Summer 2016 - West Virginia, New River Gorge

Friday, September 30^th – Monday, October 3^rd

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/oasSFNe42Vz2uWLF9

The drive from the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, down through the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia was a new experience. These mountains seemed different as there were small, steep mountains surrounding deep valleys and gorges. Fortunately, most of the drive was on interstate, which we prefer not to take, but was our only option for hauling the travel trailer. It was a long, up and down, curving drive, with some very amazing mountain views. We finally arrived at the New River Campground, near Gauley Bridge, WV. This place was right on the riverfront where we could look out our back window at the river and the opposing rocky walls of the gorge. Just a mile upstream is the convergence of the Gauley River and the New River, which forms the Kanawha River. A few miles upstream on the Gauley River are white water rapids, ranging from Class V to Class II. There are many outfitters to shuttle kayakers on the river.

One of the main attractions for us was to visit the New River Gorge National River and the Gorge Bridge, which is run by the National Park Service. The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge 3,030 feet long and 876 feet above the New River near Fayetteville, West Virginia. With an arch 1,700 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge is now the third longest single span bridge in the world. This bridge is closed to vehicular traffic the third Saturday of every October for “Bridge Day”. This annual festival day allows BASE jumping, climbing and repelling. We missed Bridge Day by two weeks; it would have been a blast, but just didn’t work into our schedule. Also, we would have had to book a campsite months in advance. It was just wonderful to see the bridge, the gorge and the river. Beautiful country!

We also found a highly rated mountain bike trail system south of Fayetteville, Arrowhead Bike and Hike Trails, part of the New River Gorge National River region. We spent one day there riding the trails; not very technical, but very fun to ride. We wished we had another day to ride again, but it was not in our schedule. At this point we are slowly heading south to make it back to Florida by the end of October.

Summer 2016 - Pennsylvania, Raystown Lake

Friday, September 23^rd – Thursday, September 29^th

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/Nskxo7rZU3hrEHu6A

After some great times in New York State, we headed to Pennsylvania. When we were in New Hampshire, we had met a gentleman at a mountain bike park that had Pennsylvania license tags. We asked him to recommend a great place in his state to visit. Knowing we were mountain bikers, he highly recommended Raystown Lake. This Army Corp Project is the largest lake in PA and near the town of Huntingdon. One of the best features of the lake is that there is no commercial or private development along the waterfront, so the whole lakeshore is left in the natural state; except the Army Corp campgrounds and marina. When we arrived at the Seven Points Campground on Friday, the campsites were first-come first-serve. We were not able to get a waterfront site that day, but on Sunday when most of the campers left, we moved to the best waterfront site in the campground. It was well worth the move. The campground was mostly empty by that point and we allowed the dogs to roam the campsite and waterfront. They really enjoyed some freedom from the leash.

The primary reason we wanted to stay here was because of the mountain bike trails. The Allegrippis Trails were built by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), along with the Army Corps, local conservation groups and volunteer laborers to create a multi-use trail system for mountain biking, hiking, running, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. These trails were some of the best engineered and maintained trails that we have ridden. We spent almost every day riding some of the various trails and truly enjoyed the experience. We would love to go back one day to camp and bike ride at this special place.

While camping there we also got our kayaks in the water and took the dogs for a paddle. The weather was wonderful up until the last two days. A storm with heavy rains and high winds whipped through the area and kept us hunkered down inside. Ugh, we really hate those days, but we used them to get some maintenance and cleaning issues taken care of.

Our time at Raystown allowed us to ride great trails and to also relax in such a beautiful lakeside environment. This Army Corp campground was one of the best we ever stayed in. Also, with our Federal Senior National Parks pass, we receive a 50% discount on the campsites, at $17 per night. There are some advantages of getting older!

Summer 2016 - New York, Ithaca & Niagara

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/AfktAkCu5Beaxg6Z8

Monday, September 12^th – Sunday, September 18^th

Taughannock Falls State Park, Ithaca

The drive out of Adirondacks over to western New York was quite beautiful, traveling mostly back road highways.

We camped at Taughannock Falls State Park near Ithaca New York. Ithaca is on the south side of Cayuga Lake, one of the major Finger Lakes in the region. After setting up we decided to hike up along the Gorge Trail and have our first look at Taughannock Falls. We were in a state of shock when we got to the falls overlook and noticed that there was only a trickle of water coming over the falls. Wow! What a disappointment as this was the reason we specifically booked this campground due to the falls. There are also numerous falls around the Ithaca area, but they too were all in this situation due to months of serious drought in the area.

We took some scenic drives around the Cayuga Lake and the City of Ithaca, it was quite lovely. We were surprised at the great number of vineyards and wineries surrounding the lake. It was a great area for tourists to do the winery tours. There was also a lot of agricultural lands in the area.

One night we went to a free concert in downtown Ithaca at an area called Ithaca Commons. The downtown is very quaint with many historic buildings. The commons area is a former street that has been blocked off as a pedestrian mall. Also, Ithaca is home to Cornell University, a renowned university for math and science. There are several well-known scientists that graduated from Cornell, among them being Carl Sagan, one of our favorites. Kurt was so intrigued by the university that he drove into town one day with his bicycle and toured the whole campus. It was interesting to see the mix of historic and new high-tech buildings. It was quite obvious just driving around town that it was a University town due to all the young adults walking around with their backpacks or on their bicycles and the abundance of coffee shops.

We also found some great mountain biking trails about 15 miles out of town.  We drove out to Shindagin Hollow Forest on two days and enjoyed the rides. We were ready to head to Niagara Falls.

Monday, September 19^th – 22^nd

Niagara Falls

After Ithaca, we were excited to get over to the Niagara Falls. Neither of us had been there, so we were anxious to see what it was all about.

Niagara Falls is close to Buffalo New York, where Buffalo wings were originally created. So the first evening we drove down to Buffalo and found Anchor Bar, which is the home of the original buffalo chicken wings. We just had to go try them and they were good as expected; however we still feel that Brass Ring Pub in North Palm Beach is the best ever.

The next morning we headed to Niagara Falls. This beautiful State Park provides various viewing areas for the falls. The Niagara River actually splits before it goes over the falls, so one of the falls is on the Canadian side and the majority of the falls on the American side. The view from the Observation Tower was really amazing and allowed us a better view of the American Falls and some of Horseshoe Falls. We walked from the main visitor area on the bridges over the Niagara River to Goat Island, from there we were able to see the American Falls from the south side and then Horseshoe Falls (Canadian) from the north side of the river on Terrapin Point.

The next day we went back to Niagara Falls and boarded the "Maid of the Mist" tour boat.  This boat leaves from a dock on the north side of the American Falls, which it passes by and then down into the Horseshoe Falls. While in the Horseshoe Falls area the mist was so thick you could barely see parts of the waterfall. As part of the boat tour, they provided translucent blue rain ponchos which we were glad to have. The hardest part was keeping our camera dry while trying to take photos. Later that night we went back down to Niagara Falls to view the illumination of the falls and later the fireworks. These amazing light shows were compliments of the Canadians.

The next day at Niagara Falls was spent with our dogs hiking the Niagara Gorge Whirlpool Trail. This was a moderately difficult hike with many stairs to descend, then a lot of rock hopping along the riverside. Then, of course, we had to ascend the stairs returning to the trailhead. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the hike and seeing the river at the lower level.

Our last day at Niagara Falls was spent on a scenic drive heading north up along Lake Ontario. Neither of us had ever seen the lake so we wanted to check it out.  We also drove through Fort Niagara which was a historic military base during the Revolutionary War. From the Fort property we were able to see the inlet where the Niagara River flows out to Lake Ontario.

All in all, our time in the Niagara Falls area was well spent and we truly enjoyed it. Neither of us really knew what to expect, but it actually turned out to be much more beautiful and interesting than we had thought it would be. We had decided to stay an extra day so we could see everything.

Summer 2016 - New York, Adirondacks, Lake Clear

Monday, September 5^th – Sunday, September 11^th

Charlie’s Inn Junction & Campground, Lake Clear, New York

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/arLiYRzZqH17nyS39

The weather was gorgeous and we had a beautiful drive out of Rutland Vermont over to the Adirondacks. Along the way we stopped in the lower Champlain Valley at an overlook, with a great view of the valley and mountains in the distance. Once we arrived in the Adirondacks region we passed through Lake Placid, the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics and then Saranac Lake, a beautiful little town bordering a few lakes. Driving along the roads in the Adirondacks we passed through many small villages surrounded by high peak mountains and hiking trailheads everywhere. We arrived at Charlie's Inn Junction & Campground to find very historic site, which is now privately owned. This was once a main railroad depot for the Central Line Railroad in New York. All of the original buildings are still on the property including the depot and the Inn, which is still operating as a lodge and great restaurant.

