Roaming Rangeley 2023 Part 3

Rangeley enjoying a morning swim in the Atlantic Ocean – Kittery, ME

Roaming Rangeley Summer 2023

Salem, NH to Vermont

August 10 – 14, 2023

G: We got going from Salem, NH and headed toward Maine Thursday, August 10th. No planned hikes today so I figured we would stop and get a NH geocache. We found a nice area of State Land Trust property with a few geocaches on it that was only a mile off our intended route. Perfect. Rangeley got to run (I walked) on a nice cool (low 60s) but humid morning. The mosquitos were out in droves, but no big deal. We ran in to a local who was wearing long pants and a hooded sweatshirt to minimize skin exposure. He joked that there are about two weeks in fall where he doesn’t need a sweatshirt because then he wears it for warmth.

Our morning goal was Fort Foster State Park in Kittery Maine. I had read they had a beach that was dog friendly. We arrived at 9:15 and found the park didn’t open till 10:00. Several people had parked on the side of the road outside the gate and walked the ½ mile to the water. Sounds fine to me. At the beach it said dogs must be leashed from 10:00AM to 6:00PM. Perfect, we had the beach to ourselves, so Rangeley could run loose legally for the next 30 minutes. At 10 I hooked him up and we headed back to my car as other vehicles were now driving into the park.

Now it was off to Saco, ME as I had a scheduled maintenance appointment for my 4Runner at the local Toyota dealership. I checked on Elizabeth’s flight and found out she was delayed out of Lynchburg, VA. I was scheduled to pick her up in Portland mid-afternoon. She called me while I was checking in saying her first flight was not going to leave in time to make her connection in Charlotte. There are only 4 flights a day out of Lynchburg, all going to Charlotte. TSA literally closes down between flights. After discussing several options, the only way to get north today was to take the next flight out of Lynchburg and connect to a flight to Boston that arrives at 9:00PM. I cancelled our Portland hotel and started looking in the Boston area. I don’t like city hotels so decided to go back to Salem, NH to the same La Quinta we were at last night,  only 35 miles from Boston Logan airport. It was about an hour and a half drive back to Salem as we drove on the interstates the whole way.

I left the hotel in Salem around 8pm, an hour before Elizabeth’s arrival time, to give myself plenty of time. It was dark and raining out. As I am getting closer, I realize the Sumner Tunnel is closed and that is the easiest way to the airport. I ended up having to drive through neighborhoods, in the pouring rain at night, for the last 10 miles and finally got to the airport about the same time she landed. To get back to NH, due to the closed tunnel, we drove south into Boston, then circled back north, then drove 45 mph pretty much the whole way back with the windshield wipers on high. Living in Phoenix for the past 26 years I cannot remember driving at night in the rain like this. We made it safely back with no incidents.

E: After a fabulous two-day visit with a 92-year-old family friend, I took a taxi to the very small Lynchburg Airport at 9:30 Thursday morning (8/10). As Gary mentioned above, my plane was delayed, delayed and delayed again. After close to 7 hours, I finally boarded a 4:15PM flight to Charlotte and hustled through that very large airport catching a flight to Boston. I was happy to be with Gary again after 2 ½ weeks since he had left Phoenix but the white knuckling drive in the rain didn’t help my long travel day.

Our original plans had me arriving in Portland Maine followed by a much anticipated traditional fresh lobster birthday dinner, this time with my brother, Gary and Rangeley, at the ocean side Lobster Shack Restaurant in Cape Elizabeth, ME. With the storms in Charlotte changing my itinerary, both were heartbreakingly canceled. Luckily, I will be seeing my brother in September but the lobster??!!

Since we were in NH and not in ME, as we thought we would be, we had to come up with a new plan for Friday (8/11). I traveled from Phoenix with 45 pounds worth of free packaged snacks donated from a conference I worked last week to be given out as trail magic on the AT.  On Friday AM we left Salem, NH, bought some canned Cokes and lemonades and drove about 100 miles north to Lincoln, NH setting up at an Appalachian Trail trailhead at Kinsman Notch. We made several thru hikers very happy! We continued our drive to Gorham, NH staying at a hotel we have been to many times before, during our numerous trips over the years to do trail magic. We bought eggs, peppers, cheese & ham for Gary to make fresh scrambled eggs on a tiny backpacking stove, as well as clementines and bananas. We had plenty of the prepackaged beef jerky, candy bars, peanuts, Mio water additive drops, various food bars and the hiker’s favorite freebee that I brought…single shot containers of Fire Ball cinnamon whisky! The wonderfully good mannered and motivated thru hikers are always a pleasure to sit and talk with. Every thru hiker is walking the almost 2,200-mile AT (usually northbound) from Georgia to Maine. By the time they get to Maine they are well seasoned backpackers and have thought a lot about their lives over the last 4-5 months of constant hiking. It’s always nice to hear why each are on the trail, where they are from, what they like about the trail and who they have met along the way. The comradery on the AT is similar to the connections one makes while walking the Camino. I love that!

Hummm, we still have product left to give out, so on the way back from today’s adventure, we decide to go back for yet one more day of trail magic at Grafton Notch, near Gorham, NH  tomorrow, again, where we were today. We stopped at Walmart, got more eggs, cheese, peppers, ham and Cokes for the morning. Since Gary thru hiked himself, he knows that hot food or ice cold drinks are rare while thru hiking so these items are very much appreciated!

