We took off work a little early from work on Friday so that we could get to the trailhead and get to a campsite. We needed to get back early Saturday so that we could celebrate Easter with Sean. It’s been hard fitting in backpacking around our work schedule, that’s for sure. I want to make sure that I’m in shape before attempting the 118 miles in July!
We took the Ribble trail for a mile to the AT and found a nice site about 4.5 miles in. The last two miles was brutal with an elevation gain of over 1400 ft. But we’ve got to get the climbs in if we want to summit Katahdin in July! Katahdin has 4200 ft of elevation gain over 4 miles. Oof. I want to make sure I have my trail legs before we get there.
As we passed by a lake on the trail on Friday, we saw an Amish horse and buggy. The family was at the edge of the water, dipping their feet into the water. It was a neat sight to behold. If you look closely at the photo, you can see them.
Thankfully, we made it to camp several hours before sunset. We love when the days are longer! We got camp set up and still had time to explore and make it to the scenic overlooks. We also had plenty of time to hang our Adotec Grizzly bags, too. This area of the AT has high bear activity according to the FarOut App. We are always bear aware, but make doubly sure when there are known bears in the area! Adotec bags make bear hangs so much easier as you only have to tie them to a tree. We have had to do traditional bear hangs on longer trips where we can’t fit all of our food in the Adotec bags. We weren’t very good at it. This is why we plan on carrying two 14L Adotec bags with us in July.
We watched the beautiful sunset before retiring to our tent with Ghost. Once we got inside, I noticed that we could still see the sunset from the tent. The campsite had a nice view of the mountains– at least until later spring brings the leaves!
When we got up Saturday morning, we took our time since we did not have big miles to get in. We ate eggs that we had freeze-dried ourselves along with coffee we also freeze-dried ourselves. It was all very tasty. We plan on making sure that we have ten days of our freeze-dried coffee ready for Maine. We prepare it with cream and a bit of the Starbucks zero caramel macchiato cream. It’s nice to have frufru coffee on trail.
Yesterday after breakfast, we hiked 3 miles on the AT before taking the Ribble trail 2.5 miles back to the car. It was a great finish to the hike. The weather this weekend was perfect for hiking and camping. The highs were in the 70s and the lows in the mid 50s.
We can still feel the climb in our legs today, that is for sure! It is also allergy season across the United States and our allergies are crazy. With all of this pollen, my sinuses are a mess. But the ear tube kept the usually ear pain away! YAY! I see the ENT at the end of the month where he will likely place a slightly larger and more permanent tube. It has been nothing short of a miracle. I am so glad that I was persistent in getting treatment for my vertigo and ear pain. If only I had done this in my younger days!
We got home early enough to get our gear all cleaned up and ready for the next hike. Sean and I prepped for Easter dinner today.
We went to Mass early this morning. I marinated lamb chops for our celebration. We usually roast a leg of lamb for Easter, but decided we wanted to use our new grill for chops. They turned out to be the best lamb we have ever tasted! The lamb we smoked on Easter last year was also divine. We love our Kamodo Joe and discussed next year’s lamb plan as we ate. It will definitely be lamb on the grill!
I hope y’all have a blessed Easter. I have to head to eastern NC this afternoon because we are rolling out a new client tomorrow. We hope to get in another backpacking adventure next weekend, as Marty is taking PTO. Yay!
My Little Red Bike 