100 Mile Wilderness ?'s

[DWT]

Anybody on here ever attempted this?  Got any tips or cool info?  Is there a guidebook?

[frik]

JBrochu did it a couple years ago - PM him.
 

[MT]

I did it back in '05 w/ my wife as she was finishing her AT hike. We did it in Sept, I think. Started from Monson (sp) and went North to Kathadin. A stay at the hiker hostel in Monson is a must (can't remember the name, but quite a dive). I'd say that most folks who are reasonably capable in the backwoods and with a solid fitness level should have no problem with it. The big hitch is hauling all of your gear/food. Also, timing. Too early and the bugs will eat you alive. If a major storm hits (we caught the tail end of Katrina or one of those hurricanes coming up the cost), the river crossings could be dangerous/cost you time (we almost got washed away on a xing). Check w/ the Maine AT folks about logistics/details/timing.

White House Landing (if it's still there/open) was a nice respite and a place to restock. The only one w/in the wilderness. They sell a burger the size of your head. I think it was 16 oz or something insane like that.

Oh, and come prepared. I ripped the sole off of one of my hiking boots (too cheap to upgrade from the old college beasts) and ended up hiking 80 miles in my Crocs. My feet were so blistered and infected by the time I got to Millinocket, I passed on summiting Kathadin.

All that said, enjoy!

Mike

[eyebolter]

I did it with my Mom and 5 other kids when I was 13 in 1974.  No, I have no advice other than I remember a lot of bugs and mud.
Once I started technical climbing at 16 I gave up my AT ambitions for good.   Have er..fun.

[JBro]

As frik said I did it a few years ago. I definitely would recommend doing it in the fall to avoid the bugs, plus you have a better chance at nice weather. Don't miss Antlers Campsite, which is a really nice place to stay. I think we did it in 8 days without resupply, but if I did it again I would shoot for 6 days and would resupply at White House Landing, thereby carrying a really light pack and making more miles every day. Add more time if you're going to finish with Katahdin - we stopped at Abol Bridge.

There are two good places to stay in Monson: Shaw's Boarding House (awesome breakfast) and Lakeshore House (decent beer selection).

Here are a few photos I posted at backpackinglight.com after my trip.

Sunrise from Antlers Campsite:




East Branch Pleasant River:

[alclimbup2]

Hey Derek: did this section of the AT many moons ago, it was great, Monson to Katahdin, is mostly a lot of flat sections where you can really tick off the miles, we took our time, 10 days I think but met a guy who was doing it in 5 days, 20 miles a day, existing on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Nice lean to shelters to chose from along the way. And...take an extra day or two and check out the side trail into Gulf Hagas (the grand canyon of the east) , is not far out of Monson if I remember, fantastic rock gorges with waterfalls and rapids, with our basic crude fishing hand lines using grubs and worms we dug up, we caught 2 landlocked salmon and a beautiful brook trout in a pool in Gulf Hagas. We went in middle of summer and had great weather. A great long distance hike

Hey side note,  due to having to do chores this saturday morning , will be at Rimmon sat afternoon after 1:00 if you are not up north, come find us, hope all is well with you and family.... Al   

[DWT]

Count me in Al.  Erin is in New Jersey this weekend, so I'll be home too.  See you there.

[alclimbup2]

cool, will give you more info on the 100 mile wilderness then, now we probably wont get there until around 2:30 (things changed again) but we will be there, I'll pm you friday night

[apbt1976]

Is this something you could run or would it be a lot of really fast up hill speed walking if you tried. For a seasoned trail runner i am asking of course.

[alclimbup2]

You could run the majority of it, other than Katahdin at the end, and a section thru "whitecap' (or whitesomething I believe) mountain that involves real elevation gain hiking, huge sections are quite flat with a really nice trail base, could run it

[JakeDatc]

AWOL's  AT guide will probably be enough for a guidebook.   

i thought about doing that this year  but have decided to do the Long trail instead. 

[apbt1976]

You could run the majority of it, other than Katahdin at the end, and a section thru "whitecap' (or whitesomething I believe) mountain that involves real elevation gain hiking, huge sections are quite flat with a really nice trail base, could run it

Did not even think till after i read the response my question that i kinda took the thread off topic.

Sorry!!

[adamiata]

Is this something you could run or would it be a lot of really fast up hill speed walking if you tried. For a seasoned trail runner i am asking of course.

Why yes, yes you could. 

A friend and I ran it in a single push last August. Details are here if you're interested: http://adamiata.blogspot.com/2011/08/100-mile-wilderness-run-maine.html

[JBro]

Adam you're a real sicko!

I was actually going to post your 100 mile trip report in here when I got around to finding it. You and your mutt passed me last October early in the morning near the summit of Liberty. I was training for a pemi loop and was pretty pissed off to get passed so easily until I figured out it was you.

edit: might have been early November.

[adamiata]

Did you ever get your Pemi Loop done?

It was October and doggie was doing his first Pemi Loop - handled it like a champ.

Is this something you could run or would it be a lot of really fast up hill speed walking if you tried. For a seasoned trail runner i am asking of course.

To more completely answer your question, the Northern 50 miles is quite runnable, mostly good footing and not a huge amount of gain. The section over Whitecap is very much like typical 4,000 footer in the whites, rough footing and lots of gain. The Barren-Chairback range is a total bitch, lots of up and down with really gnarly footing. The Southern 15 miles is rolling and ledgy, mostly runnable if you were fresh.