the trail and her calf was right behind her. Momma was not afraid of us. She has probably seen too many people for her own good. She moved into the brush and the calf came out. It was very young. Then momma came back across the trial followed by baby. Finally they were clear of the trail and the french guys and I slipped past. You don’t want to aggravate a momma moose with a baby. She outweighs you by about 1000 pounds!

Soon I passed the french speaking guys again. After awhile I was passed by yoga dude. He was doing deep yoga breathing and I could hear him coming form way back! He must have slipped past the rangers because they try to discourage hikers who don’t have raincoat, flashlight, map, compass, warm sweater, food and water. He was wearing Berkiie sandals and carrying a water bottle in one hand. No pack! I hope he doesn’t twist an ankle! After yoga dude I had the mountain to myself all the way to the top of Mt. Pamola, elevation 4902 ft. The sky is clear and I can the whole bowl to the North and West of me. The next leg is the Knife Edge Trail. Very difficult hike, not for the timid or people with any fear of heights. The mountain is just piled rocks and the trail follows the top of the ridge and is between 3 and 1 ft wide. It’s 1.1 miles of rock hopping! The mountain falls thousands of feet on either side. You are walking in the sky. The scariest part was right at the start with a near vertical descent and the ascent of about 30 ft where I was feeling below where I could see for footholds and then reaching up for handholds on the way up the other side. It was nerve racking!

Finally on top of the ridge it was and hour of carefully placing my feet and and and 300 more feet of elevation. Finally I reach Baxter Peak 5200 ft at 10:20 am. Four hours. Not bad for a middle aged guy from Florida! I pulled out my granola bars and gorp while watching the clouds begin to roll over the Knife Edge. I could see other hikers appearing and disappearing in the clouds all around on different trails. Soon there were about 20 people on the peak. I got up to leave and there was a hiker I saw in Crawford Notch at the bottom of the Webster Cliff trail. He was finishing his last mountain and looking for a way home. He came up the other side of the mountain but I said I would give him a ride to Millinocket or 95 if he was at the gatehouse when I left the Park. I wished him happy, safe down and headed down the Saddle Trail which was like a super highway. Lots of people and the terrain was very much stomped to death.

At the Saddle trail I decided not to go down yet. It was early and I still had more than half of my water so I took the Saddle trail around the back side of Hamelin. This was a trail less traveled and was beautiful. I walked with an older couple to a spring the rangers said was safe to drink untreated. When I was younger you could drink from most high streams but now many of them have Giardia and other bacteria that can make you sick so you have to boil, chemically treat or filter the water before consuming. To this point I have carried all my water. The spring was clear and cold and I got an ice cream headache from it, but it tasted great! It was at about 4200 feet. Then I walked up the Hamelin Ridge Trail and over the top and down the ridge into the bowl. It was steep on the way down but the trail was not as tough as the way up. It was a great trail and I could see Baxter Peak almost whole way down. It was great to see it come in and out of the clouds.

Climbing Mt. Katahdin

Eventually I dropped below tree line and the trail got less steep and hooked up with the Chimney Pond Trail. I hiked with a family I had seen of top of Baxter Peak and stopped at mountain pond for a swim with some of their kids. It was cold, but it felt great after the climb. Then I hiked the rest of the way back to Roaring Falls with them. I was tired by the time I finished at 4:15 pm. 10 hours on the mountain, but what a great day! I threw of my pack, put on clean clothes and drove out of the park. My hiker buddy wasn’t at the gate so I drove into Millinocket and did some internet business before I crossed the border. Then I got back on 95 and drove 55 miles to the border. Only 1 3 car wait but the customs woman asked me a ton of questions. Many more than i have ever encounter before. I must have looked tired or something! Finally she let me through, YEAH! And I am in Canada. I drive another 40 minutes into New Brunswick to the Mactaquac Provincial Park. Got a campsite. Heated noodles for the rest of sauce. Ate it and collapsed for the night.
Good night!

I have loaded pics of Kathadin including a panorama of 6 shots of the Kathadin Bowl.

http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd