McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 8/22/2024 | AT Mile 242.6 | Day Total: 17.2 miles | Gain: 4482 ft

Another wet morning. The rain stopped just before I work up but the trees are still dripping quite a bit. I packed up everything in my tent to keep things dry. It’s been cooler in the mornings which I enjoy because I can move without sweating. Can’t say I enjoy putting on wet socks and shoes though.

I think I’ve got a little bug. My nose is a little runny and throat is inflamed. We’ll see how it progresses throughout the day.

An easy gradual ascent was on the agenda the first few miles of the day. There were quite a few supper boggy and wet parts that you had to submerge your shoes into. My feet were drenched the whole day.

Passed a few ponds this morning otherwise nothing too scenic.

I had lunch where the trail crosses ME route 17. There’s a really good view with a small bench perfect for a good break.

While eating I had a motorcyclist toot his horn and wave at me. As you can probably tell it’s still very cloudy and I was watching a wall of rain move closer and closer to me as I ate. It rained for 5 minutes fairly hard so I quickly packed everything to stay dry for a few minutes to let the storm pass by. Afterword I continued eating my pepperoni wrap.

I descended into the valley where you could hear machines beeping and running louder and louder. I never actually saw them but I could hear them for miles prior. I crossed four streams that make up Bemis Stream. The last one was fairly deep, up to my thigh but I managed to find a place where it wasn’t flowing fast to cross. They are higher than usual because of the rain we’ve gotten recently.

I started climbing to Bemis Mountain 2nd peak and just across a gravel road I found something hanging from a tree. Upon closer inspection it was a lunchbox and a ziplock labeled “MAGIC”. This would be my first trail magic I’ve received. I happily grabbed a package of crackers and a cosmic brownie.

The trail up to Bemis Mountain 2nd peak was steep, rocky and muddy. It was pretty slow rolling.

The views from the top were not clouded in like they have been the past few days. It was nice to be able to see off the peaks again. It was beautiful.

I traversed up and down for a while and a break at Bemis Mountain Lean-to. I ate a snack and filtered some orange pine water. I then hiked up to the actual Bemis Mountain. Bemis Mountians peak is treed and there are a ton of false summits so I missed the sign that labeled the top sadly.

As I got closer to where I was going to call camp for the night I came across what time going to call a mountain chicken. It was black with a red eyebrow. (Turns out is was a grouse)

When I arrived at the stream I was going to camp next to there was a guy already setup on one of the larger sites so I had to squeeze into a somewhat muddy site. I laid down some ferns in hope to reduce the mud mess.

There are not many great places to hang food and the only place I could find was in the middle of the trail. But it’s better than nothing.

Going to bed at 8pm tonight.