Places

Plan On TUE, June 20 I ordered the AT topo map from Carlo Mountain to Pleasure Pond in Maine.  This is a less traveled portion of Appalachian Trail (AT).  From that point, the balance tipped toward going to AT instead of Bog Dam Road (BDR) for my July mini-vacation.  Map expected to arrive June 26-30.  This is very close to my departure date on FRI, June 30. Preparations to my July 2017 trip to rarely visited section of AT between Gorham, NH and Grafton Notch State Park in Maine (route 26).  This is a 31 miles section that is perfect for 3-4 nights trip.  I will return on the bike back…

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  Life is always in progress until it is not   This time it was a special trip.  I used all the accumulated information and wisdoms of previous trips on this trip. I woke up really early on Friday morning August 29 2014 (04:39 AM), checked the weather one last time (they promised the coldest night at 51°F – that is very warm for late August. ), asked Google if it is OK to boil water  in an empty can, and at 5:30 I hit the road.  I decided to take a new route this time – not 3 and 93 as usual, but 95 and 16. Police action was in a full swing,…

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Saturday, August 16 – Wien Next day – Saturday, August 16 – we jumped out of bed at 9:30 and barely made it to the breakfast.  We both took breakfast very seriously this time – the most important meal of the day, if you are planning to spent the rest of the day on your feet. According to Lira’s plan of action we immediately discovered Café Sperl nearby (Gumpendorferstraße 11) and made a mental note to visit it in the evening.  We retraced our steps to Naschmarkt and discovered an exiting and sparkling life, tons of people of both sexes, and even more fruits, meats and beverages.  Today everything was brand…

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A new mode of camping was adopted for this trip.  My camp was off a very remote section of the White Mountain Forest. Plus, road was blocked by construction.  My base camp was 0.6 miles on bike from the car, and then another 0.4 miles on foot.  That was far from people, but close to the car.  That allowed for some very comfortable sleeping arrangements. For the first time, I did not freeze in the woods at night.  The secret was, not one but two loads of stuff for sleeping and for rain gear. Full set of tools (saw, axe, machete). Even pillow.   Plus, for breakfast I could eat cantaloupes and…

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07:00 – I remember waking up very early and planning in my head how to break the camp most efficiently.  There was no rain, but everything outside was dripping wet. First to be folded and packed were sleeping bag and pads, food and clothes, kitchen and bath bags. Among first tasks – swipe all the natural spring “foliage” from the huge tarp. I would need to make 2 trips back and forth as I had too much stuff here. When first load was ready I put on old wet boots, and kept new and dry (by now) boots for later today. When crossing the bridge with a full load on my…

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Woke up at 05:51 – the record and without any hesitation I was ready to leave the camp in just half an hour. 06:31 start excursion number 4 – “Pond of Safety” Road is a mess.  All 5 yards of it.  Road is very wide here, but it has no foundation.  I picked eastern side of the road and moved forward very carefully trying not to get super wet.  But to no avail.  My feet are sliding. Ground can’t support my weight and my boots just plunging into sticky mud. And I can’t really move forward off the road.  It is the same wet mess, but with trees and bushes on…

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