The 100 Mile Wilderness: White House Landing

White House Landing: advertised as "an oasis with the 100 Mile Wilderness."  Hansel and Gretel stayed here their last night of the 100 miles.  The method of access to get to White House Landing was truly unique.  The hostel is located about a mile off the trail.  Hansel and Gretel had to wind their way along the shore of another lovely Maine lake until they came out to a dock.  From the dock, they were able to see the house across the lake.  At the end of the dock, there was a fog horn.  They tooted the fog horn and a guy came out of the house and boarded a little boat which he used to cross the lake and collect Hansel and Gretel.

White House Landing had a few private cabins where hikers could stay, though these were a little more expensive than the bunk house where Hansel and Gretel slept.  The house had no electricity and the pluming was fed straight from the water in the lake which the owners of the hostel pumped every day.  For this reason, they asked that showers be restricted to as few minutes as possible.  The water was warmed by solar heat.  They didn't have a true bathroom.  Just a compost privy.  For dinner, you could pay for one of two options.  You could either have a 1-pound burger or a 14-inch pizza.  Hansel selected the burger and Gretel got the pizza... although, Hansel ended up consuming half of Gretel's pizza since she got full after 4 slices.  "Gretel wimped out," Hansel explained.  For desert they had homemade whoopee pies- a Maine staple!

The next morning, the White House Landing care takers agreed to serve breakfast at 7am so that Hansel and Gretel could hit the trail as early as possible.  They planned on leaving their packs at the hostel where Two Bad, mom, and I could hike in and pick them up so that they would be able to slack pack a 31 mile day to finish the 100 Mile Wilderness.  Also staying at the hostel were two South Bounders, just beginning their AT excursion toward Georgia.  Hansel and Gretel finished their breakfast quickly and prepared their day packs so they were ready to go.  They would have to take the boat back across the lake in order start, but the two South Bounders were moving very slowly.

"Hey, we're ready to go when you are," Hansel said to them in an effort to get them to move it along.  Apparently Hansel was a litte too subtle and these South Bounders just didn't get the hint that they really wanted to leave asap.  Their boat driver was also fully prepared and the three of them were just kinda sitting around waiting for the other hikers to get it together.

Finally the boat man said, "You know what?  Screw 'em!  I'll waste the gas.  I don't care."  Once on the boat and out of ear shot he expressed a few more sentiments.

"These f***ing South Bounders.  THey don't know what they're doing.  You guys are quick.  You have it together.  You know what you're doing.  But these South Bounders, they take forever.  You're always waiting on them.  They piss me off."

And he was kind of right too.  North Bounders have the routine down.  By the time they reach Maine, they are very efficient and they understand how important their time and energy is.  Nothing is waisted.  South Bounders have not yet realized this.  The guys running White House Landing were also extremely efficient, so they appreciated Hansel and Gretel's timeliness.  It was very kind of the boat man to take Hansel and Gretel across early, because they certainly did have a long day ahead of them.

Later that day, mom, Two Bad and I hiked into the woods to retrieve Hansel and Gretel's packs.  There was a road that took us to the edge of the woods, and then we had to walk about .5 miles to the house.  Well, we would have had to walk .5 miles if we had taken that left turn at the start of the trail.  Instead we hiked about three quarters of a mile until mom called the White House Landing to clarify the directions.  Even driving in was kind of crazy.  There were no real street signs.  Instead we were given land marks.  "It's the third turn marked by a boulder that has graffiti on it.  Then turn left at the place with a hundred signs (*see picture bellow)."  Somehow in all those directions, we missed the left turn at the start of the hiking trail.  So our 1 mile pack retrieval ended up being a 2.5 mile pack retrieval.  This was my first time hiking since breaking my ankle, but luckily the trail was flat and tame, so the 2.5 miles were nothing too worry about.  We got their packs, took some pictures, and headed to the hotel.

Happy Trails!

The left turn marked by 100 signs to get to White House Landing.

Mom and Two Bad looking out at the lake at White House Landing.  You can see the small motor boat that brought Hansel and Gretel across the lake.

Me, Two Bad, and Mom at White House Landing, collecting Hansel and Gretel's packs.

Mountainous Tumbles

If you have never hiked the Appalachian Trail before or any trail for that matter, you might be wondering how Hansel and Gretel are finding their way through the woods.  Well, every so often, they pass a trail marker, or a white blaze, much like the one in the picture below, assuring them that they are still on the path.  This has been working very well so far, and aside from the one time when Gretel went South instead of North on the trail, they have not gotten lost yet.  Today, however, they were not so lucky. 

White Blaze... you can see Gretel in the background 

Somehow, they managed to take a very wrong turn and ended up falling off the trail… literally… and practically tumbled down the side of the mountain!  Once their downward momentum slowed, they had a choice to make: Attempt to climb back up the mountain to the trail, or bushwack (bushwacking means to trudge through uncut, unmarked woods making your own messy path as you go and hope you end up somewhere convenient without getting poison ivy) their way back to where the trail picks up at the bottom of the mountain.  They decided to bushwack.   

They ended up finding another trail that led them to a road at the base of the mountain.  They were both exhausted and a little traumatized by their mountainous fall, not to mention completely clueless about where they were.   Gretel wondered if someone would help them if she worked up some tears.  

“I really just feel like crying right now, so maybe that could get us something.  Lemonade?  A seat on someone’s couch?”  She was feeling pretty desperate. 

Just then, they spotted an Appalachian Trail sign with a house right next to it.   As they approached, a person came out of the house and greeted them. 

“So, you here to here to stay at the hostel?”  The person asked.  I guess no tears were necessary.  Not knowing where they actually were, Hansel and Gretel inquired about their location.  Apparently, they had walked right to the front steps of a hostel that had just reopened and was so new, it hadn’t even made it into the AT Guide Book yet.  What luck!  They had made it to Catawba, found a hostel, and now could relax until tomorrow when they would meet Dad!  The Death March is over!

Until next time, happy trails!




And here are a few pictures of the trail friends Hansel and Gretel have spotted along the way:

Mooooo!

Box Turtle