AT Round 2

Appalachian Trail – Round 2 July 27, 2021

Rangeley Goes to Rangeley! 7/26 – 7/29.2021

Rangeley, Maine has a long history in hunting, fishing and trapping. In addition to those outdoor recreational activities, today, the Rangeley Lakes Region is visited by those that love to ATV, ride snow mobiles, downhill ski, enjoy float planes and hike.

We have been excited to go to the Rangeley Lakes Region in Rangeley, Maine for a few reasons. Our 15-month-old Silver Lab, Rangeley was named after this area; We enjoy the Town and Lake Motel’s lakeside rooms with a back deck spanning all the rooms allowing each guest to overlook the lake on their private chairs; and we have met several Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hikers this trip and are meeting up with them again. When Gary thru hiked and section hiked we stayed at this motel.

As you enter the Rangeley Lakes Region there is a parking lot where the AT hikers cross, about 9 miles before the town of Rangeley, population 1,000. We pulled in and parked, unloaded the car of water, Gatorades, cokes, beer, chips and cookies awaiting our hiking friends to appear out of the dense forest. If you didn’t read our first AT trail magic post under Roaming Rangeley, Gary (AZ) metGrasshopper and Metta during Gary’s section in June. We have been connecting with them as they finish their 2,193 mile thru hike to Mt Katahdin – the end of the trail for a northbound hike from Georgia to Maine.

We were not at the AT Rangeley Parking Lot long when Grasshopper and Metta stepped out of the woods. Rangeley was very excited to see them again! There was another woman that joined us while waiting for her section hiker husband to walk out as well and three additional thru hikers rounded out our merry little band of snackers! After socializing a while, we took two thru hikers to The Hiker Hut hostel near the parking lot and then we drove Grasshopper and Metta the 9 miles to the Town and Lake Motel in Rangeley, ME where we are all staying.

The four of us later joined Aqua Dog, Trainer and Savage (3 other thru hikers Gary had hiked with last month) at a restaurant in town overlooking a park and Rangeley Lake. After dinner the 7 of us walked over to the very popular Pine Tree Frosty and enjoyed ice cream. Aqua Dog is in school to be a vet and loved playing with Rangeley each time we saw him!

Grasshopper’s shirt was torn where his backpack shoulder strap rubs so Gary offered him an extra shirt. We also noticed Grasshopper’s toes starting to peak out of his hiking boots so Gary offered him his hiking shoes when we leave them in a couple days. Grasshopper will finish the AT and stand at the Katahdin sign wearing Gary’s pants (previous AT journal), shirt and shoes! Gary only has about 300 miles of trail to finish someday, before a complete section hike, and mentioned he will feel good that at least his clothes are finishing! Just to back fill some information about clothing etc. when hiking the AT…it is very common for shirts to wear thin due to the backpack, pants to tear on rocks, trekking poles to bend or break and shoes to wear out. Grasshopper has been unable to find a good sporting goods store in this rural section of Maine, otherwise he would have bought his own supplies. Gary changed his shoes out every 500 miles and bought new clothing alone the way but others, often the 20- to 30-yr-olds taking 6 months off work to hike the AT are on a “shoestring” budget, as the saying goes, and wear the same shoes and tattered clothes the whole way. Great first day!

The next morning Grasshopper and Gary hiked 5.7 miles to the summit of Saddleback Mountain. A few miles in they caught up to Sticks and Ranger (who we had lunch with a few days ago), another thru hiking couple that Gary had hiked with last month. The four of them summited in the clouds on a chilly windy morning. After a snack and some rest Gary headed south back to the parking lot and the three thru hikers continued north where we all planned to meet tomorrow afternoon at the Stratton road crossing.

Metta took a “0” (day off) and we enjoyed a leisurely morning enjoying breakfast in our kitchenette room, walking into town and enjoying all the compliments Rangeley was getting from Bible School Camp kids at a church, local store owners and visitors passing by.

Midafternoon we headed back down to the Rangeley trailhead to do trail magic. Gary received a text from Trainer that they were headed back to the ice cream shop with Stu, Disco and Seeker.  So back to town we went before we even got out of the van. Gary had hiked with these three as well and they had just summited Katahdin and drove down to Rangeley. The small town is collection point for hikers with a grocery store for resupplying their packs with needs for camping out on the trail, doing laundry and catching up with other’s they have hiked on and off with for the previous 2000 miles! This made 12 hikers that we saw that Gary had hiked with. (The next day we saw jpeg to make it 13 hikers, what fun!!)

The next morning Metta, Gary, Rangeley and I headed out after a pancake breakfast to drive around Rangeley Lake. Our first stop was Height of Land, overlooking Mooselookmeguntic Lake. A lake name that first appears to be intimidating to pronounce but it’s easier when broken down…Moose-Look-Me-Gun-Tic. We had everything to do trail magic but were unsure whether we would have any hikers. When we arrived, there was a young lady who had left Springer Mountain on April 10^th sitting on a bench, so she was our first “customer”. After a she left we had a few SOBO hikers and a few NOBOs show up so Gary pulled out the grill and cooked hot dogs for the hungry hikers. Everyone was very appreciative, as usual. After the crew all moved on, so did we, to Rangeley Lake State Park where pup Rangeley got to go swimming again.

Midafternoon we piled back into the van and drove to the Stratton Trailhead about 30 minutes from the motel. Gary and Rangeley hiked south about .7 miles where they met the crew (Grasshopper, Sticks and Ranger) Gary left at the summit of Saddleback the day before and hiked back north to the parking lot with them.  We set up the propane camp stove where Gary cooked hot dogs and chicken sausage, along with plenty of veggies, hummus, chips and dip, beer and soda. The typical dinner for long distance hikers who crave salt, meat and veggies. Gary joked that Sticks and Ranger are Rangeley’s favorite trail names – Ranger was a Park Ranger. Rangeley’s been to 42 parks in his short 15-month life and Sticks, Ranger’s wife’s trail name, is his favorite toy!

Today (Thursday 7/29) was our last full day full day in Rangeley. The hiking crew decided a slow start was in order so we cooked a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and cinnamon rolls for Metta and Grasshopper before loading up and driving over to the Stratton trailhead. Gary dropped us off then continued a few miles down the road to the Hostel of Maine to pick up Ranger and Sticks. The 6 of us then headed north on the AT together with Rangeley leading the way. I had hiked a mile in yesterday so I was familiar with the terrain. At first, I was a bit nervous about slowing down a bunch of seasoned thru hikers, but they were supportive and welcoming at my pace. Rangeley loved the fact we crossed about 6 streams in the 2-mile journey into the woods filled with sticks. We had to return on the same trail so he got to play in every stream twice! Talk about Rangeley heaven. At our turn around point we said our sad good byes. We plan to connect with Grasshopper and Metta again. Once we got back to the van our very tired pup crashed as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot.

The Rangeley Lakes Region has been everything we thought it would be. Our Rangeley got to swim in front of our motel room each day, he hiked, played in streams, got LOTS of attention from AT hikers and visitors to this area and I the woodsy Maine vacation was all that I remembered from our years living in northern Maine in the 1980’s and visiting Rangeley, ME at least twice before. We look forward to another Maine visit soon.

Next on Roaming Rangeley: visiting our family in Vermont then off to Rangeley’s breeders in Amish country, Millersburg. Ohio!

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us!

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