Northeastern Remnants: July 24th-July 31st, 2024

After knocking out all of the P2ks and fire towers west of the Connecticut, I had to spend some down time recovering from a foot injury, and so only was able to do a simple hike up Bayle in the first week or so. With my foot recovered, I ventured off to Maine with the goal of knocking out the final three P2ks east of the Mississippi: Snow, Elephant, and Baldplate. I got off to a strong start with Snow, but a mechanical issue in my van functionally prevented me from traversing the logging roads to the Elephant trailhead, and that combined with my rapidly collapsing physical and mental capacity, meant that I wasn't able to climb that mountain. Even though I climbed Baldplate the day after, it's disappointing to call the east at 80/81 P2ks as I head out west, but it means that it's basically assured I will return to the northeast one of these days, and I'll be sure to knock out the full 131 in whatever form that ultimately ends up taking. This has been a good list, and it will conclude one of these days, but the way my life is playing out right now makes it an untenable goal for the near term, so I'll just have to pick it up in a few years :)

Bayle Mountain, July 24th

After spending a week limping after my descent of putnam that left one of my ankles feeling wonky, Mara and I decided to do a small hike to get me back on my feet, and finally finishing the Ossipee 10 seemed like a great goal. The trailhead has space for 6-8 cars or so, and the trail itself is pretty well maintained the whole way up, with great views at the top! Was planning on doing this challenge in two consecutive days, and it took four days stretched out over two months to accomplish - that's usually how it is

Snow Mountain, July 29th

Driving up the logging roads from 27, the roads just before the trailhead are minorly washed out. Easily doable in a sedan, but I biked it as to not risk anything with my van. The ATV road up Snow is pretty difficult to go either way on bike, so I ended up walking most of it. The heard path was doable too, with some minor routing decisions to be made along the way - nothing unreasonable to those familiar with hiking in North Maine. The fire tower has no platform, but there is a decent outlook just before the summit. Overall decent mountain

Baldplate Mountain, July 31st

Starting from Grafton Notch on the AT, the way up West Baldplate felt like forever since I wasn't in good shape. But I made it, and slogging along the ridge to East Baldplate was simple enough, with the AT being in good condition throughout