Sunday, August 13, 2023

We only had a handful of thru hikers today but as usual they are all very grateful and happy to have any food and drink especially Gary’s scrambled eggs!

At about 11AM we drove onward toward Rangeley, ME where we are staying for two nights. On the way we passed Umbagog Lake State Park…key word “lake”. Rangeley was sooo ready to go swimming and run a bit. After toweling his water logged and quite stinky body off, we had to coax Rangeley back into the car. The dark skies and thunder made the rest of the drive a bit less fun.

After passing an entrance sign to the Rangeley Lakes Region, we arrived in Rangeley, our dog’s name’s sake. We enjoyed lunch on a patio in town and checked into the Town and Lake Motel. We have stayed here many times since Gary first stopped here while thru hiking in 2014. They have renovated some of the rooms and are continuing to do the rest. The motel is on Rangeley Lake. We have a small deck at ground level where you can see the boats coming and going to the motel’s recently added docks. Each room has a sliding glass door facing the water. We have two queen beds and a small kitchen. The motel is not upscale, just perfectly casual, great owners, dog friendly and walking distance (about ½ mile) to the center of this hiker friendly small town of just over 1,000 residents. The AT is 9 miles away but Rangeley is a very popular resupply town. There are people that shuttle the hikers or they hitch hike to town. A lot of travelers and locals are aware of the hikers and often transport them to or from the grocery store, a restaurant or to a hike store to replace broken poles and/or worn-out shoes.

How can you tell you are rural New England or not in Phoenix any more?:

1. There’s a sign on the side of a small road that reads: “Guns for sale” And there are 30 some-odd rifles laying on a table like a yard sale! ??

2. The hand painted signs along the back roads read:
– Maine Maple Syrup for sale
– Home Made pecan pies and whoopie pies!
– Firewood
– Fresh Veggies…and more!

3. Streams, ponds and lakes are abundant

4. And there are state posted caution signs warning you about Deer, Moose and Snowmobiles! One sign read: “No Snowmobiles on Sidewalks” !!!

Gotta love it!

Monday August 14, 2023

E: Great hike today! We drove the 9 miles up to the AT trailhead and walked south to South Pond, about 2.2 miles one way. The total hike was a good one for me… 4.4 miles with almost 900 elevation gain round trip. The wet (literally puddles), large rocks and steep climbs in a couple places challenged me. It was confirmed (like I didn’t already know) that the AT is not a trail I would do for days at a time, especially in Maine. It’s quite challenging footing, for me; buggy; humid; narrow paths, and since they have had loads of rain up here, the trail was boggy with large rocks or wooden planks you needed to walk on or you would sink over your ankle. But it was a fabulous adventure for a couple hours. Love being in the woods. Gary in his element and Rangeley getting a hike and swimming! Thru hikers, once they get wet, get used to the rain and wet feet because they are already sweating like crazy, so what’s a little more water?! : ) I admire and applaud those that hike the almost 2,200 miles! And that includes my husband!

As we got back into our car after hiking, Gary got a text from an AT hiker he met, and hiked with for 900 miles, in 2018. Her trail name is Finger Lickin’. She is our oldest son, Cooper’s, age (35).  She said she was thinking of him as she was descending down Saddleback Mountain into Rangeley, Maine! Seriously! Gary texted back. Telling her we were in Rangeley! What are the odds that Gary would be in the same place at the same date and time she was hiking – 5 years later?! They made a plan for Gary to meet her a couple hours later at the trailhead.

Finger Lickin’, Gary, Rangeley (the dog) and I had lunch together in-town Rangeley (the town). We bought her ice cream right by the sign that says we were at the 45th parallel… half way between the Equator and the North pole : ) Then Gary took her to the grocery store and drove her the 9 miles back to the trailhead where she was going to hike another 8 miles today. She has 29 miles to go and she will complete an entire section hike…hiking all 2,200 miles in sections at a time. Since 2018 she has been married, bought a house and has even flown to visit us in Phoenix to hike the Grand Canyon with Gary and additional AT hikers. The lifelong friends you meet within this hiking community is amazing. Truly a “small world”.

Tuesday August 15,2023

E: A perfect last morning in Rangeley, Maine…

– watching the ducks and loons while having coffee, in my pajamas, sitting lakeside.

– long conversation with an 82 year old retired lobster fisherman, and he has a black lab.

– watching the local and vacationing kids play at an end of the summer carnival put on by the parks dept and rotary club on the shore in the public park.

– Rangeley, the dog : ) spending an hour swimming in his name sake lake, chasing sticks and doing laps, back and forth, for no reason, than the sheer joy of it!

– A thru hiker recognized Rangeley and thanked us for our Grafton Notch trail magic 3 days/47 hiking miles ago for him.

– getting a lobster roll for lunch! My preferred way: a buttered then grilled top cut roll with nothing but chunky lobster meat and topped with hot butter…yummm!!

Rangeley has now completed Gary’s goal of the dog doing the 14 State Challenge, set forth by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) to encourage people (usually, not necessarily dogs, tee hee) to hike on the AT in all 14 states the trail goes through. It was a fun adventure for Gary and Rangeley to drive east to do! Rangeley has also been to all of the lower 48 states as of this trip!

We had a wonderfully sunny day to drive to spend the next 5 days with Gary’s family in Vermont.

Till our next Roaming Rangeley entry, we hope you are well and smilin’🙂

Thanks for reading along.