We quickly realized that our main activity here in the Adirondacks would be hiking. There are so many mountain peaks in the area and some amazing hiking trails. One of the hikes that we did was to climb to the top of Ampersand Mountain.  This hike was a challenging rocky ascent of 1775’ to the summit at 1942’. The dogs were with us and we were all enjoying the challenging steep hike. Within ½ mile of the peak, one of the descending hikers informed us that there was a large rock face about 6 to 8 feet high that needed to be climbed over to get to the peak. Once I heard this, Kody and I both decided to turn around and head back to the truck, since that was not our favorite thing to do and we were pretty exhausted at that point after already hiking almost 3 miles.  We waited at the truck for about another hour and a half before Kurt and Luca arrived. Kurt did get some beautiful pictures of the views from the summit. I really wish I could have made it and I was disappointed that I didn't have the courage to climb the rock face.

We decided one day to drive over to Lake Placid and to explore the areas and the sites from the 1980 Winter Olympics. We saw the site of the ski jumps, which are still intact and used in the winter. It’s so hard to imagine that people ski down from that high tower on ice. We also went to the arena which is also a Convention Center.  There were banners regarding the historic hockey game where the USA beat the Russians by one point and won the gold medal. Who can forget the “Miracle on Ice”? It was so hard to imagine that this small mountain town of Lake Placid would be flooded with hundreds of thousands of attendees and athletes for the Olympic Winter Games, it must have been truly packed.

Another day we did a great hike up St. Regis Mountain. The hike was 3.3 miles one way with an ascent of 1260’ to the summit of 1942’. This time all four of us made it up another steep, rocky hike and reached the summit. At the summit was an old fire tower, which Kurt climbed to the top. Again, the views from this rocky top mountain were amazing; the whole landscape dotted with mountains, the high peaks to the East and lakes all around.  Even though it was a challenging hike, I still enjoyed it and was very pleased I was able to make it to the summit.

Lake Clear is a lovely lake with crystal clear water and some sandy beaches. We found that just a short walk from our campground there was a beautiful beach that faced the west and was a perfect spot for sunset. A couple of nights we took the dogs to run and play on the beach. We sat there, had happy hour and watched the sunset, even though both times there were clouds on the horizon. It was still a lovely place to sit and relax and watch the sun go down.

One day Kurt kayaked and fished on the Saranac chain of Lakes. This is a very popular kayak and canoe area. The lakes are dotted with numerous islands that are set aside for primitive camping. Outfitters in the area will set up customers with boats and camping gear, to spend several nights on the lakes. Kurt just enjoyed a day paddle there. He also paddled on the Raquette River for a couple of miles. He enjoyed the lakes much more than the river.

One of the most unusual activities we've had on this whole trip is taking a ride on a bicycle rail car, called Rail Explorers. This was a fun activity that began in Saranac Lake and ended on Lake Clear, with specially built bicycle rail cars that you pedal yourself on the rails. We decided it was worth the price, since this was so unusual that we thought we may never get a chance to do something like this again. With a front and rear escort, each group of people had their own individual rail cars and  they evenly space out the cars about 300 feet so you could peddle the rail car at your own speed and enjoy the sights. Along the way we passed by bogs and a few lakes, including Lake Clear. As we passed through the Lake Clear area we were able to see our campground and the historic buildings. At the end of the 7 ½ mile ride they shuttled everyone back to the beginning in a comfortable bus. These are older rails, no longer used by trains and are slated to be pulled up and the whole course will be turned into a rail trail for multi-use. We really had fun on a beautiful day enjoying this very different activity.

On our last evening there we spent time at the lake to watch the sunset and let the dogs run free.

We really enjoyed the Adirondacks, a 6-million acre wilderness region. It was really different from many other places we have been. With the lakes, surrounded by mountains all around made this very special place.

Summer 2016 - Maine, Saco River & Vermont, Rutland

Friday, August 26th - Sunday, September 4^th

On The Saco River, Brownfield, Maine

Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/1iLK2gBA52idiZ78A

For our next stop, we headed toward southwest Maine in the Lakes Region. We found a beautiful RV park, On the Saco Family Campground. It was literally on the Saco River which we were looking forward to kayaking. We arrived there on Friday August 26th, setup camp and met our wonderful RV neighbors. Again we found several of RV neighbors there were actually from Maine not too far away, and were keeping their campers there on a seasonal basis. The owners of the campground were also river outfitters; they rented kayaks, canoes, tubes and offered shuttle service.

