I am certain somewhere, along with that dignified definition, one can also find these words: Serious. Intense. And, last but certainly not least, Slightly Terrifying.
The trail we hiked from our campsite to the top is known as the Hunt Trail. It is 5.2 miles (one way) with a 4,150 foot elevation gain. There is no warm up, you pretty much start gaining elevation right out of the gate.
It took two eight-hour travel days in the Westy, over lots of mountainous roads, to get to our campsite. A nearly 800-mile trip through Vermont and New Hampshire, every mile was gorgeous. Westy did great except for the final push at 20 mph on dirt roads through the park (Westy doesn't like slow speeds, it tends to overheat) but we made it and everything was fine.
Happy Camper
...a little while later.
The Hike - Off We Go!
The rocks are the trail.
Little did I know, this was the easy part of the trail.
The Boulder Fields of Hunt Spur and The Gateway
Somewhere in the middle of the scariest parts of the boulder "field" on Hunt Spur, I recall informing Dave that all of his future vacation choices would be much more closely supervised.
I don't think I have ever seen such a big smile on Dave's face.
The Tableland
While relatively flat, the Tableland was a one-mile walk across varying size rocks through a landscape that was silent and looked otherworldly.
At the Top!
Mac 'n Cheese - thru-hikers we met on the trail, finished on day 169
The Knife Edge
Descent
What goes up...
We were very fortunate to have clear skies and perfect weather (despite the forecast) for our day on the mountain. We met quite a few AT thru-hikers who were finishing their journeys, they all have our greatest respects, it was a powerful thing to bear witness to. We feel extremely grateful to have been physically (and mentally) able to do this hike and carried a sense of awe with us for the rest of our time in Maine.
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