Alas Jordan is down for the count. This may be the last post.

Hollywood asked me to send a three week food drop to a friendly trail angels house in Andover, ME 1924.5 NoBo. Here he will stay while Hollywood forges ahead to complete the trail.
They have been having a very rough go of it since my last post. Almost every day or night has had rain. They have been slogging through ankle deep to calf deep mud every day. Last week, while on the trail, Tripwire took a pretty bad tumble. He was trying to do his usual mountain goat bouncing up the trail and slipped on some rocks. He fell down into a gully and had to be lifeted out. The fall wasn't too far, but the bouncy fall down didn't help things.
The next morning he came up lame and wasn't willing to jump up when Hollywood called him. Melissa doesn't want to risk permanent injury to her puppy so when they got into town in Andover, Jordan was taken off the trail to heal.
I started this blog as a tail of Jordan's adventures and I'm kind of split over whether to quit posting now or continue on until Hollywood reaches Katahdin. I know the stories have been largely about the whole experience though. What started as Jordan's story has often turned into the story of Hollywood's hike up the trail. You will know if I'm continuing if you see future  posts.

Hollywood called me last night from the Poplar Ridge Lean-To 1971.7 NoBo. She hase gone through Rangely Maine, and over Saddleback Mountain. The last four 4000 foot peaks, South Crocker Mt 4039Ft 1986.9 NoBo, North Crocker Mt 4228Ft 1987.9NoBo, Bigelow Mt 4145Ft 2000.9 NoBo, and finally Avery Peak 4090Ft 2001.5 NoBo should be achieved this week. After that the going is nice and flat right on up to Katahdin.
They are quickly coming up to the most isolated stretch of the AT, The Hundred-Mile Wilderness 2066 NoBo. There is no help past Monson ME until they reach Millinocket ME at 2165.6 NoBo. That is a mere 15 miles shy of Katahdin.

They have already forged streams that are waist deep. These are streams that are normally ankle to calf deep. While in the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, there will be at least one fording that will be waist high normally meaning it will be chest high or over her head depending on how dry it stays between now and then. The nights have been getting down into the 30's on a regular basis. This is the part of the trail where no matter how beautiful it is, the days are simply torture. Hollywood has said she has seen a lot of views that rival the best views in the White Mountains. But cold nights, and more importantly cold mornings trying to get started harken back to the miserable days of April when she was just getting her hiking legs. The weather will be nearly the same at the end as it was at the start. There is a possibility of snow between now and Katahdin. That will make it even more so.

So I leave the blog open ended. I hope to post at the very least one more final post peak summary. I hope you have enjoyed the description of the adventure as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you. And even though it isn't turning out the way ANY of us had thought it would, there is no doubt this has been the adventure of a lifetime for Jordan the Wonder Dog, His mom Melissa and her cousin Christina.

The going is getting tougher as the end draws nigh

There has been a lot of off trail time and zero days due to storms and tougher than expected trails. Last weekend was spent on the seacoast riding out hurricane Irene. We didn't see much damage here at the coast but the mountains got hit pretty hard.

Hollywood and Tripwire were stuck dealing with washed out roads just to try and get back onto the trail. They got back on the trail Tuesday the 30th. They were forced out of the woods not just because it was dangerous to be in them, but the National Park Service had closed the AT section they were in for the storm. It wasn't until Tuesday that they were even permitted to reenter and continue the trek.
They entered the glorious state of Maine on Friday Sept 2nd. A nero day was taken and they stopped at the Full Goose Shelter 1904.5 NoBo.

Mahoosuc notch was done Yesterday and it kicked Hollywoods behind. They slogged through rain in already rain soaked trails. The going is so much harder when the ground beneath you is a slippery mucky mess.
Today they eked out five more to hit route 26. There they caught a ride into Bethel, ME. Today was another Zero day enjoying the sights, sounds and flavors of the town.

The modified day of the 15th is now probably not going to happen either. She texted me a little while ago that she now has no idea when she will be done. 'The trail is killing me' she related. 'I'm taking it one day at a time. The sooner the better'. The final stretch has become as hard as when she was going through all the foot issues in Virginia. We await their triumphant return no matter the date.

The cold weather is nipping at their heels so they need to keep putting on miles as much as possible. Tomorrow they will shoot for Andover, ME 1924.5 NoBo.

It's windy on top of the world

I got a text message from Melissa today. She was texting from atop Mt Washington mile 1848.5 NoBo. Last night they stayed in the Lakes of the Clouds hut 1847.0. The text came in at 12:30 PM so they got started this morning at the beautiful lake before peaking the highest mountain the New England. That is a 14º average incline. Tonight will be camped somewhere beyond the peak. The temp with wind chill is 29º F. at the top. The winds are down to a more tolerable 32 MPH. The weather isn't quite that extreme wherever they setup camp because they will likely have dropped a couple thousand feet of elevation

I haven't posted in 13 days because I was actually waiting for the crew to catch up to my last post. Hollywood had to come off the trail for a commitment to a wedding in Chicago, several days were spent double zeroing in Lincoln and much lower than expected hiking totals per day has put them way behind on their schedule. The new goal is to complete by the 15th of September.

Tripwire had to come off the trail and is on the mend. Jordan came up lame again on the 18th and had to spend a few days healing up at a kennel in Holderness, NH. Through the great grace of the trail angel system and a few thumbs out on the road, she got him there and expects the same to get him back once he has healed up. Hollywood should be picking him back up soon, all better and ready to run the trail back and forth again. It has taken 13 days to go 40 miles. Given 6 days off between the wedding, zeros and time to get to and from Chicago, that makes and average just under 6 miles a day since returning to the trail. The difficulties of the White Mountains was truly unexpected by all. Hardened hikers used to 20-30 mile days were taken down to 5-7 mile days by the power of these huge peaks and valleys.

Last night was a wild one at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. The weather was terrible and the winds were blowing at 80 Mph. Truly some of the harshest weather on earth is up there. The Lakes of the Clouds hut is only 1276 ft below the summit of Mt. Washington so the weather is very close to as  brutal as at the summit.

I'll pass on the latest updates as I get them. Until next post, here are a few pictures for you:

This one was taken atop Mt Lafayette.

 Headed toward Mt Garfield.

 And finally a couple of Sunset atop Mt. Garfield.