During our time there, I ran shuttle for Kurt and dropped him off on the river 5 miles upstream. He enjoyed his day of kayaking and caught a 5 pound black smallmouth bass, which he later fried up for dinner.  We also went kayaking another day with the dogs to paddle a 3-mile trip down the Saco River. It was a nice day and all 4 of us really enjoyed it.

We found a local hiking trail called Burnt Meadow Trail. It was supposedly a moderate hike but again we found it was more strenuous than advertised. The five-mile trail was actually quite beautiful up to the 1575' summit of the mountain. As we neared the top, I was faced with a six-foot-high rock face that I would need to climb up and over. By that point I was pretty exhausted and decided it was not a smart thing for me to take that risk. So Kody and I decided to head back down the trail and would wait for the other two at the truck. Kurt took some beautiful pictures at the summit of the surrounding views and eventually finished the five-mile loop. When he got back to the truck he even admitted that the trail was more strenuous than he had anticipated.

I had also found some highly rated mountain bike trails just across the state line in New Hampshire in the town of North Conway. We drove over there and rode several miles of the trails. They were fun trails, but not so easy to follow as they weren't well marked. However, we still enjoyed the ride and exercise.

We loved the Saco Campground so much that we extended our five days to seven to make it a full week. It was so well worth it, a wonderful campground with great people and great owners. We highly recommend this campground to anyone wanting to travel through that part of Maine.

Gifford Woods State Park, Rutland, Vermont

Our next stop on our way heading west was a return to our favorite place in Vermont, Rutland. We again camped at Gifford Woods State Park and even had the exact same camp site as we did in July. We really love the campground and the whole area around Rutland that we just had to go back one more time. One of my favorite things about Rutland was the wonderful mountain bike trails in the city park of Pine Hill. We rode there for two days and truly enjoyed these wonderfully engineered and maintained trails. During this visit, I was able to accomplish more due to the riding that we have been doing on our whole trip. Over the summer, my riding skills have improved greatly and I was also extremely happy to have accomplished getting to the very top of this mountain in Pine Hill Park. Of course, the ride down was even more fun. We both had two wonderful days there and someday we hope to go back again.

Our last day in the area we drove over to the Killington ski resort. During the summers they have downhill mountain biking on the ski slopes. This is an extreme mountain biking experience and you have to have the proper protective gear and even special mountain bikes to ride on the downhill slopes. The riders take their bikes up to the top of the mountain on the Gondola lift and then ride downhill.  I did drop off Kurt at the base of the gondolas, where he was able to ride some other slopes downhill that were not as extreme as the upper ski slopes. We met some really nice folks from Massachusetts that had been riding there for 3 days. They were well-equipped and explained to us all the hazards and safety gear required to ride there.

Again we truly enjoyed our three days in the Rutland area. There's just something about that part of Vermont that just feels like home to me. Hopefully someday we'll go back to that area and spend much more time. Our next adventure will be in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

Summer 2016 - Maine, Acadia National Park

Friday, August 19^th – Thursday, August 25^th

Hadley’s Point Campground, Bar Harbor, Maine

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/5GdsBCXjkVMpfKFS9

After leaving the wilderness of Baxter State Park, we headed south to Acadia National Park. We stayed in a commercial RV park near Bar Harbor. We arrived there late in the afternoon, got set up and were ready to just relax for the evening.

The next day we stopped by the Visitor Center, then decided to drive the Park Loop Road to get our bearings and get some idea of what we wanted to do for the remaining days. We were immediately stunned at the wilderness, mountain settings and views of this amazing island park. Acadia is a 47,000 acre park, primarily on Mount Desert Island on the coast of Maine. The landscape is marked by woodlands, rocky beaches, lakes and glacier scoured granite peaks such as Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the United States East Coast. One of the best features of the park is the free shuttle bus that drives visitors to various points around the park where they can get on and off at trailheads or places of interest, such as the village of Bar Harbor. The buses stopped right inside our campground, which was very convenient. This allowed us to utilize the shuttle system and not have to worry about finding parking spaces which most of the time very hard to get.

