Wednesday June 19, 18.1mi/29.1km

Baldpate shelter (1927.1) to Andover/S Arm Road (1945.2) (ME)

Bob and I left the shelter at 7:15am, and did the 1000ft/300m climb up Baldpate mountains. The first peak had a nice preview of the second Baldpate.

The walk between the two peaks was in a shallow saddle, and felt like a sidewalk!

Going up the second Baldpate was steep granite slab hiking. Photos don’t really show the steepness well.

The summit had great views in all directions!

And it was even a perfect weather day to see. It seems many hikers end up here during a foggy day, so it was fun to have good timing.

And then, a steep descent on slab rock, some of it was wet. After that, we spent all day in the forest.

At the bottom of the descent, we crossed a river, and Dunn Falls. It dropped off just a few feet below the trail’s river crossing!

And then, UP steeply to another peak, this one was wooded with only one small view.

And finally, a knee-crunching descent back down to a small river, and the road crossing where the hostel would be picking us up.

“Yukon”, the hostel owner, picked us up just before 5pm. And then it started to rain! The ride was long, and it took 30 minutes to get to town and the hostel. But it’s so cool! I’ve never slept in a geodesic done before…

The storm in the mountains.

Even the inside of the hostel was fancy.

There were 3 other NOBO hikers there, and 2 SOBO hikers. We have seven total people! I haven’t seen this many since Virginia. It was a fun night!