The next morning, we took the dogs on the shuttle bus and headed for Jordan Pond. We hiked part of the trail around the lake and relaxed looking at the awesome views from the lake. It was wonderful that they allowed dogs on the buses and the hiking trails. We continued the bus ride around the park to determine where the hiking trailhead locations and which ones we would hike. We made our plans for the next four days in Acadia.

We knew that most of our activities in this park would be hiking and also discovered that there were historic Carriage Trails throughout the park where we could ride our bicycles. We drove to Jordan Pond parking area, where many of the carriage trails emanated. We had intended on taking our bikes on the shuttle bus, but the bike racks they had would not fit our new 29" fat tire wheels. We then took our bikes and drove our truck to Jordan Pond, and were very lucky to find a parking space. We rode the beautiful trails for several miles and around Jordan Pond.

Later that day we took the bus to Bar Harbor to check out the village and the amazing views of the bay. Bar Island is located a few hundred feet from the shore and during low tide, the sandbar is exposed and people can walk across to the island, but must come back during low tide. Frenchman Bay is dotted with many small islands and the waters were filled with moored lobster boats and sailboats. We walked along a coastal path through Bar Harbor and followed the rocky coast. The village was filled with restaurants, shopping and touristy shops. We did stop by a local bar and have a drink while we waited to get on the bus back to camp.

The next day we drove over to another part of Acadia, called the “quiet side”. We parked at the trailhead for Beech Mountain Trail. The dogs were with us as they also love to hike. The hike to the peak of Beech Mountain was not too steep or difficult, relatively speaking for Acadia. At the peak was a fire tower and spectacular 360 views of the ocean, islands, inland lakes and mountain peaks. After that hike we rested for a while at the trailhead and Kurt decided to hike to another trail, Beech Cliffs; while the dogs and I hiked the Valley Trail. Both of these trails again presented us with amazing views and beautiful forests. After returning to camp, we decided this was the night to have our Maine lobster. We went to a nearby lobster market and brought back a complete dinner, two lobsters, two pounds of mussels, corn, and even melted butter. It was so delicious and comfortable to eat in our RV.

Another day we went hiking again. Kurt wanted to hike a serious trail called Precipice. This trail has metal rungs in order to climb rock faces. I chose another trail, based out of the Sieur de Monts location. This was the homestead of the original founder of Acadia, George Dorr. There was a spring on this beautiful property, a nature center, gardens with native plants and several trails. I hiked up the mountain on the Emery Trail, which was built by the CCC and consisted of over 500 stone steps to the top. The trail I took back down was the Homans Trail, which was more steep and very rocky, but enjoyable with great views of the harbor. Kurt continued his hiking to meet me at Sieur de Monts. From there we took the bus back to the campground.

Our final hike was to the peak of Cadillac Mountain, the tallest in the park. The bus stopped at the trailhead for the North Ridge Trail. This rocky 2.1 mile trail took us to Cadillac Peak. There we again saw amazing views and ate our lunch. We had decided to take a shorter trail down the mountain to Bubble Pond, where we could get back on the bus. This 1.4 mile trail was extremely steep with mostly rock faces to descend. OMG, I was so challenged and Kurt was so frustrated that I moved so slow. Even though it was a shorter trail, it took us much more time to descend. Even as careful as I was, I did slip on a wet section of slick rock. Fortunately, I only gashed my right elbow and arm, and sprained my wrist. I always carry a first aid kit and it came in handy. We were so relieved when we finally made it to the bottom. I felt the pain that night and the next day was very sore. At least I didn’t break anything!

Our last night in Acadia was spent with a drive to Cadillac Mountain peak to watch the sunset. On our way, we stopped at the lobster market and got lobster roll dinners to go. We also took the dogs. When we found a place to park at the top, the wind was blowing around 40 mph and the horizon skies were cloudy, so there was not much to view of the sunset. The dogs got to get out and run leash free for a while and had fun. Even with the sunset and wind issues, we enjoyed this special place and time as our last adventure in Acadia.

The next day we would head southwest in Maine to stay in the lakes region. We could have stayed longer in Acadia, but there is still so much to experience in Maine.

Summer 2016 - Maine, Mt. Katahdin, Baxter State Park

Sunday, August 14^th – Thursday, August 18^th

Wilderness Edge Campground, Millinocket Maine

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/zkEk4gPjQWZpqw7Z7

Our first stop in Maine was Millinocket, in the northern part of the state, which is near Baxter State Park. Within this park is Mt. Katahdin, which is the tallest mountain in the US east of the Mississippi. The summit of Mt. Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Many A.T. through hikers celebrate the arrival at the summit as the end of their 2300 mile trek. Climbing this mountain to the summit has always been one of Kurt's dreams.

We camped at an RV park called Wilderness Edge and it really was. It was the closest campground to the state park without being in the park. We really loved the campground, as it gave us the feeling of being in a wilderness area.

Kurt had already obtained the permit to do the hike and had all of his gear organized, packed and ready to go. Our first day we simply drove up to Baxter State Park, visited the ranger station to get all the information we needed and finalize his plans. It was exciting to get our first glimpse of Mount Katahdin from a distance, even though it was a beautiful day, the top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. Kurt was hoping for a clear day for his hike the next day. The whole area was very much wilderness, dotted with glacial lakes throughout the region and many more mountain peaks beyond Katahdin.

After a day of resting and final preparations for the 10-hour hike, Kurt struck out early the next morning. The plan was to drop him off at the Hunt Trailhead (Appalachian Trail), where he would leave from and at the end of the day, at a specified time, I would pick him up at the lower end of the Abol Trailhead, which he would descend. The one concern that we had was that there was no cell service available until he got to the summit, where he would be able to send me a text.

Kurt began his trek to the summit and as you will see in the pictures there are many amazing sights along the way with signs regarding the mountain and the trails. One beautiful view was of Katahdin Stream Falls, which the trail followed for a short distance. As he ascended the mountainside, he was able to see more distant views of mountains and lakes. The higher he went the more large rocks and boulders began consuming the trail. At this point the hike became a rock scrambling experience. Some of the boulders were taller than he is and were a real challenge, but he had no problems crawling up and over the rocks.

He eventually ascended the mountain where he was above the tree line. At that point the trail was just rocks and a few tundra plants covering the ground. About a little over a mile from the summit he walked up to an area called the tablelands. At this point the elevation flattened out making the hiker feel that this was going to be as easy from this point. He explained to me that it really fooled a lot of hikers as they thought that it was going to be easy when he said it really became tougher.  Along the way he would take rest breaks, have some snacks and water to make sure he was properly nourished throughout the hike.

On his final approach to the summit he was able to see the rocky top of the mountain, with probably three or four dozen other hikers who had already made it there. At the very summit there is a rugged wooden sign with all the details about Katahdin and Baxter Peak. The elevation at the peak is 5267 feet, nearby the peak is a huge rock cairn that is exactly 13 feet high so that that Katahdin peak is exactly a mile high at 5280 feet. When he arrived at the summit he was able to send a text letting me know his approximate time of arrival at the base of the mountain.
While at the summit he walked out onto a very rugged, dangerous trail called the Knife Edge. Some hikers will descend the mountain via this trail, but Kurt just wanted to experience the feel of being out there and realized that with the vertigo that he has sometimes that it was probably not a good idea.

He then headed back to the planned trail for the descent, the Abol Trail. The descent down this trail was just as rugged as the ascending trail. He arrived at the base trailhead about 30 minutes sooner than expected.  He was able to hike the total 10 miles in 7 hours and 45 minutes. All I can say is that he was so thrilled to have done it and accomplished one of his greatest dreams.

For the remaining two days there, we hiked the A.T. with the dogs. One day we headed south on a most beautiful hike through the wilderness that looked like a rain forest. There was moss covering the ground and rocks, with ferns all around. This part of the A.T. began a section of 100 miles of total wilderness. This is the longest wilderness section of the A.T. and hikers are warned to be prepared with food and water for 10 days, which would be the average hiking time for this mileage. There is a history of some hikers not surviving this section; due to lack of food, weather exposure and getting lost off trail. This can be a dangerous hike if one is not knowledgeable and prepared. However, the vast majority of hikers make it to Katahdin as planned.

The last day there, we hiked north on the A.T. traveling into Baxter S.P. This section was less rocky and no steep areas, as it followed along the banks of the Penobscot River. It was a lovely hike and after about 3 miles, we came across a waterfall on the Katahdin Stream at the confluence of the Penobscot River. This was the place where we had our lunch and rested, enjoying the waterfall. The dogs played in the water and drank all they wanted. After getting back to the trailhead, we were ready to get back to camp and begin preparing to leave the next day.

Our five days in this wilderness area of Maine were so enjoyable, we could have stayed a couple of more days. However, we were excited to get to Acadia N.P. This was the main destination for our New England tour.